Spot the Fallacy: The Heartbeat of Racism?
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Original Question
I'm picking another hot & trending topic for the latest iteration of this game. (For more on the game, see here.)
Today's selection is a pair of tweets.
Sen. Tim Scott: "Hear me clearly: America is not a racist country."
Ibram X. Kendi (in reply): "The heartbeat of racism is denial. We can hear the heartbeat clearly."
Spot the fallacy.
As always, I also welcome any arguments on this topic (Right or Left) that we can assess together using logic and reason. I've found that's a great way to identify and eliminate other logical fallacies that are common when debating these issues. At least, the process always helps me clarify my thinking!
Comments on Question
No one replied with the fallacy I was thinking about, which is shifting of the burden of proof.
That said, we need a better name for the logical fallacy that says denying a claim is proof of a claim. People often use the Salem Witch Trials as an analogy. Apparently, during that time, the accused had two options: admit she was a witch and hope to be shown mercy, or deny it and be hanged.
Kendi is doing something like this with racism. You can either admit to racism and hope to be shown mercy, or deny it and be condemned. Maybe we can call this variation of shifting the burden of truth the Salem Denial fallacy? :-)
I don't see a fallacy at all. The Scott quote as reported here is a conclusion with no argument. The Kendi statement as quoted is a poetic statement with no argument. A fallacy is a faulty argument, and, if there is no argument, there's no fallacy.
Answers
3I think the heartbeat argument commits the logical fallacy here - I do not know what this fallacy is called, but Ibram X. Kendi is not directly addressing the senator's argument, that America isn't a racist country, with statistics and data. Rather, he is making some kind of an ad hominem attack against it.
I just see simple contradiction, which (as Monty Python noted) is not argument. If I saw the whole context, maybe there'd be an argument there. To each their own.
This is probably what is going on in Kendi's mind:
P1) The existence of racism in the US is so obvious, anyone who questions it is in denial
Implicit P) Denial of racism is itself racist
P2) The aforementioned statement questions the existence of racism
C1) This statement is in denial and;
C2) This statement is an example of racism (the "heartbeat" of it, in that racist systems deny their punishing impact on minorities in order to self-perpetuate)
Less of a fallacy, maybe faulty premises though (you could question P1 and the implicit premise too).
Note that neither party attempts to develop their stance here; they're just giving opinions (and if we probe Kendi's mind, the above syllogism could explain his deeper thought-process, but for now, it's left unstated).
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P.S. Scott was responding to people like Kendi. A revised dialogue that included the initial argument he is referencing would look like the below.
Kendi: Racism in America is institutional, structural and systemic. (source)
Scott: Hear me clearly: America is not a racist country.
Kendi: The heartbeat of racism is denial. We can hear the heartbeat clearly.