“ORIGINAL INTENT” AND THE THREE-FIFTHS HUMAN DECLARATION

Wikipedia defines “Original Intent” as: “The theory of interpretation by which judges attempt to ascertain the meaning of a particular provision of a state or federal constitution by determining how the provision was understood at the time it was drafted and ratified.” Well, just in case we had any doubt, the U.S. Supreme Court in its Dred Scott decision (March 6, 1857) stated quite clearly that those Founding Fathers (they should really be called “mothers”—if you know what I mean) understood that Africans by virtue of their three-fifths human status were chattel, pieces of property, objects of trade to be bought and sold.

Where was that much vaunted “moral compass” of those “Founding Fathers”? Of course, what a naïve question! Machiavelli laid out for us the real deal in his opening paragraph of chapter 18 of THE PRINCE: “experience shows that in our times the rulers who have done great things are those who have set little store by keeping their word, being skillful rather in cunningly deceiving men; they have got the better of those who have relied on being trustworthy.” 

WHITE PRIVILEGE AND “JUSTIFIABLE” ANGER

Everyone seems to accept that white working class Americans are “justifiably” angry because of the steep decline in their standard of living. The U.S. Constitution decrees that Africans are only three-fifths human. And on March 6, 1857, the U.S. Supreme Court with its dread Dred Scott decision reconfirmed the “original intent” of the Constitution, declaring that Africans are nothing more than simple property. Furthermore, the Constitution guaranteed to white Americans the right to keep their property, EVEN THE PROPERTY THAT IS THREE-FIFTHS HUMAN.

The Black American’s standard of living continues to be, PER THE CONSTITUTION, at best three-fifths that of white Americans, even of the “justifiably” angry white working class. Whereas white working class anger is acceptable, Blacks are expected to bear their considerable burdens with patience and resignation.

This is precisely what white privilege is all about.