Sanders, Bob Ray. “Don’t Remove Jefferson Davis Statue – Rather, Learn from It.” Star-telegram. Star Source, 15 May 2015. Web. 11 Aug. 2015.
Chevelle, Innocent. “NO! Do NOT sign his hateful thing. The premise that Jefferson was some kind of white supremacist is wrong, absurd and doesn’t have any factual basis. Davis and his wife adopted an abused orphan black child named Jim Limber Davis who lived with them and their own children. After the war, Union soldiers kidnapped and murdered Jim Limber. Davis was a US hero of the Mexican War, a US Senator, US Secretary of War, and was elected as president of the CSA. This was truly a great man who should be admired, similar to George Washington. People such as Zim are free to make fools of themselves, as he has done with this moronic ‘petition’.” Facebook. 17 May 2015. 10:32am [11 August 2015. <www.facebook.com>]
A major incident recently hit the media. A teenage boy named Dylann Roof murdered a group of African Americans at a local bible study in South Carolina. When investigators researched him, they found Roof with Confederate pictures. Following the release of Roof’s Confederate pictures, a new wave of hatred towards Confederate-related symbols rose up in America. Along with the many other attacks towards these symbols, most University of Texas students oppose the Jefferson Davis statue being on campus. As the majority wishes this statue be removed, other students wish that wed keep the statue on campus. A current UT student, Innocent Chevelle, poses herself as an unreliable source when she uses fallacies to claim that the Davis statue petition is wrong.
This is where Chevelle’s post and Zim’s comment can be found.
Chevelle uses an Ad Hominem Argument to open up. “The premise that Jefferson was some kind of white supremacist is wrong, absurd and doesn’t have any factual basis,” she attacks Zim for assuming that Jefferson was a white supremacist. I disagree, because Jefferson spent a good portion of his life fighting for slavery to be legalized. I feel that her argument is illogical, because she gives no clear evidence as to how Jefferson was not a supremacist. She goes on by saying,”Davis and his wife adopted an abused orphan black child named Jim Limber Davis…After the war, Union soldiers kidnapped and murdered Jim Limber Davis,” (Chevelle). Chevelle doesn’t thoroughly explain how this adopted slave ties back to Jefferson not being a white supremacist. As the readers, we don’t know if Thomas Jefferson adopted a slave because he wanted to use that slave for house work. We don’t know if he actually wanted to save a slave from working under someone.
Chevelle appropriately labels Davis’ roles, which is acknowledged by the reader. Her use of facts and appeal to ethos makes her more credible. Chevelle uses Name Calling by saying, “ People such as Zim are free to make fools of themselves, as he has done with this moronic ‘petition’.”. Although, Chevelle feels that Zim is a fool and moronic for commenting about the petition, personally attacking Zim leads her to lose her credibility. Chevelle also fails to explain herself. Why did she feel that his petition post was moronic?
Overall, Chevelle based the majority of her argument on fallacies. This does not make the readers feel she is a trustworthy person, because she uses little evidence and no explanations to backup her claims. The audience, people who read this blog, should not believe this post. Chevelle’s claim is not backed by any evidence that would support her argument. Also, her heavy appeals to pathos overwhelm readers, because they feel as though Chevelle is just talking randomly in an angry way and not organizing her reasons in the right way. Appeals to pathos are heavily shown when Chevelle demeans the author through her use of negative adjectives and the style she writes this in.
Yes, Juan. The author of that comment should have applied the Black Adopted Child in the way that would help their argument, not solely attack another person using it. She just starts attacking and has no real reasons as to why she is attacking him. This is what I don’t get. She didn’t even use any historical background to prove her point.
I agree that the fact that Davis adopted a black child could mean anything. Although the author tries to paint it in such an ambiguous manner that he almost wants it for use to paint his own picture. Moreover, how does the author want the public to admire Davis. Despite whatever he did before the CSA he still went against his country. It is a thing with people that infamy is more likely to to stick with people.
This was very interesting to read. I have never heard about someone arguing for the Jefferson Davis statue, so this is a first. Your source seems very adamant about the statue, that makes me wonder about her ties to it. I agree that her argument is illogical, because at the end o f the day Jefferson Davis wasn’t a hero to everyone, she needs to understand that.