Article Analysis of Black Valedictorians and the Toxic Trope of Black Exceptionalism by Samuel Getachew (Essay Sample)

In the article, “Black Valedictorians and the Toxic Trope of Black Exceptionalism” written by Samuel Getachew and published by The New York Times in 2021, Getachew argues that the emphasis of Black exceptionalism demeans the issue with the education system. A story of a high school senior gaining praise for being an “inner city” success is highlighted by Getachew. However, the student, Akintunde Ahmad, did not agree with the media’s enthusiasm. Getachew highlights another similar story of a friend, Ahmed Muhammed, who became the first Black male valedictorian at Oakland Technical High school (Getachew, 2021). Like Ahmad, Muhammed had a similar feeling, asking why it took 106 years for this to happen. With these stories, Getachew states that the programs that helped them succeed need to be available to others. Although Oakland Technical High School had a history of being a violent school, the addition of an advanced program raised the reputation of the school (Getachew, 2021). With the increase in their reputation, more students gained an interest in the school, leading to the program becoming disproportionately white.  This was just not specified for the Oakland program; it has been reflected in many advanced programs around the country.  Being the only Black student in the class, Getachew recalls that his friends felt uncomfortable joining the program due to the lack of diversity. At first, it was not about the interest in the program, instead the problem was about the application requirements for the program (Getachew, 2021). The program eventually was adjusted to incorporate others by dismissing the requirements, however, this was not the answer for other schools.  The student before, Akintunde Ahmad, later recalled that his brother was incarcerated and was a “footnote” to his own success.  This lack of attention to his brother, prompted Ahmad to question why they were not focused on his story.  Yes, his story remained with others even after all attention from media died down, but Getachew states that these stories are merely a distraction.  He then finishes by stating, that he wants these stories to be so common that the media will not cover it (Getachew, 2021). 

Though Samuel Getachew has a slight bias against the school system and the use of black exceptionalism as a distraction from their complications.  He utilizes well developed evidence that not only appeals to emotion, but it also appeals to logic of his argument.  For this reason, Samuel Getachew presents an effective and convincing argument.

Evidence Evaluation

Getachew provides well thought out evidence within his article, one example is testimonial. Getachew depicts this by saying “Mr. Ahmad reflects on this in his piece in The Atlantic, in which he describes how his smart, talented older brother ended up incarcerated, and a “footnote” in the media accounts of his success story (Getachew, 2021, para. 16).” Getachew links the article by Ahmad, and it does in fact reflect the same message Getachew derived. This piece of evidence appeals to pathos, as it prompts the emotions of unfairness and grief, that his brother did not get the same opportunity as he did. This evidence also exemplifies his claim. Showing that the media preferred to depict his success story, as opposed to his brother’s disheartening, narrative. This depiction of his story writes off the inadequacy of the education system, providing more support to his claim. 

The second piece of evidence Getachew utilizes is through his own personal experience. It shown when he states “Oakland Tech’s enrollment is about a quarter Black, but the courses I took that were necessary to be a competitive college applicant were disproportionately white. The classes in the Paideia program are standard size: about 20 to 30 students. But there were only three Black students in my grade remaining in the entire program by the time we graduated. During my junior year I was the only Black person in my Advanced Placement U.S. History class (Getachew, 2021, para. 9).” The first-hand account appeals to ethos, as it provides his personal experience at the school. Presenting more strong support to the claim that he personally witnessed the inadequacies of the school’s conduct. Getachew provides logic into his argument with this account, stating the inequity between Black and White students in the class. Though his attendance is noted, no figure or data reinforces his claim on the demographics of the class. This makes it difficult to fully trust the information he provides. 

The third piece of evidence Getachew (2021) provides is “In his graduation speech last month, Mr. Muhammad pointedly asked why it took 106 years for Oakland Tech to award this honor to a Black male student (para. 5).” The accuracy of the information is supported by the link to Muhammad’s speech. This is simply a fact that is brought up by Getachew and appeals to logos. Questioning why it has taken so long, presents the evidence that something has prevented Black male students from obtaining valedictorian at the school. Furthering the support to Getachew’s claim, that the education system is flawed. 

Getachew does address the counterevidence presented in the article, when he quotes the Oakland Unified District’s director of communications. Stating that they were “working on eliminating the racial “achievement gap” (Getachew, 2021, para. 14).” While Getachew acknowledges the effort to change the accessibility of the system in place at his school. However, he then continues to say that this is not the only answer to the problem, stating “Highlighting stories of Black exceptionalism while neglecting to contextualize them simply perpetuates the inequities that make them unique to begin with (Getachew, 2021, para. 15)” While he addresses the counterevidence and agrees with it, he still counters it without providing information regarding on how they should change. However, Corey Kilgannon draws from another student with a different perspective on the subject, in his article “After 274 Years, Princeton Will Have Its First Black Valedictorian” (2020). With their first Black valedictorian at Princeton, Nicholas Johnson views his accomplishment in an inspiring way for others. Stating “I’ve had many critical conversations with classmates on campus about their thoughts on Princeton’s legacy and how it affects their daily life as students, and what we can do to create a college environment in which students who look like us can thrive (Kilgannon, 2020).” While recognizing the present problems with the school, Johnson still believes his story can provide a positive influence on others. Not only providing a positive influence on others, but actively making a better school environment for students like him. 

Language Use

Getachew’s writing techniques include personal experience and the use of examples to support his argument. As mentioned in the evidence evaluation, he utilizes personal experience at his school to use as evidence. The use of examples includes Ahmed Muhammed and Akintunde Ahmad’s testament about their views. This directly supports his main claim about the education system’s inequities towards Black students. Ahmed Muhammed is the best example for this statement as seen from his speech (Getachew, 2021, para. 5). With Akintunde Ahmad’s testimonial, he highlights the use of Black exceptionalism as the distraction from the education system’s disparities (Getachew, 2021, para. 2). Getachew presents a formal tone all throughout the article with a slight sense protest to the inequities. He keeps the article from sounding defensive or angry, and instead focuses on his evidence with professionalism. This formal tone appeals to logos, as it presents reasonable and logical evidence, rather than relying, solely on emotion.