Insufficient Citation

Source 1:

Ray, Rayshawn et al. “Homeownership, racial segregation, and policy solutions to racial wealth equity.” Brookings. 1 September 2021. https://www.brookings.edu/articles/homeownership-racial-segregation-and-policies-for-racial-wealth-equity/

Homeownership is often viewed as the entree to the American dream and the gateway to intergenerational wealth. However, this pathway is often less achievable for Black Americans who post a homeownership rate of 46.4% compared to 75.8% of white families. . . . In 2016, white families posted the highest median family wealth at $171,000. Black families, in contrast, had a median family wealth of $17,600. Because wealth (as measured by the total amount of assets a person owns minus debts) is a critical predictor of education, health, employment, and other quality of life metrics, a strategy to maximize homeownership and home value is needed.

Source 2:

Mineo, Liz. “Racial wealth gap may be a key to other inequities.” The Harvard Gazette. 3 June 2021. https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2021/06/racial-wealth-gap-may-be-a-key-to-other-inequities/

After the end of slavery and the failed Reconstruction, Jim Crow laws, which existed till the late 1960s, virtually ensured that Black Americans in the South would not be able to accumulate or to pass on wealth. And through the Great Migration and after, African Americans faced employment, housing, and educational discrimination across the country. After World War II many white veterans were able to take advantage of programs like the GI Bill to buy homes — the largest asset held by most American families — with low-interest loans, but lenders often unfairly turned down Black applicants, shutting those vets out of the benefit. . . . Redlining — typically the systemic denial of loans or insurance in predominantly minority areas — held down property values and hampered African American families’ ability to live where they chose.

Sample Paragraph 1: Without in-text citations in every sentence containing words or information from a source, readers would be unable to distinguish between the student’s own ideas and the evidence from the source.

In discussions of persistent racial inequality, understanding the difference between income and wealth is key. Income refers to the amount of money a person makes; for most working people, their primary source of income is their job. Wealth, on the other hand, refers to the financial value of what a person owns; most wealth for the average American comes from homeownership. However, as one writer for the Brookings Institute explains, “this pathway is often less achievable for Black Americans who post a homeownership rate of 46.4% compared to 75.8% of white families” (Ray et al.). It should therefore come as no surprise that the median wealth for white families is ten times higher than for Black families, or about $170,000 versus roughly $17,000 (Ray et al.). This startling wealth gap demonstrates the continued severity of racial inequality.

Sample Paragraph 2: In a paragraph that includes information from multiple sources, in-text citations for each source demonstrate the student’s ability to synthesize information.

While some might prefer to imagine that the racial discrimination of the past does not continue to harm people in the present, Black Americans have faced systemic racism throughout our country’s history that “virtually ensured that Black Americans . . . would not be able to accumulate or to pass on wealth” (Mineo). A large part of this racial wealth gap is due to historical and ongoing housing discrimination. “Homeownership is often viewed as the entree to the American dream and the gateway to intergenerational wealth. However, this pathway is often less achievable for Black Americans who post a homeownership rate of 46.4% compared to 75.8% of white families” (Ray et al.). One reason that Black Americans have a lower homeownership rate goes back to the G.I. Bill after World War II, which gave low-interest home loans to veterans; however, many Black veterans were denied these loans (Mineo). Another example of housing discrimination from the mid-twentieth century is redlining, “typically the systemic denial of loans or insurance in predominantly minority areas — held down property values and hampered African American families’ ability to live where they chose” (Mineo). For the average American, whose primary wealth is in the form of homeownership, housing discrimination is therefore a major factor in today’s racial wealth gap.

Source #1:

Anderson, Carol. White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide. Bloomsbury, 2017.

The Great Migration had been spurred initially by Northern industries' desperate need for labor. World War I, which began in August 1914, had exponentially increased orders for manufactured goods, guns, battleships, steel, etc.—while simultaneously reducing the traditional workforce of European immigrants responsible for producing those goods. The flow of immigrants dropped from more than 1.2 million in 1914 to just over 300,000 in 1915.14 Business leaders, looking for an untapped source of labor, soon realized that there was a vast pool of African Americans who previously had been shut out of the industrial workforce. Corporations like the Pennsylvania Railroad Company hired labor agents to go below the Mason-Dixon Line and convince black people to abandon Dixie and come north. For African Americans, this was a chance to escape, as Du Bois said, the "Hell" of the South.

