Ruffin Outline
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School
Florida State University *
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Course
2000
Subject
Philosophy
Date
Dec 6, 2023
Type
docx
Pages
7
Uploaded by masontorrance9
Stage 1: Determine the need for critical self-protection by asking:
1.
Is a major claim on beliefs/attitudes/values or actions being made?
Ruffin is not making a major claim on values regarding credit scores. She gives the
audience her point of view on credit scores and shows the bias of our society regarding
credit scores and racism.
2.
Is the person merely relaying information or is he/she/they strategically presenting the
material?
Ruffin is strategically presenting information in the rhetor. She gives the audience
supporting evidence of her claims through statistics, comparisons, and authoritative
evidence.
Stage 2: Identify the claims that are being made:
1.
Minoritized people are more likely to be turned down by mortgage lenders.
2.
Credit reports and scores disproportionately disadvantage Black people and people of
color.
3.
Other predictors of credit scores are also ridiculous and biased.
4.
Credit scores have far-reaching consequences, beyond home ownership.
5.
We need to get rid of credit scores. Or at very least, reform the current system.
Stage 3: Test the quality of the case for the claims:
Substage 1: Does the rhetor provide evidence and reasoning for every claim?
Claim 1- Statistical and authoritative evidence from AP news. “
She was told she didn’t qualify
because she was a contractor, not a full-time employee — even though her co-workers were
contractors, too. And they had mortgages.
Crystal Marie’s co-workers are white. She
and Eskias are Black.” (para. 4)
Claim 2- Authoritative evidence from National Consumer Law Center
Claim 3- Comparison between rent payment and mortgage payment. “
While
rent payments don’t count toward your credit score, mortgage payments do. And guess who is
more likely to have mortgages? White people.” (Para. 7-9)
Claim 4- Example evidence,
“
Your credit score doesn’t just affect your ability to buy a house.
Employers use credit reports to decide whether to give you a job. Car dealers use them to pick
the interest rate on your vehicle. Credit scores even determine how much interest you pay on
your student loans, which explains why a study found out that borrowers who attend mostly
white colleges get lower interest rates than borrowers who attend historically Black colleges ...”
(para. 10)
Claim 5- Comparison evidence, “Fun fact. A lot of countries don’t have them at all. They’re
extremely American.” (para. 12). This shows the comparison of America to other countries that
supposedly do not have a credit score system.
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Substage 2: Does the support material meet the tests of evidence?
Claim 1- statistical, passes the TOE.
Claim 2- authoritative, passes the TOE.
Claim 3- comparison- passes the TOE.
Claim 4- comparison, does not pass the TOE.
Claim 5-comparison, does not pass the TOE.
Substage 3: Is the reasoning consistent?
Ruffins’s reasoning is consistent. Throughout her statement she presented information
consistently to support her claim that the credit score system has many issues.
Substage 4: Does the reasoning lead to the conclusion directly or could there be alternative
factors that invalidate the conclusion?
The reasoning does not lead to the conclusion and there are alternative factors that invalidate
the conclusion. There are many different reasons as to why some individuals do not get
approved for loans or mortgages other than the color of their skin. Ruffin primarily focuses on
the credit system being racist but there are many other factors than racism.
Substage 5: Are there counterarguments or facts that invalidate the conclusion?
Yes, there are counterarguments that invalidate the conclusion. Many outside sources explained
how if we did away with the credit system in our country that many businesses and banks would
fail due to people not paying back loans or mortgages.
Consider whether on balance on a strong argument is made:
Strengths/Weaknesses
Strengths
1.
Ruffin gives credibility to support her claims by citing expert sources, including
institutions such as the National Consumer Law Center, the Federal Reserve, and the
Brookings Institution, all of which agree about the racial disparities existing in credit
scores.
2.
Ruffin uses evidence of example, such as the omission of rent payments from the
formula calculating credit score, as reasoning to support claim 2, since a larger
percentage of black Americans rent than white Americans, and by not including rent in
calculating credit score prevents the opportunity for people who do rent to raise their
credit score.
Weaknesses
1.
The evidence does not lead to the conclusion. The evidence proves that there is a
disparity of interest rates on student loans, but that evidence has weak correlation to
credit score consequences.
2.
Ruffin provides certain factors that credit bureaus consider when compiling a credit
report, though at other times posits that part of the credit system’s essential unfairness
stems from its secrecy. This contradiction, coupled with no citation of a study or
authority here, creates a weakness in Ruffin’s argument.
3.
Claim 5 does not pass the TOE and no evidence given in support of the claim.
Stage 4: Test the rhetoric for manipulation:
1.
Does the rhetoric attempt to prevent other voices from being heard?
Ruffin is very passionate on her claims, but she does not attempt to prevent other voices
from being heard. She is very opinionated in her claims, but this seems more of a debate
than her shutting out other opinions.
2.
Does the rhetoric attempt to overwhelm our reason?
I would not say that Ruffin attempts to overwhelm our reason, but the sporadic use of
humor throughout the rhetoric can distract from the argument and claims being made.
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3.
Does the rhetoric attack groups or individual people, rather than their ideas or actions?
She attacks groups or ideas.
Ruffin attacks ideas rather than groups or individual people. She is attacking the issues
with credit scores, but not singling out a group or individual.