"The Fallacy of Hard Work": article draft by Roosevelt Fitzgerald

THE FALLACY OF HARD WORK BY ROOSEVELT FITZGERALD
While paging through a logic text a few days ago, I came upon a chapter titled; "Informal Fallacies." Generally speaking, the chapter addressed the numerous ways in which we arrive at erroneous conclusions based upon improper reasoning.
I want to say, from the outset, that I am not a student of the discipline. While I do make a conscious attempt to be logical, I am certain that I miss the mark as frequently as most. I am equally certain that I miss that mark less today than I did ten years ago. Being or, better yet, becoming logical is a process that is influenced not only by our ability to deduce or infer but also by a sense of what is proper which oftentimes is anchored in our cultural orientation. Additionally, because we are constructed the way we are, it is difficult to glean out our individual prejudices which frequently inhibit our ability and even our willingness to be consistent in our logical constructs.
Perhaps the longest on-going relationship that I've had with the subject has been my observations of Mr. Spock. Perhaps that has been his primary role in the "Star Trek" productions; showing us how we must refrain from emotionalism when involved in problem solving.
Of the dozen or so fallacies examined in the chapter, the one to which I seemed most attracted is called "False Cause." It is sometimes presented in the Latin as "non causa pro causa" or "post hoc ergo propter hoc."" In a nutshell, it means to be in error in determining what is not the cause of a given effect for its actual cause.
As I contemplated that fallacy I was compelled to attempt to apply it to something which has contemporary relevance. As I plodded through my memory I was happy to discover that my journey did not require anything near the equivalent of a journey around the world. Just inside the doorway of my mind lay the bull's eye of the target for which I searched.
-2-
I watched "48 Hours" on television a few nights ago. It was all about ethnic and racial tensions in New York City. The hour-long program centered on the boycott of two Korean owned markets by African Americans because of the alleged treatment of a Haitian shopper there who reported that she was struck by the owner following a dispute over the total costs of her shopping. During the early stages of the boycott, a Chinese American member of the Asians For Equality organization attempted to serve as a mediator and, hopefully, thereby bring closure to the conflict. No dice. The boycott continued.
The boycott fragmented the community. There were some who supported it and others who crossed the picket line and still others who neither supported it nor crossed the line but remain, even until now, away from the area out of fear. Among those could be found people from just about every corner of the globe. That shouldn't surprise you. Afterall, there was a time when there were no people living in this place called the United States. Everybody who is here came from somewhere else.
What does it say on the base of the Statue of Liberty? "Send me your tired, your hungry..." You know the rest. Historically, this country has been a beacon for all those people from around the globe who wish a better life for themselves. Rumor has it that if one is fortunate enough to get here, the horn of plenty will be accessible. Our's is a nation of immigrants. President Kennedy authored a book with that title.
Dan Rather, in one segment mid-way through the hour-long program, told us something about the Korean store owner. He said that Chang had arrived to the United States eight years ago and had worked hard for seven years, saved most of his earnings and then bought the store now being boycotted.
Hard work seem to go with immigrants like eggs with bacon. Working twelve, fourteen and sixteen hours per day is not unusual. Many times, when we hear of the success stories involving immigrants, they are punctuated
-3-
with reports of hard work. Seems that there is a truism that with hard work comes economic success, progress and inclusion into mainstream America. It is with this that we finally get to the fallacy of "false cause."
Hard work does not obviate success, progress and/or inclusion into mainstream America. While that may be true for some it is not true for all. Recent immigrants who have lived that success story become ammunition for those who wish to convey those elements as results of hard work. If it is in fact true then it is and should be true all the time. If there is a time or instance in which it does not bear out then there is a fallacy in the conclusion.
Of all the immigrants to come to this country, there is one which stands apart; the African American. No one will dispute that upon his arrival here
- hard work was a portion of his daily bread. From 1619 until 1865 Africans who came here came either as indentured servants or as slaves with the greater number being in the latter category. For well over two hundred years, African immigrants and their descendents worked the typical workshift of from sunrise to sunset. Regrettably, they were not in a position to reap the harvest of their efforts. Rather than put earnings into their pockets or and savings for future accumulations of real property, they were not paid. Even after slavery ended, they found themselves in a new form of slavery—peonage--where their efforts once again went to line the pockets of others. As sharecroppers and tenant farmers, they were in as dire straits as they had been during slavery.
Hard work is not enough. There are obviously other elements necessary in order to complete the equation and make hard work equal success. Some will be quick to say that the difference in the African experience and that of latter day immigrants is that the times are different. That they are. Still, there are some things which remain constant and which must be addressed in order to focus -jn on that which many are most anxious to ignore. Color and
-4-
the hierarachy of suppression.
Many people have come here from Cuba and have done quite well. That is not true of black Cubans or even Cubans who are not black but merely dark skinned. Jaimaicans and Haitians are oursiders. European immigrants and, more recently, Asian immigrants meet much more success. There are several levels of the hierarchy and the group which is on the top remains constant and the group which is on the bottom does the same. The middle groups are in flux and, seemingly, in their efforts to become more appealing to the dominant group or at least the group immediatedly above them, are willing to exert their own discriminatory practices on those beneath them.
To neutralize the fallacy, one must say; "Hard work and being the right race, in American democracy, places one in a better position to attain economic success, progress and inclusion into mainstream America.