  We derive inner dark matter halo density profiles for a sample of 165
low-mass galaxies using rotation curves obtained from high-quality, long-slit
optical spectra assuming minimal disks and spherical symmetry. For $\rho(r)
\sim r^{-\alpha}$ near the galaxy center we measure median inner slopes ranging
from $\alpha_m = 0.22 \pm 0.08$ to $0.28 \pm 0.06$ for various subsamples of
the data. This is similar to values found by other authors, and in stark
contrast to the intrinsic cusps ($\alpha_{int}\sim1$) predicted by simulations
of halo assembly in cold dark matter (CDM) cosmologies. To elucidate the
relationship between $\alpha_m$ and $\alpha_{int}$ in our data, we simulate
long-slit observations of model galaxies with halo shapes broadly consistent
with the CDM paradigm. Simulations with $\alpha_{int}=1/2$ and 1 recover both
the observed distribution of $\alpha_m$ and correlations between $\alpha_m$ and
primary observational parameters such as distance and disk inclination, whereas
those with $\alpha_{int}=5/4$ are marginally consistent with the data.
Conversely, the hypothesis that low-mass galaxies have $\alpha_{int}=3/2$ is
rejected. While the simulations do not imply that the data favor intrinsic
cusps over cores, they demonstrate that the discrepancy between $\alpha_m$ and
$\alpha_{int}\sim1$ for our sample does not necessarily imply a genuine
conflict between our results and CDM predictions: rather, the apparent
cusp/core problem may be reconciled by considering the impact of observing and
data processing techniques on rotation curves derived from long-slit spectra.
