Pre-Reading Blog #2

Race by the Numbers

This article was written by Orlando Patterson, who is a historical and cultural sociologist at Harvard University. He is primarily known for his attention to issues of race in America and the sociology of development. He received his Ph.D. in Sociology at the London School of Economics in 1965. A few of his many accolades include the National Book Award for non-fiction in 1991and being inducted into the Political Science association in 1983.

Race by Numbers appeared in the New York Times on May 8, 2001. Only being published 9 years ago, it is still relevant to possible issues in race today. Judging by the title, this article could possibly cover the diversity of race in America today and how the proportions of whites to colored people has leveled out. Other than that, the title doesn’t hint anything else.

Judging by Orlando Patterson’s background and his origins in Jamaica, this article most likely shares the values and ideals of blacks and will most likely agree with their arguments regarding racial issues or topics. These values and ideals help make sense of the context by separating the values of different races in America and taking the standpoint of the blacks.

Family a Symbol of Love and Life, but Not Politics

The author of this article is Eric Zorn, who is a columnist and blogger for the Chicago Tribune. He graduated from the University of Michigan in 1980, where he was an arts section editor at the Michigan Daily and a creative writing and English literature major. He served a four-month internship at the Miami Herald and then moved to the Chicago Tribune. His eponymous news commentary column is titled Hometowns. He is also the co-author of Murder of Innocence, a 1990 book which studied the life and tragic rampage of Winnetka schoolhouse killer Laurie Dann.

The title of this article, Family a Symbol of Love and Life, but Not Politics, seems to hint that politics and family are not related. This very well could be a political rant by another columnist with no real knowledge of the political realm. This is quite common in our country’s newspapers. The fact that this is out of the Chicago Tribune, a highly liberal newspaper, could easily hint that this article is attacking conservatives with faulty emotional appeals.

This article will most likely feature the values and ideals of liberals who strongly appose conservatives. This could mean that the article may point out that conservatives don’t know what the idea of family is really about, but liberals do. The values that liberal families are all about love and life and conservative families are part of a political agenda could very well flourish throughout this article. If this is the case, this article will be highly entertaining and full of false generalizations, ad populum, ad hominem, and emotional appeals.