Exhibit A -- Old School Theft

Nothing fancy here.  Here's one case in which Foundation Professor of History Matthew C. Whitaker's scholarly account of battles over affirmative action, is drawn virtually word for word from an online encyclopedia, and another in which his description of the actor Will Smith is lifted from an online entertainment site. (Peace Be Still  is priced at $70 hardcover, $35 paper.  The websites are free.)

5/14: Commenter John Mashey has generously shared a sophisticated and expressive style of visually presenting plagiarized and derivative text.  Here, you will find his explanation and his application of it to the examples in "Exhibit A":   A Shaded Side-By-Side Display Style For Plagiarism (PDF)
Below, you will find the Cabinet's earnest but less elegant presentation.

Infoplease.com:

 Fueled by "angry white men," a backlash against affirmative action began to mount. To conservatives, the system was a zero-sum game that opened the door for jobs, promotions, or education to minorities while it shut the door on whites. In a country that prized the values of self-reliance and pulling oneself up by one's bootstraps, conservatives resented the idea that some unqualified minorities were getting a free ride on the American system. "Preferential treatment" and "quotas" became expressions of contempt. Even more contentious was the accusation that some minorities enjoyed playing the role of professional victim.

http://www.infoplease.com/spot/affirmative1.html

Peace Be Still's scholarly analysis: 

Fueled by "angry white men" as well as by white women, an all-out battle for the life of the policy emerged.  For Conservatives, the system was a zero-sum game that opened the door for jobs, promotions, or education to people of color while it shut the door on whites.  In a nation that has celebrated the values of independence and "pulling oneself up by one bootstraps," conservatives soon argued that "unqualified" racial minorities were getting a "free ride" in American schools and in the workplace as a result of affirmative action policies.  They referred to affirmative action incorrectly and contemptuously as a system of "preferential treatment" and "quotas."  Some even claimed that many people of color enjoyed playing the role of "professional victim" to exploit the policy for their own benefit. (178 -- no citation)

If you'd like more, there is much more borrowing in the same section, for example:

Infoplease.com:

Liberals also pointed out that another popular conservative argument-that because of affirmative action, minorities were threatening the jobs of whites-belied the reality that white men were still the undisputed rulers of the roost when it came to salaries, positions, and prestige.

The debate about affirmative action has also grown more murky and difficult as the public has come to appreciate its complexity. Many liberals, for example, can understand the injustice of affirmative action in a case like Wygant (1986): black employees kept their jobs while white employees with seniority were laid off. And many conservatives would be hard pressed to come up with a better alternative to the imposition of a strict quota system in Paradise (1987), in which the defiantly racist Alabama Department of Public Safety refused to promote any black above entry level even after a full 12 years of court orders demanded they did.

http://www.infoplease.com/spot/affirmative1.html

Peace Be Still's scholarly analysis:

...progressives pointed out that despite widespread fears that people of color were taking 'white people's jobs,' white men in particular still dominated the workforce by virtue of their positions, salaries, and prestige.

The conflict over affirmative action was also a result of its ambiguous and complex evolution.  Many Progressives, for instance, understood the injustices of the affirmative measures associated with Wygant v Jackson Board of Education (1986), in which black employees retained their jobs while white employees with seniority were laid off.  In addition, many conservatives struggled to offer a better alternative to the imposition of a strict quota system in United States vs Paradise, et al (1987), in which the defiantly racist state officials of the Alabama Department of Public Safety refused to promote any African Americans above entry-level positions, even after they were mandated to do so by twelve years of court orders. (179)  no citation

Take 40.com on Will Smith:

Will Smith was born Willard Christopher Smith Junior on September 25th, 1968 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He attended Overbrook High School in Winfield Pennsylvania, which is where he soon became known to his friends as "The Prince," for his charming antics. Little did he know that this nickname would still have meaning over 30 years later.  At the early age of 12, Smith began rapping and developing his own style under the influence of hip-hop legend, Grandmaster Flash. Four years later, at only 16, he met Jeff Townes, also known as DJ Jazzy Jeff, who he eventually collaborated with under the title, Fresh Prince. The two produced a number of songs including the worldwide hit, Girls Ain't Nothin But Trouble, and in 1989, the duo won their first Grammy for Best Rap Performance for Parents Just Don't Understand. 

http://www.take40.com/artists/1272/will-smith/bio


Peace Be Still on Will Smith (The Cabinet cannot help noting, perhaps uncharitably, that the grammar of this University of Nebraska Press book is actually shakier than that of the entertainment website):

Born Willard Christopher Smith Jr. In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Smith attended Overbrook High School in Winfield, Pennsylvania, where he soon became known as "The Prince" for his charm and quick wit.  At the early age of twelve, he began rapping and developing his own style under the influence of hip-hop legend Grandmaster Flash.  Just four years later, at only sixteen, Smith met Jeff Townes, also known as DJ Jazzy Jeff, with whom he eventually collaborated with (sic) under the title Fresh Prince.  The two artists produced a number of songs, including the worldwide hits "Girls Ain't Nothing But Trouble" (1989) and "Parents Just Don't Understand" (1989), which won a Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance.  (p. 248 no citation)