Reflection on “Library Visit, Then Held at Gunpoint”
Charles M. Blow’s article “Library Visit, Then Held at Gunpoint” tells of the instance in which his son was inappropriately approached by a police officer. Blow recounts his son’s encounter with an officer outside a library at Yale, and how he pointed a gun at his son. Blow explains how his son, a student at Yale, was forced to undergo the police’s inspection even though he had not committed any crimes. Finally after the officer had examined the son’s ID card several times, it was concluded that the officer had made a mistake. Blow’s son was not guilty of any crimes at all; he was simply mistaken for a burglary suspect. After sharing this experience with his audience, Blow conveys his fury at the police officers for pointing a gun at his son. Blow is not upset by the fact that his son was mistaken for a criminal- he is upset that an officer would endanger the life of his son by pointing a gun at him: “What if my son had panicked under the stress, having never had a gun pointed at him before, and made what the officer considered a ‘suspicious’ movement? Had I come close to losing him? Triggers cannot be unpulled.” Blow continues to express his fury at the officials for endangering the life of his son throughout the rest of the article. Blow expresses his parental concerns for his son, and wonders what would have happened if his son had shown any potential sign of resistance. Blow ultimately suggests that the police do not act responsibly when encountering suspects.
I agree with Blow that it is not right for a policeman to point a gun at an accused suspect. Although the policeman thought that Blow’s son was a criminal, the officer had no right to threaten a suspect who was not proclaimed guilty by law. I also think that it is alarming that the police accused an individual of crime based off of his outward appearance.Too often people judge others based on their outward appearance, and make false assumptions. Although Blow does not specifically verify the race of his son, one can assume that his son is the same race as him- African American. Blow alludes to this fact, by verifying that his son was judged by his appearance rather than by his actions. Blow states: “ I am reminded of what I have always known, but what some would choose to deny: that there is no way to work your way out — earn your way out — of this sort of crisis. In these moments, what you’ve done matters less than how you look.” At any given moment, the officer could have easily chosen to hurt the young man, regardless of any laws. Ultimately, I agree with Charles Blow that it is disturbing that people who force the law are violating the safety of innocent individuals.
As a whole, Charles M. Blow uses several rhetorical strategies to convey his frustration with the audience. Blow makes it clear that he does not approve of the way that officials encounter suspects. In the beginning, Blow alerts the audience of his concern about a particular issue by stating: “Saturday evening, I got a call that no parent wants to get…He had been accosted by a campus police officer, at gunpoint!” This statement promotes Blow’s outrage, especially since it ends with an exclamation point. This particular form of punctuation expresses Blow’s fury and rage at the news that he’s about to share. As a result, the audience gets a perspective of the upset tone that Blow will use throughout the article. Additionally, Blow expresses his concern as a father to the audience by only referring to his son as “my son”. Blow never reveals the actual name of his son; however this conveys his genuine care and concern as a father. It is evident that Blow intends to convey his paternal concern to the audience when he states: “What if my son had panicked under the stress, having never had a gun pointed at him before, and made what the officer considered a ‘suspicious’ movement? Had I come close to losing him?” Ultimately this statement expresses Blow’s concern for his son, and strengthens his argument against police using guns against suspects. As a whole, Charles M. Blow effectively conveys his frustration with the officer’s violence to his audience, and justifies his paternal reasons for concern.
Source:
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/26/opinion/charles-blow-at-yale-the-police-detained-my-son.html?rref=collection%2Fcolumn%2Fcharles-m-blow&_r=0
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