Source #2:

The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration. “The Great Migration (1910-1970).” National Archives, 28 June 2021, https://www.archives.gov/research/african-americans/migrations/great-migration.

The Great Migration was one of the largest movements of people in United States history. Approximately six million Black people moved from the American South to Northern, Midwestern, and Western states roughly from the 1910s until the 1970s. […]From World War I until World War II, it is estimated that about 2 million Black people left the South for other parts of the country. […]Within twenty years of World War II, a further 3 million Black people migrated throughout the United States.

Insufficient Citation:

Nearly 2 million African Americans fled the South between World War 1 and World War 2. In fact, the First World War was a driving factor behind the Great Migration. On one hand, American industry was suddenly facing a huge increase in demand. On the other, the flow of immigrants to the United States – a flow that would ordinarily mean factory workers – had slowed to a trickle. This perfect storm of industrial demand and worker scarcity forced northern industries to accept black workers at levels never before seen. This provided African Americans with an opportunity to flee the south in record numbers (Anderson). By the 1970s, almost six million African Americans journeyed to other parts of the U.S. in the hopes of securing a better life.

Correct Source Attribution:

Nearly 2 million African Americans fled the South between World War 1 and World War 2 (The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration). Carol Anderson argues that the First World War was actually a driving factor behind the Great Migration. On one hand, American industry was suddenly facing a huge increase in demand. On the other, the flow of immigrants to the United States – a flow that would ordinarily mean factory workers – had slowed to a trickle. This perfect storm of industrial demand and worker scarcity forced northern industries to accept black workers at levels never before seen. This provided African Americans with an opportunity to flee the south in record numbers (42). In fact, between World War 1 and the 1970s, close to six million African Americans fled the South in the hopes of securing a better life in other parts of the U.S. (The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration).

Source 1:

Sawyer, Wendy and Peter Wagner. “Mass Incarceration: The Whole Pie: 2023.” Prison Policy Initiative, 14 Mar. 2023, https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/pie2023.html

The Quote: “It’s true that police, prosecutors, and judges continue to punish people harshly for nothing more than drug possession.”

Source 2:

“How Cutting Corrections Can Save Money and Protect Public Safety.” Justice Policy Institute, May 2009, https://justicepolicy.org/wp-content/uploads/justicepolicy/documents/09_05_rep_pruningprisons_ac_ps.pdf

The Quote: “Eighty-three percent of drug arrests are for possession of illegal drugs alone. And regardless of crime in a particular jurisdiction, police often target the same neighborhoods to make drug arrests, which can increase the disproportionate incarceration of people of color.”

Source 3:

DuVernay, Ava, director. 13th. Netflix, 2016

Incorrect:

Current research reveals an unsettling correlation between race and incarceration in America. As one popular documentary notes, America continues to inflict new wounds on the lingering scars of racism, in part by incarcerating a sizable percentage of the Black community, many for non-violent drug offenses.

No quotation marks are needed, as the writer paraphrases the original text, but the in-text citation is missing.

Correct:

Current research reveals an unsettling correlation between race and incarceration in America. As one popular documentary notes, America continues to inflict new wounds on the lingering scars of racism, in part by incarcerating a sizable percentage of the Black community, many for non-violent drug offenses (DuVernay).

Incorrect:

Indeed, one in five incarcerated Americans (roughly 350,000 of the 1.9 million American prisoners) is serving time for a drug offense.

No quotation marks are needed, as the writer paraphrases the original text, but the in-text citation is missing.

Correct:

Indeed, one in five incarcerated Americans (roughly 350,000 of the 1.9 million American prisoners) is serving time for a drug offense (Sawyer and Wagner).

Incorrect:

Some believe that most of those prisoners just happened to be in possession of drugs while engaged in a violent act. However, police, prosecutors, and judges continue to punish people harshly for nothing more than drug possession (Sawyer and Wagner).

Includes an in-text citation, but it’s missing quotation marks around the direct quote.

Correct:

Some believe that most of those prisoners just happened to be in possession of drugs while engaged in a violent act. However, the Prison Policy Institute’s recent investigation of non-violent drug offenses disputes this theory with a rather startling conclusion: “It’s true that police, prosecutors, and judges continue to punish people harshly for nothing more than drug possession” (Sawyer and Wagner).

