AFFIRMATION OF THE

RESOLUTION
Revised: In the United States,
10/11/2017 By John
Authored: Peterson national service ought to
8/8/2017
be compulsory.
Revision 2

Table of Structure
Case Text ......................................................................................................................................... 1
1. Compulsory National Service directly solves for the prevention of racism .................... 4
A. National service reduces racial prejudice and white resentment............................. 4
B. National service changes peoples attitudes to be more concerned about
oppression and injustice. ....................................................................................................... 5
2. Voting Aff brings the issue of institutional racism to light. .............................................. 6
Blocks.............................................................................................................................................. 9
National Service Non-Military................................................................................................... 10
Americans Believe the Term National Service Refers to Civilian or Military Service .... 10
Dictionary Definitions Bad .................................................................................................... 10
John Peterson
Cherokee High School
CNS Afro-Pessimism Affirmative

R.W. Johnson High School 2017

North Hall High School 2017

Affirmation of the Resolution

CASE TEXT
IN THE UNITED STATES , NATIONAL SERVICE OUGHT TO BE

COMPULSORY

F
or years the black body has been excluded and oppressed when it came to discourse

centered around ethics. Rooted in western ideology, academia has confined itself in

a realm in which morality is determined by the white, straight, male. It is the duty of

White people and all non-minorities in America to combat structural issues and act as the

resonating voice against these issues. It is in the face of this hard truth that I am proud to offer

a solution by affirming the resolution Resolved: In the united states, national service ought

to be compulsory. To offer clarification in this round, I offer the following definitions.

TFA, or Teach for America: a national corps of leaders who commit to teaching in low-

income schools and work to increase their students' opportunities in life.

AmeriCorps: a civil society program supported by the U.S. federal government,

foundations, corporations, and other donors engaging adults in public service work.

1
John Peterson
Cherokee High School
CNS Afro-Pessimism Affirmative

Compulsory National Service: An edict that, if passed, requires men and women aged

18-30 to serve at least 2 months in total in AmeriCorps or TFA. Optional exemptions are

offered only to those with any severe diagnosed mental or physical disability.

Deborah Jones Merrit writes:

Merritt chair of law and professor of womens studies at The Ohio State University 2010 Deborah Jones; Piercing the Brilliant Veil: Two Stories of American Racism Public Law and Legal

Theory Working Paper Series No. 129

There are two stories about racism in America. In the first story, we have moved far

beyond our early sins of slavery and segregation. Students of color attend elite colleges

and professional schools. They serve as doctors, lawyers, nonprofit leaders, and

captains of industry. Signs no longer proclaim, whites only, and children of all races

compete equally in integrated classrooms. A democratic majority elected an African

American President, and his black family romps on the White House lawn. In this

America, racism is isolated, sporadic, and anachronistic. A few misguided individuals

occasionally show some racial prejudice, but everyone else abhors racism. We treat

people of all colors equally, so we no longer have to think about race. In the second

story, forty percent of black infants and toddlers live in poverty and one-third of young

Hispanics fare as poorly. Racial slurs, hostility, and disdain for minority students

permeate elementary and secondary schools. High school graduation rates for whites

far outstrip those for black or Hispanic students. Hispanic men are two times more likely

than whites to serve time in prison; black men are six times more This second story

acknowledges the structural, systemic nature of white privilege in America. Black and

2
John Peterson
Cherokee High School
CNS Afro-Pessimism Affirmative

Hispanic children are born into families and neighborhoods marked by discrimination.

In schools and workplaces, these minority children face differential treatment that

deepens their disadvantage. Both locally and nationally, their society responds to the

problems of white people more readily than to the needs of minorities. Teachers work

harder to help struggling white students succeed; the government sends tax dollars to

subsidize farms in white Iowa rather than to fix levees in black Louisiana. Whites are blind both to
these societal differences and to their own personal prejudices.

To acknowledge and take the first step to ending the state our country is in, the highest value

of the round is liberation. This value precedes any other values in the round because we

cannot claim to uphold values like Justice, Equality, Morality, or Societal Welfare while

atrocities like this occur. Ensuring that minorities have an equal voice in our intellectual and

everyday discussions is a precursor to all other values. Thus, the value criterion for the round

is lessening racial disadvantage. The winner of the round under this framework is the debater

who levels the playing field best. Therefore, the Role of the judge is to not only to be an ethical Commented [JW1]: This is why I am thining for a value
equality or equity? Some synonym for level the playing
field. All men are created equal.
decision maker invested in the wellbeing of disadvantaged students, but to recognize and

question whether civil society is ethical and should exist. Accessibility is a multiplier for all

impacts and should be your primary concern because any educational or discursive benefits

are expanded by an accessible space for dialogue. The role of the ballot is remaining

consistent with the best liberation strategy for the oppressed to create accessibility in all

mediums. Commented [JW2]: I need here, in your own words, a

link from your value criterion to the resolution. How/why
does this framework say yes to compulsory national
service? You ultimately have to affirm the resolution and
not just affirm lessening racial disadvantage.

