Examples Of American Plagiarism

Plagiarism: More than an Academic Crime

From a campaign that continues to spill hateful and derogatory comments about the Obama administration it comes as a shock to discover that the wife of a man preaching about preserving the morals that define America, had indeed plagiarized the speech she boldly gave to the Republican National Convention weeks ago. For Melania to steal the words of a Michelle Obama, a highly educated black woman and self made success from the streets of Chicago, and to pass off Michelle’s words as her own is infact an act of racism. Through which white America reaps at the work of minorities with little to no consideration for the hardships that had formed these values to which Melania Trump tried to pass off as her own

For anyone to take the words of already disenfranchised people and to regurgitate it as their own is the ultimate transgression of values and for, “a speechwriter or spouse willing to ignore a long history full of very different and meaningful context, then evade so much as a hat tip to the creativity that came before, this is not a form of flattery. This is not a minor thing”(Janell Ross). It cannot be stressed enough the importance and relevance of this act. For the Trump Campaign and specifically Melania to knowingly give such speech with little to no care for not only the stolen values stressed in the speech but also to plagiarize the words of a true hard working African American. An American whose liberties and rights are questioned just off the color of her skin. It is fear of a strong person like Michelle Obama, a minority raised in an inner city setting whose success story emulates with the liberal ideas of the left. For Melania to utilize these ideals and to actually pass them off as true Republican ideals, that is irony because the same hard working attitude and originalism that is presented by the Right was shrugged off in a simple speech. Melania and the Trump campaign fail to sympathise with those who actually live these American struggles and that Michelle Obama actually represents these ideals while Melania only adds to the problem of the

The argument that, “plagiarizing Michelle Obama’s words is not inherently racist simply because she is black, just as criticizing her husband’s ideology isn’t automatically bigoted; and to say or to suggest otherwise is to detract from real instances of prejudice”(Andrew Badinelli). While fair there is some reason to believe that criticizing the Obama’s doesn't necessarily make them bigoted or racist and that the public can’t just run down someone who mocks or copies a minority there is a relevance to the fact that it's not just the race it's the person Melania stole from and the ideals she passed of as her own that makes her plagiarism ring the bells of racism. Still others press the issue that the issue was only brought up by the media so as to stir emotions and feeling within society and in turn profit off such exploits. They believe, “writers like [Michael] Harriot make their living trying to stir up as much ire as possible. It is this kind of writing which tears America apart” (Charlie McKenna), and it is a possibility that the media could intentionally be blowing the situation out of proportion. Yet there is a level of anger and a disgust for the idea of white America stealing the works of minorities that rings deep within Melania's act of plagiarism. It was an academic mistake and it was