The article on the young gifted and black is a classical presentation of the nature of struggles and suffering faced by the black youth in America, focus being on the injustices meted by the police. The authors of this article have undertaken an excellent task of highlighting the challenges and adverse implications faced by the black youth in the hands of the American policing system. The core concern in the current assignment, however, is the facts that while the motive of the article was to highlight some of these challenges faced by the black population, it is evident that the article has an assortment of logical fallacies that make some of these arguments faulty. While the article has merit in that can be used as a sensitization tool by policymakers to address some of the underlying issues that make the black youth feel oppressed and mistreated by the police more than their white counterparts, it has several logical flaws that affect its objectivity. It can be asserted that the authors of the article choose to rely on these logical fallacies as a means of arousing emotions of the black community in America as a tool of reaching certain political objectives. The assignment revolves around the assessment of the main flaws in the article and highlighting how the authors relied on faulty facts and assumptions in sending their message.
Flaws in the Article
The Composition/ Division Flaw
This is the first flaw that is evident in the article as is characterized by the aspect of stereotyping. The authors have on several occasions displayed their stereotypes in the course of the article as they present their ideas (Kevin, 2013). In the article, the authors assert that black deaths in the hands of the state police become an acceptable routine to the mainstream media and most of the white Americans. There have been cases where the black youths and community have been mistreated in the hands of the police, arguing that the media and white population have accepted it as a routine is not the right position. Based on their argument, the authors want the reader to believe that black youths are being killed indiscriminately by the police since the white population and mainstream media consider it normal (Dohrn & Ayers, 2018). The authors fail to appreciate the fact that there is a significant proportion of the white population that is against the vice by the police and that it is not an issue of whether one is black or white. It is a case of injustices meted by the police, and the fact is it any individual irrespective of their racial inclination ought to consider it an illegal practice by the police. It is thus imperative that the authors stop stereotyping groups and individuals based on some experiences.
The Texas Sharpshooter Flaw
The assessment of the article leads to the realization that the authors are unconsciously ignoring pertinent information that contradicts their positions as they seek out for the information that will affirm their beliefs of an unfair country (Ferrer, 2018). This can be seen in their assertion that there is public ignorance of the white-dominated serial killing on unarmed black people and the racially biased police laws. The assertion by the authors is that the public is quiet about the killing of the black youths and that the American laws are fashioned to be oppressive to the black population (Dohrn & Ayers, 2018). The authors fail to appreciate and highlight the fact that any form of abuse by the police is objected by people from all races and not just the white. Further, there is the additional issue of representation of the black population in both the state as well as federal government among other organizations who always come out condemning any oppressive acts by the police on blacks (Dohrn & Ayers, 2018). Thus the position that there has been a blanket ignorance of the suffering of the black youth and population by the dominant white is not representative of the right position. Cases of the white youth and citizens who have been subjected to police brutality further expose the limitations of this argument by the authors that the blacks are the only ones targeted by the police.
Hasty Generalization
The fallacy is based on the assertion that the authors made general statements without demonstrating evidence to support their position. This fallacy is characterized by claims that the authors have made too hastily, leading to exaggerations and unwarranted conclusion (Ferrer, 2018). The flaw is evident in the authors’ assertion that the jail and court systems are run on money that has been squeezed from poor people via a system that is characterized by civil and criminal harassment and peonage (Dohrn & Ayers, 2018). The assertion that the court and jail systems run on money soled obtained from the poor through oppressive means is in itself faulty and lacks any sound basis for consideration as fact. The fact that the court and jail systems funded from tax money among other means contributed by all US citizens thus makes the argument by the authors to lack the backing it would need to be used as a reference point. An additional aspect of hasty generalization by the authors is evident in the case they contend that everyone knows that state violence is meted selectively and systematically. The position that state violence exists and that it is directed at only the black population considered as failing to meet the necessary foundation of considering it a fact every member of the society can attest that.
Conclusion
Overall, evaluation of the article has presented a host of flaws that make the authors’ arguments unreliable. The first flaw was the composition fallacy whereby the authors relied on stereotyping their views by asserting that black deaths in the hands of the state police had become an acceptable routine to white American. The second flaw was the Texas sharpshooter flaw whereby the authors unconsciously ignored existing information that would contradict their argument to seek out for the information affirming their beliefs of a country that kills black youths. The Hasty generalization can be seen in the assertion that the authors made general statements without demonstrating evidence to support their arguments. The Causal Fallacy is seen trying to convince the readers that the fact that whites dominate America causes the oppression experienced by the white youths. These flaws are predominantly based on the fact that the authors were biased in their argument and solely focused on painting America as a nation where black youths are never given opportunities and killed by the state. The authors, however, ought to be objective in the assessment of the issue of race in America, objectively looking at the issues and cases where it has been evident. Portraying every white American citizen as a racist and depicting the police being used to advance the white agenda does not help the situation. The above flaws would be resolved by undertaking an objective view of the racial subject in America, conducting a fair review of all the underlying issues where all sides are looked into, not just the one where black youths are being killed at the behest of the white population.
Reference
Dohrn, B., & Ayers, W. (2018). Young, Gifted, and Black. In The American Mosaic: The African American Experience. Retrieved from https://africanamerican2.abc-clio.com/Search/Display/2174025 on 13 October 2018
Ferrer, D. (2018). 15 Logical Fallacies You Should Know Before Getting into a Debate accessed via https://thebestschools.org/magazine/15-logical-fallacies-know/
on 13 October 2018
Kevin (2013). Identifying Common Flaws in Arguments accessed via http://barronstestprep.com/blog/identifying-common-flaws-in-arguments/
on 13 October 2018