Incorrect:

In its own analysis of FBI data, a national non-profit organization corroborates this finding while underscoring the vulnerability of Black Americans: “Eighty-three percent of drug arrests are for possession of illegal drugs alone. And regardless of crime in a particular jurisdiction, police often target the same neighborhoods to make drug arrests, which can increase the disproportionate incarceration of people of color.” Based on such data, can we really conclude that racial discrimination is a thing of the past? Or might the arrest and sentencing practices within our modern-day War on Drugs reveal lingering racist undercurrents?

Uses quotation marks, but it’s missing the in-text citation.

Correct:

In its own analysis of FBI data, the Justice Policy Institute, a national non-profit organization, corroborates this finding while underscoring the vulnerability of Black Americans: “Eighty-three percent of drug arrests are for possession of illegal drugs alone. And regardless of crime in a particular jurisdiction, police often target the same neighborhoods to make drug arrests, which can increase the disproportionate incarceration of people of color” (Justice Policy Institute). Based on such data, can we really conclude that racial discrimination is a thing of the past? Or might the arrest and sentencing practices within our modern-day War on Drugs reveal lingering racist undercurrents?

Full Paragraph [Correct]:

Current research reveals an unsettling correlation between race and incarceration in America. As one popular documentary notes, America continues to inflict new wounds on the lingering scars of racism, in part by incarcerating a sizable percentage of the Black community, many for non-violent drug offenses (DuVernay). Indeed, one in five incarcerated Americans (roughly 350,000 of the 1.9 million American prisoners) is serving time for a drug offense (Sawyer and Wagner). Some believe that most of those prisoners just happened to be in possession of drugs while engaged in a violent act. However, the Prison Policy Institute’s recent investigation of non-violent drug offenses disputes this theory with a rather startling conclusion: “It’s true that police, prosecutors, and judges continue to punish people harshly for nothing more than drug possession” (Sawyer and Wagner). In its own analysis of FBI data, the Justice Policy Institute, a national non-profit organization, corroborates such finding while underscoring the vulnerability of Black Americans: “Eighty-three percent of drug arrests are for possession of illegal drugs alone. And regardless of crime in a particular jurisdiction, police often target the same neighborhoods to make drug arrests, which can increase the disproportionate incarceration of people of color” (Justice Policy Institute). Based on this data, can we really conclude that racial discrimination is a thing of the past? Or might the arrest and sentencing practices within our modern-day War on Drugs reveal lingering racist undercurrents?

Source:

Gilpin, Lyndsey. “Native American women still have the highest rates of rape and assault.” High Country News. 7 June 2016. https://www.hcn.org/articles/tribal-affairs-why-native-american-women-still-have-the-highest-rates-of-rape-and-assault

Original:

A new Department of Justice study shows that of over 2,000 women surveyed, 84 percent of Native American and Alaskan Native women have experienced violence, 56 percent have experienced sexual violence, and, of that second group, over 90 percent have experienced violence at the hands of a non-tribal member. Most women reported they were concerned for their safety, and around half said they had experienced physical violence like pushing, shoving, or being beaten. Over 60 percent had experienced psychological aggression or coercive control. Experts say these record numbers still underestimate the number of women affected by violence, and the infrastructure for women to report and handle incidents is underfunded.

Incorrect:

According to a survey of over 2,000 Native American women by the Department of Justice, a vast majority (84 percent) have been victims of violence, and over half (56 percent) are sexual abuse survivors. More than 90 percent of the sexual violence was perpetrated by someone who was not a member of a tribe. The majority of the women surveyed said they feel unsafe, a rational fear considering that around half of them “had experienced physical violence like pushing, shoving, or being beaten.” Psychologically damaging acts of control and aggression were also common experiences. Despite having the highest rates of abuse on record, experts warn that these statistics are still an underestimate because there isn’t enough funding to create the programs needed for women to report the abuses or to find support (Gilpin).

Since the entire passage is information from the source, an in-text citation should be included in the first sentence as well as the last sentence.

Correct:

Lyndsey Gilpin reports on a survey of over 2,000 Native American women by the Department of Justice, according to which a vast majority (84 percent) have been victims of violence, and over half (56 percent) are sexual abuse survivors. More than 90 percent of the sexual violence was perpetrated by someone who was not a member of a tribe. The majority of the women surveyed said they feel unsafe, a rational fear considering that around half of them “had experienced physical violence like pushing, shoving, or being beaten” (Gilpin). Psychologically damaging acts of control and aggression were also common experiences. Despite having the highest rates of abuse on record, experts warn that these statistics are still an underestimate because there isn’t enough funding to create the programs needed for women to report the abuses or to find support (Gilpin).