Analysis Of No Room At The Inn By Yasmin Alibhai-Brown

In “No Room at the Inn”, Yasmin Alibhai-Brown (2002) argues that racism supports current views towards refugees and haven seekers, and a valuable legacy is being lost. Yasmin Alibhai-Brown is a Muslim Ugandan born British journalist and is of Asian origins. In 1975, Alibhai-Brown received a Master of Philosophy in Literature degree from Oxford University. She is a journalist whom has written for numerous newspapers, including: The Mail, The New York Times, The Guardian and more, as well as being a regular columnist on The Independent and London’s Evening Standard (The Guardian, n.d). Alibhai-Brown is additionally a radio and television broadcaster and an author of several books. Her writings focus on the subject of immigration, diversity, and
Firstly, the author has a hasty generalization logical fallacy, which can be found in the following: “white immigrants are always seen as ‘intrepid’ people with ‘vigorous’ blood which adds to the receiving nation; similarly ambitious immigrants with darker skin or other ‘alien’ characteristics are always presumed to be carriers of chaos and untold problems” (Alibhai-Brown, 2002, p.322). Here, Alibhai-Brown generalizes all white immigrants as fearless with superior blood, while all immigrants whom carry other characteristics are seen as dangerous. Secondly, Alibhai-Brown uses the logical fallacy, personal attack, in the subsequent sentence: “these leaders pretend that they are responding to ‘illegal’ immigrants but it is pernicious racism and xenophobia which is animating their zeal and policies”. She mentions how leaders are not dealing with the illegal immigrants while not obtaining evidence to support her proclamation. Thirdly, an additional use of logical fallacies is the use of red herring. In the following lines: “His smart suit, beautifully, groomed long hair …”, the author mentions the man’s physical appearance, which has no significant importance to the article. Another aspect that negatively supports her strategies is the use of pathos, where the author uses the words “destroying” “suffer”, “beautifully”, and “pernicious” to appeal to the reader’s emotion. Then, the article is neglected of surveys, studies, and expert opinion, which would have been ideal support if added. Next, Alibhai-Brown states numerous statistics, which are not accurately supported. For instance, in the following: “…, the city which received 4,000 asylum seekers last March” here, the author overlooked citing her source, making her statement less