Recently, I have been spending a lot of my thought time on race and racism as we observe it in our current American community.
You would be right if you think I came to this as a result of our 2016 Presidential Election and all that has transpired since. I had previously been comfortable in a belief that our citizenry had evolved past much of the racism we are witnessing daily, but the election shocked me out of my comfort zone because these racist sentiments were much more prevalent than I thought. I knew there was still racism in America, but I was surprised by the portion of our society that seemingly embraced such sentiments. It is hard for me to believe that somewhere around 30% of all Americans are actual racists. That said they steadfastly support President Trump, a man who is not just racist, but prejudiced against women, all people of color, LGBTQ persons, non-Christians, and anyone else who is different from him. His racism is displayed so boldly that I think anyone who supports him must also be racist at some level.
I wrote another blog post a month or so ago and there was a disclaimer paragraph that applies here in this work as well. The title of that blog post was On Servants and Slaves and the disclaimer paragraph reads: “Next, please allow me to make this point about our topic and place it prominently above all other elements of this effort – the institution of slavery and everything relating to it is abhorrent and immoral. There are no redeeming qualities, no excuses, no defenses, and no justifications that make it anything other than abhorrent and immoral. With that said, we can’t fix what is broken if we don’t know what we are fixing so knowledge is better than ignorance even when that knowledge comes with a great deal of discomfort. We didn’t make this conversation necessary, but necessary it is if we are to find unity and equality in our American dream.”
I have been reading everything I can find on the subject and I think I have some ideas starting to flesh out that are worth sharing. I’ll start at the beginning.
My Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, 11th Edition (Kindle Edition) offers the following:
“race n [MF, generation, fr. OIt razza] (1580) 1: a breeding stock of animals 2a: a family, tribe, people, or nation belonging to the same stock 2b: a class or kind of people unified by shared interests, habits, or characteristics 3a: an actually or potentially interbreeding group within a species; also: a taxonomic category (as a subspecies) representing such a group 3b: breed 3c: a category of humankind that shares certain distinctive physical traits…”
So the earliest records indicate that the term “race” as a distinction between human beings or groups of human beings comes into usage somewhere in the mid-1500s. The term is invented by humans and used to communicate with other humans about humans.
I am going to be generous (some might say overly so) and offer a plausible theory of how it all began – this conversation about “race.” The business of science starts with an observation of something that is not fully understood. Simplistically speaking, let’s assume that one person with a curious mind (aka. Scientific mind) is talking to another person about observable differences between people they know or know about. Let’s also assume that they decide to call two of the groups “white” and “non-white.” With this theoretical construct a scientific study is born. Back to Merriam-Webster we go to find out about the scientific method of study.
“scientific method n (ca. 1810): principles and procedures for the systematic pursuit of knowledge involving the recognition and formulation of a problem, the collection of data through observation and experiment, and the formulation and testing of hypotheses”
So these early scientists have an observation that people come in different colors and their resulting problem is how are they different and why? The scientific method wasn’t yet recognized, but our two inquisitors were ahead of their time so they collect some data and develop a hypothesis to explain what they have observed. Next, these two scientists will refine their work through an iterative use of the steps of their early scientific method. The meaning and use of the term race could very well have started innocently, but it evolved into something much more sinister when it began being used to divide humans into groups and to categorize and prioritize their various characteristics.
At some point another person who was not inclined to the discipline of the scientific method would have encountered the work of these scientists and put it to use in society. Never mind that the work was probably not yet ready for prime time it would have become widely known and used by folks far and wide because it seemed to explain some of their beliefs and prejudices about people they didn’t understand.
We all have beliefs and prejudices about the world around us. They help us to survive challenges we face in life that we aren’t capable of fully understanding. It isn’t our beliefs and prejudices that are the problem. No, the problem is what we do with those beliefs and prejudices as we go through our daily activities and it is at this point that I remind my readers of two types of reasoning – inductive and deductive. Inductive thinking involves using a small sample of observations and applying them to all like situations. Deductive thinking is the reverse situation starting from the more general situation and applying a large sample of observations to a more limited situation. Both of these types of reasoning have a place in our survival, but if we misuse them it will lead to outcomes we may not have expected.
I am of the opinion, though I cannot locate the exact point in our history where it occurred, that when the study of race turned from humans being equal to each other regardless of their different characteristics to an acceptance of the notion that there could be a prioritization of humans based on these different characteristics, the scientific study of race lost its scientific validity all together. It was at this precise moment that racism was born and all the abhorrence and immorality that we now ascribed to it began to take root.
