The Perfect Victim Downfall Summary

In the article “The Perfect-Victim Pitfall: Michael Brown, and Now Eric Garner”, author Charles Blow argues that racial discrimination in our justice system is still a very prevalent issue we should be paying attention to. Blow insists that we must look at the uncomfortable reality that racism still exists and is tainting our police force and the criminal justice system alike. He strongly believes that the excessive force utilized in recent police situations was due to racism. Charles Blow acknowledges the recent cases of Michael Brown and Eric Garner as fueled by racial discrimination and urges the reader to not allow these cases to be swept under the rug. The main purpose Charles Blow is trying to convey is that racial discrimination is

The audience of this argument is most likely the same as the last article, but now including those people who are unsure about the statistics presented on black crime. This article also assumes its audience is up-to-date, and possibly unsure about the reasoning. One subclaim that Chapman reports is that black-on-black crime is not an issue created by blacks, but instead one created by white society and the degradation of black communities. He also suggests that in a ratio, the amount of black criminals to black population is quite low but is often in the spotlight because the black population is often crammed in one area. These claims are logos, as Chapman uses statistics and hard data to present his case. He observes that “less than 5 percent of African-Americans are involved in violent crime as perpetrators or victims”, and furthermore presents that in the last seventeen years homicide rates committed by blacks has dropped by more than half. The counterargument to this article would be that blacks are to blame for the recent police injustices. An audience unwilling to listen would be people who strongly believe black on black crime is the norm, and racism is not a key