Michael Centeno
Professor Schulte
April 13th, 2021
Rhetorical Precis

Rhetorical Precis Source #1
Jose Fermoso, a freelance writer who covers Hispanic and World Culture at The Guardian, in his opinion article in The Guardian, “Why speaking Spanish is becoming dangerous in America”, published on May 22, 2018, addresses the topic of white supremacy in the United States and how that spurs hatred and racism towards Hispanics and Hispanic-Americans and the Spanish language. He supports this claim by giving an example of a specific woman named Sandy who is an attorney at a California law firm who was then talking to a colleague in Spanish, and “forcibly” asked to stop by a top executive at the firm. Then, Fermoso explains as to why this is on the rise: Conservative rhetoric and the GOP. Lastly, he gives examples: “last January, a woman was kicked out of a Florida UPS for speaking Spanish, the month prior an adult physically attacked legal South American immigrants – including a child – at a Canadian mall, and a few days ago a border agent in Montana arrested two women for the same thing, leaving them shaking with anger and crying at the unfairness of it all. Then there’s the case of the rich Manhattan lawyer who berated young workers at a deli for daring to communicate in the second most spoken language in the world in his presence.” Fermoso’s purpose in writing this text is to shine a light on how white supremacy is suppressing freedom of speech in the United States and how it is affecting Hispanics and the Spanish language in this country. He adopts a serious tone for the audience of The Guardian and those interested in the topic of Hispanophobia in the USA.

Rhetorical Precis Source #2
Mary Sanchez is a Hispanic-American from Kansas City, MO with Mexican ancestry who is a reporter and commentator who covers immigration, politics, and education and pays particular attention to Hispanics and their influence and importance in these particular fields. In her article in The Chicago Tribune, “Are Hispanics inferior? Conservative scholar thinks so”, addresses a particular example of a white supremacist Conservative scholar by the name of Jason Richwine who falsely argues that Hispanic-Americans are genetically less intelligent than others and can never assimilate into American society. Then, Sanchez gives solid, research-backed evidence that denounces Richwine’s claims, she writes, “Richwine is offensive, but he’s also wrong. Hispanics are assimilating at the same rates as previous immigrant groups, in some ways even faster due to technology. (Note: This column is written in English, by the daughter of an immigrant from Mexico.) Immigrants have lower rates of criminal conduct than native-born people. And a new study shows that Hispanic high school graduates have now overtaken white students in rates of enrollment into college.” Lastly, she denounces Richwine’s employer, The Heritage Foundation, as well as gives direct quotes from both Democrat and Republican politicians who denounce that foundation, as well. Sanchez’s purpose in writing this text is to give a direct example of how white supremacy is not only offensive but inherently stupid. Sanchez writes this article in a kind of “Gotcha” tone that proves Richwine to be wrong and makes him look like an idiot at the same time, those who are readers of The Chicago Tribune, and to those who are interested in how white supremacy alters reality in the worse way possible.

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