Another day, another person related to the NFL making a terrible point about Covid-19 vaccines…
On Saturday, former Kansas City Chiefs fullback Anthony Sherman said that using different wristbands in training camp to show who is or isn’t vaccinated was like racial segregation.
Analogies can be powerful if they are used properly. They can also be a way to circumvent a logical argument.
What is an analogy?
To put it simply, you make an argument by analogy by comparing two similar things to prove your point about one of the things. The strength of the argument by analogy will depend on the strength of the similarities between the two compared things.
Was Anthony Sherman’s analogy a good analogy or a weak analogy?
Let’s analyze this:
Similarities
- People who are unvaccinated are being given something different than people who have been vaccinated
Dissimilarities
- Racial segregation is based on something that the target of discrimination has no control over
- Race is not contagious
- Being of a different race isn’t a communicable disease
- Being black isn’t considered to be bad or deadly1
Overall, I’d say that this is a false analogy and a pretty terrible analogy. Treating groups differently based upon failure to get a vaccination for a communicable disease is fundamentally different than treating two groups differently based upon race. The better analogy would have been to compare the unvaccinated to people with leprosy.
But, I thought that Sherman went back to try to clarify his point?
He certainly tried. Whether he succeeded is a different question. Let’s dig into it:
Sherman makes the point that recent studies have shown that the vaccinated show similar viral loads and are also capable of spreading Covid-19. He also says that, because of this, choosing to treat the unvaccinated differently is unjust and discriminatory.
I’d say that this is closer to a good analogy, but it’s still not quite there. First, studies have shown that the vaccines have reduced the spread of the original SARS-CoV-2 by over 80%. The new problem is the Delta variant. Second, although studies have shown that the vaccinated can still carry and transmit the Delta variant of Covid-19, the studies are also showing that the vaccinated are at a significantly lower risk of suffering from serious disease or hospitalization from that variant.
Even if you aren’t looking at the risk of lawsuits for the league and teams not taking adequate measures to protect against serious infection and death, the league has an interest in keeping players as healthy as possible and doing what they can to contain the virus.
One last thing: False analogies and the Holocaust
People who should know better keep comparing Covid-related mandates to the Holocaust.3 As a general rule of thumb, unless you’re talking about an actual genocide, stop comparing things to the Holocaust. It grossly minimizes and trivializes one of the worst genocides in recorded history, it smacks of anti-semitism, it’s in poor taste, and it’s an appeal to emotion rather than reason.
- This doesn’t address the disproportionate number of black people killed by law enforcement or the overall poorer healthcare outcomes, but you get my point. ↩
- Text of tweets by Anthony Sherman: “{edit} class citizens within the league. Recalling the DEFINITION of segregation: the separation or isolation of a race, CLASS, or ethnic group by enforced or voluntary residence in a restricted area, by barriers to social intercourse, by separate educational facilities, or by other discriminatory means. THIS is the point I was making in my previous tweet. Segregating the unvaccinated from the vaccinated is discrimination based on personal medical choice. It is not only wrong, it is unAmerican.” ↩
- And y’all: Everyone should know better. ↩