3
John Peterson
Cherokee High School
CNS Afro-Pessimism Affirmative

Through debate, racism is given an arena through which we can engage and participate in

discussion in order to solve for this bitter reality. On this note, my first contention speaks

about how affirming under this framework inherently accesses the impact of decreasing

racism in debate by the Judges acknowledgement of this issue.

1. Compulsory National Service directly solves for the prevention

of racism

A. National service reduces racial prejudice and white resentment.

Mo, Cecilia. Assistant Professor of Public Policy and Education at Vanderbilt. The Case For National Service.

All Gov. June 02, 2017. Web. August 18, 2017. <http://www.allgov.com/news/top-stories/the-case-for-national-service170602?news=860201>.

TFA participation is also linked with less racial resentment and greater Commented [JW3]: For those not familiar with TFA
spell it out. What is TFA? Teach For America.
dissatisfaction with the treatment of minority groups. In other words, TFA Commented [JP(4R3]: Added in beginning of case,
thank you.

participants are more likely to attribute racial inequality to systemic and historical

factors as opposed to lack of effort on the part of black Americans. For instance,

they are 12 percentage points more likely to attribute difficulty in social mobility on

the part of black Americans to generations of slavery and racial discrimination. We

also find evidence of decreased racial prejudice. TFA participants have less implicit

skin-color bias than nonparticipants. Participation in TFA translates to feeling closer

to racial minorities. Those who served a majority African American student

population expressed a 19 percentage point increase in feelings of closeness to the

African American community. Those who taught in majority Hispanic regions

4
John Peterson
Cherokee High School
CNS Afro-Pessimism Affirmative

expressed a 14.5 percentage point increase in feelings of closeness to the Hispanic

community.

B. National service changes peoples attitudes to be more concerned about

oppression and injustice.

Mo, Cecilia. The Case For National Service. All Gov. June 02, 2017. Web. August 18, 2017. <http://www.allgov.com/news/top-stories/the-case-for-national-
service170602?news=860201>.

How does national service change peoples attitudes? A survey of 32,000 Teach for

America applicants shows the effect of national service on peoples beliefs. The

figures below show how the responses of Teach for America participants

compared the responses of applicants who applied to the program but narrowly

missed being admitted. Effects are in percentage point terms. For example, moving

up from 10% to 20% is a 10 percentage point increase, but is an actual 100 percent

increase in what is being measured. Concern for class-based injustice Believes

government should take more responsibility to provide for everyone: 5.8% Believes

hard work doesnt generally bring success. Its more a matter of luck and

connections: 9.3% Believes people are poor because of an unfair society, not

laziness or lack of willpower: 7.2% Concern for class-based education inequality

Believes poor families value education just as much as richer families: 8.5% Believes

systemic injustices perpetuate education inequality throughout society: 7.4%

Believes low income students have unequal educational opportunities as high

income students: 11.3% Racial resentment Believes African Americans have gotten

5
John Peterson
Cherokee High School
CNS Afro-Pessimism Affirmative

more than they deserve: - 10.8% Believes African Americans should overcome

prejudice without special favors: -15.8% Believes that it is really just a matter of Black

individuals working harder to be just as well off as white individuals: - 12.3% Believes

slavery and discrimination has not made it difficult for Black individuals to work

their way up: -11.8% Believes that racial discrimination does not limit particular racial

groups: -11.7% Feels satisfied with how minority groups are treated: -10.6% Race-

based connectedness Feels closeness to African Americans: 19.1% Feels closeness

to Hispanics: 14.6%

Since I have shown that national service has a direct correlation to the reduction of

racial prejudice and resentment, the prevention of which solves for decreasing racial Commented [JW5]: But did you achieve your criterion of
decreasing racial disadvantage? Maybe change your
criterion to this?
disadvantage, you must affirm because making national service compulsory will
Commented [JP(6R5]: Linked to criterion, thanks.

expand the advantage of compulsory national service as it is across all Americans by

enforcing compulsory national service.

