By now you've probably all heard about the situation regarding Colin Kaepernick. If you haven't, please google it and I'll wait for you here.
Recently around Facebook, an open letter from retired police officer Chris Amos has been circulating, commenting on the situation. As of September 3rd, it has amassed 34K shares on Facebook, and multiple online news outlets have spread the word further.
This letter has many, many rhetorical flaws and is very dangerous because of that. Readers agreeing with the letter appear to see it as justification to dismiss the prevailing issues of police violence and systematic racism that Kaepernick has highlighted.
Below I have a point by point analysis of Amos's letter with commentary on what is and is not effective rhetorically.
"An Open Letter to Colin Kaepernick,
"Dear Colin guess you have been pretty busy these last few days.
This is an odd way to start a letter. There isn’t anything inherently wrong, but the sarcasm of the understatement “pretty busy” starts this letter with an arguably hostile tone. (On another note, I’m not sure how I feel about Amos using Kaepernick’s first name. Maybe it’s my journalism side coming out).
"For the record I don’t think any more or less of you for not standing for the national anthem.
Okay, so now we have to search for another purpose to your letter.
"Honestly, I never thought that much about you, or any professional athlete for that matter, to begin with.
I would venture that this bit is unnecessary.
"I’ve read your statement a few times and want you to know I am one of the reasons you are protesting.
Honest point.
"You see I am a retired police officer that had the misfortune of having to shoot and kill a 19-year-old African-American male.
Very pointed syntax here. Amos pushes off all personal agency by saying it was both a misfortune, and he had to do it. I do not know the specifics of the case so I won’t go into politics of whether deadly force was justified, but there have been many a time where non deadly force has successfully incapacitated a threat.
"And just like you said, I was the recipient of about $3,000 a month while on leave, which was a good thing because I had to support a wife and three children under 7 years old for about 2 months with that money. Things were pretty tight because I couldn’t work part-time. Every police officer I’ve ever known has worked part-time to help make ends meet.
Appeal to pity.
"You know, Colin, the more I think about it, the more we seem to have in common.
Get ready, folks.
"I really pushed myself in rehab to get back on the street, kind of like you do to get back on the field. You probably have had a broken bone or two and some muscle strains and deep bruising that needed a lot of work. I just had to bounce back from a gunshot wound to the chest and thigh. Good thing we both get paid when we are too banged up to “play,” huh?
Okay, a couple of things are going on here. First, this comparison does not make sense. Kaepernick’s actions were a statement made as a black man commenting on the lives of black people. He’s not commenting on life as a football player.
Secondly, the sass is almost inarguable at this point. One need look no further than the “huh?” at the end of the passage.
Also, more appeal to pity.
"We both also know what it’s like to get blindsided. You by a 280-pound defensive end, ouch!
You know what’s more of an ouch? The systematic racism you’re confusing for the struggles of a football player.
"Me, by a couple of rounds fired from a gun about 2 feet away into my chest and thigh.
More … appeal … to … pity.
"We also both make our living wearing uniforms, right? You have probably ruined a jersey or two on the field of play. I still have my blood-stained shirt that my partner and paramedics literally ripped off my back that cold night in January.
This fallacious false comparison isn’t stopping any time soon, is it.
"Fortunately, like you I was given a new one. Speaking of paramedics aren’t you glad the second we get hurt trainers and doctors are standing by waiting to rush onto the field to scoop us up. I’m thankful they get to you in seconds. It only took them about 10 minutes to get to me.
It’s as if football and being a police officer are completely different things! One is a closely monitored sport in a closed environment with very controlled variables, and the other is very unpredictable! Also, why is this comparison still being made?
And I’m getting sick of these dramatic understatements. We get it. You have a lot of pent up anger and it’s coming out as sass. You can stop now.
"By the grace of God, the artery in my thigh didn’t rupture or else 10 minutes would have been about 9 minutes too late.
Okay, I think he’s actually done now.
"We also have both experienced the hate and disgust others have just because of those uniforms we wear. I sure am glad for your sake that the folks who wear my uniform are on hand to escort you and those folks that wear your uniform into stadiums in places like Seattle!
In a proper metaphor, the uniform Kaepernick is wearing would be his black skin. I wonder if he experiences any hate or disgust in that uniform.
"I guess that’s where the similarities end, Colin.
They never started.
"You entertain for a living, I and almost 800,000 others across this country serve and protect.
Please just stop this comparison.
"Are there some bad apples within my profession? Absolutely, and they need to be identified and fired or arrested! But you know what, the vast majority do the right thing, the right way, for the right reason.
Good thing Kaepernick isn’t calling for the mass firing of every police officer, then. He wants murder to stop. Who doesn't want murder to stop?
"Did I mention that seconds before I was shot, an elderly African-American gentleman walking down the sidewalk, turned to my partner and I as we rode past and said, “Get them.”
This is a derivative of the “I’m not racist because I have a black friend,” concept. Also, do all police officers take the advice of untrained strangers walking about?
"Get who, you ask? The thugs terrorizing an otherwise good and decent neighborhood,
I’m not going to go into this too far, but the fact that he uses the word “thug” disgusts me.
"home to dozens of good, decent African-American families trying to raise those families in communities not protected by gates and security guards.
This made me chuckle actually. “not protected by gates and security guards.” Those poor struggling black people. It must be so hard living without those amenities. This sounds like a quote from Jack Donoghy in "30 Rock." News Flash, the vast majority of US citizens do not live in gated communities. (I couldn't find a great stat for this, but in the 2001 census it was six percent)
"No these folks and families depend on America’s law enforcement officers.
Depend on, live in fear of. Tomato, tomahto.
"Colin, I have buried 7 friends killed in the line of duty and three others who have committed suicide. I have attended more funerals than I care to remember of neighboring departments who have lost officers in the line of duty, during my career. Law enforcement officers with different backgrounds, upbringings and experiences united by their willingness to answer the call to protect and serve their fellow citizens.
appeal to pity…
"Colin, I am sorry for the endorsement deals you may lose and the dip in jersey sales, but please know you will NEVER lose what these men and women and their families have lost.
Again, Kaepernick isn’t saying “oh boo hoo, my sales are down and I got hurt as a football player. *crying*” he’s making a statement about systematic racism. This statement about jersey sales is misleading and belittling.
People of color don't sign up for anything and face hatred on a day to day basis. Police officers literally sign up for a dangerous job, knowing full well the possibilities. I would argue that “you will NEVER lose what these men and women and their families have lost” is blatantly incorrect. And are you suggesting that Kaepernick could never have a family member die or be killed and experience grief in the way that the families of killed police officers do? That makes literally no sense.
Please stop writing in absolutes.
"And so whether you stand or sit during the national anthem means very little to me. As for me and the men and women on whose team I was privileged to serve, we will put on our ballistic vests, badge and gun, kiss our loved ones goodbye, for some tragically for the last time, and out into a shift of uncertainty we will go. We will continue to protect and continue to serve and we will be standing at attention, Colin, not just for the playing of our national anthem, but far more importantly for the playing of Taps."
Overall, the key rhetorical flaw here is that Amos is trying to compare the life of a police officer to the life of a football player, when this is a conversation about race. The letter misses the point completely. This letter is a narrative manifesto of the valid struggles of a police officer that refuses to address the equally and incomparable valid struggles of being a person of color in the US.