2. Voting Aff brings the issue of institutional racism to light.

Elijah Smith writes:

Smith, E. (2016, August 11). A Conversation in Ruins: Race and Black Participation in Lincoln Douglas Debate. Retrieved August 26, 2017, from

http://www.vbriefly.com/2013/09/06/20139a-conversation-in-ruins-race-and-black-participation-in-lincoln-douglas-debate/

It will be uncomfortable, it will be hard, and it will require continued effort but the

necessary step in fixing this problem, like all problems, is the community as a whole

admitting that such a problem with many socially acceptable choices exists in the

first place. Like all systems of social control, the reality of racism in debate is

6
John Peterson
Cherokee High School
CNS Afro-Pessimism Affirmative

constituted by the singular choices that institutions, coaches, and students make on a

weekly basis. I have watched countless rounds where competitors attempt to win by

rushing to abstractions to distance the conversation from the material reality that

black debaters are forced to deal with every day. One of the students I coached, who

has since graduated after leaving debate, had an adult judge write out a ballot that
concluded by hypothetically defending my student being lynched at the
tournament. Another debate concluded with a young man defending that we can kill
Commented [JW7]: I think you are going to get a lot of
questions in CX as to how this contention helps in
affirming national compulsory service. It doesnt. It
affirms why we should talk about racism, but youve yet
to establish what racism has to do with compulsory
national service. I dont think the above introduction
provides enough link. I don t see it.

animals humanely, just like we did that guy Troy Davis. Community norms would Commented [JP(8R7]: Flipping the order of the
contentions in order to prevent the judge from losing
touch with what the case is all about.
have competitors do intellectual gymnastics or make up rules to accuse black debaters

of breaking to escape hard conversations but as someone who understands that

experience, the only constructive strategy is to acknowledge the reality of the

oppressed, engage the discussion from the perspective of authors who are black and

brown, and then find strategies to deal with the issues at hand. It hurts to see

competitive seasons come and go and have high school students and judges spew the

same hateful things you expect to hear at a Klan rally. A student should not, when

presenting an advocacy that aligns them with the oppressed, have to justify why

oppression is bad. Debate is not just a game, but a learning environment with

liberatory potential. Even if the form debate gives to a conversation is not the same

you would use to discuss race in general conversation with Bayard Rustin or Fannie

Lou Hamer, that is not a reason we have to strip that conversation of its connection to

a reality that black students cannot escape.

7
John Peterson
Cherokee High School
CNS Afro-Pessimism Affirmative

As debaters, what we discuss in these rounds affect us and the world outside of

round. An exclusion of race directly affects the minorities within the debate

community and denies the oppressive reality of racism itself. Instead of accessing

traditional impact through this contention, if you affirm you access an impact that

can be seen and felt in the debate community, and since the debate community is

an institution of academia, abroad. This impact will be the revealing of systemic

racism as an issue in the modern world. Thus, you must affirm under the value of

minimizing minority oppression because this impact is inherently heavier than all

other impacts in the round.

8
John Peterson
Cherokee High School
CNS Afro-Pessimism Affirmative

BLOCKS
BLOCKS

9
John Peterson
Cherokee High School
CNS Afro-Pessimism Affirmative

National Service Non-Military

National Service Non-Military

Americans Believe the Term National Service Refers to Civilian or Military Service
The Aspen Institute, A 21st Century National Service System, The Aspen Institute Franklin
Project, June 24-25, 2013,
https://assets.aspeninstitute.org/content/uploads/files/content/docs/franklin/FranklinProject_Plan
ofAction_final.pdf

In order to understand the attitudes and beliefs of American voters, a nationally representative

survey was conducted in March 2013 to test various ideas relating to national service, the publics

understanding of it, and various policies and ideas that the Franklin Project is developing. A strong majority (61 percent) of voters react favorably to the term national service,

while only nine percent of voters express unfavorable views of the term. National service means a variety of things to voters (nearly

all of them positive), including

military/troops who protect our freedom, providing a service to our country, and volunteering through giving your time and talents. Voters also possess positive attitudes toward specific

concepts associated with national service, including volunteering (90 percent favorable), community service (89

percent), military service (86 percent), public service (74 percent), and civilian service (73 percent).

Thus, the American people and thus the connotative value of this word all favor volunteering
4 percent more than military service.

Dictionary Definitions Bad

1. A definition is just that of an isolated word that ignores the larger context provided by the

syntax of the resolution and of the words surrounding the one being defined. Furthermore,

words are defined not phrases. As a result, the contextual definition may be different than

that provided by defining each word of the resolution in a dictionary. Thus, looking only to

dictionary definitions provides a false interpretation of the resolution.

10
John Peterson
Cherokee High School
CNS Afro-Pessimism Affirmative

2. Dictionaries categorize definitions by common usage, but oftentimes the most common

usage of a word is not the one that debaters want to look for. We require external knowledge

or literature to define certain words, because resolutions have empirically used words varying

from the common-usage definitions found in dictionaries.

11