In 1619 when the first black Africans were brought to Jamestown and traded for provisions, there were no laws to govern their treatment and so they were recognized more like indentured servants which did have legal status in the colony. That said, they were traded as property for provisions and that caused them to be recognized as chattel even though there wasn’t a clear legal distinction to draw upon for the transaction. I will argue that in 1619 when these 19 black Africans arrived in Jamestown, slavery arrived in the colonies. So slavery arrived in North America roughly 150 years before the birth of the United States of America. Further, I don’t think a credible argument can be offered to distinguish between the existence of slavery and the existence of racism so, it follows that racism also arrived in North America roughly 150 years before the birth of the United States of America. Let that sink in for a moment.
With racism as part of the birth identity of the United States of America, we must adjust our thinking to accept that the United States of America was a racist country from the start. Our American society has been systemically racist from the get go! Our system of laws and regulations has always been systemically racist because it was created that way – we have never been without systemic racism. When it comes to race in our American Judicial System, we have never been really equal – our American Judicial System has always been a system of racial injustice. Just read The Constitution of the United States or America. There it is in the very first sentence of the third paragraph of Section 2 to Article 1 which reads: “Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other Persons.” This is the famous Three-Fifths Compromise language and it is addressing the representation and taxation relating to slaves. At the core of our democracy, our Constitution, we find open evidence of racial injustice.
So, how many of our Founding Fathers were Slave Holders? We’ll need to start by understanding who I am counting as a Founding Father. We all recognize George Washington, Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson, etc. as Founding Fathers, but to be more inclusive and consistent, I am using a list of persons who were elected to office from 1774 when the Articles of Association were adopted; through 1776 when the Declaration of Independence was adopted; continuing through the years from adoption of the Articles of Confederation to 1789 when The Constitution of the United States was written and ratified. That list of persons contains 345 names. Some of them are well known to us because our history books contained prominent writings about their efforts to achieve our independence. Other names are almost unknown and in that obscurity some might argue that they should not be included in a list of our Founding Fathers. Here is my thinking about who should be considered a Founding Father of The United States of America.
In my opinion the people who were elected to represent the interests of the residents of the various colonies during these early years were the most recognized leaders of their time. We can be confident that the people all understood the gravity of their choice of representative in 1774 so even though a name might not be widely known today I am comfortable having these persons on my list. Roger Sherman of Connecticut is a notable example of a representative who is not well known, but who was right there on the front lines as our forefathers fought for our freedom. Mr. Sherman signed The Articles of Association, The Declaration of Independence, The Articles of Confederation, and The Constitution of the United States of America. Roger Sherman is the only person to have signed all four of these founding documents. He is also credited with proposing the Three-Fifths Compromise which, arguably, kept the Constitutional Convention and The United States of America from falling apart. I’ll argue that Roger Sherman and others like him should be included in the list of our Founding Fathers even though we may not know much about them.
Going back to the question of how many of our Founding Fathers were slave holders? I have identified 53 slave holders in the list of 345 Founding Fathers so 15% of our Founding Fathers were slave Holders. That said, I have also identified 50 abolitionists in that same list of 345 Founding Fathers so roughly 15% of our Founding Fathers were abolitionists. I would refer to these two groups as the extremes when it comes to the issue of slavery and that leaves about 70% of the Founding Fathers occupying the political middle on this issue. As an aside, I use the term “slave holders” rather than “slave owners” because I do not want to associate myself with even a hint of the idea that one human being can own another human being.
So, there we are. Racism is and has always been part of our American identity. When the very first laws were being written there were racists at the table. When the very first history books were being written there were racists involved as authors. Every part of our society has evolved with racist influences participating in the process. It is fair to say that racism is in our American DNA. When we consider the way things are done in our daily lives, we don’t see racism in many cases because it has always been there. When we ask the questions about how systemic racism came to be, we never really imagine that it has always been part of our daily lives.
Thomas Jefferson and George Washington were slave holders and they were both Presidents of The United States. Did their racist beliefs influence their work as Presidents? Of course it did – how could it not. Their beliefs about race were part of their character at the deepest levels. They could no more conduct themselves without their racist beliefs than they could go through life as a female. Some things about us just are, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that we should discount their accomplishments in any way. We should simply add this fact to our understanding of their influences on our history so that our overall understanding is fuller and more robust as a result.
The idea of race has been with us for so long that none of us would have any reason to doubt the information we have been exposed to over our lifetimes. But there is more to the story – much more. I am offering a challenge to each reader to spend just fifteen minutes exploring the internet on the subject of “race.” Search for things like the “origins of race” or “historical race concepts” or “when did the concept of race begin?” Follow some of the links that your search turns up to discover the wide variety of information on the topic. I would be genuinely surprised if your fundamental understanding of race is not challenged.
Assuming I am correct and your foundations about race have been shaken, the next question is what will you do about it?
It has been my experience that people don’t change unless they really want to change so if we really want to do something about racism we probably won’t have much success if we try to change Donald Trump. Our best hope is to look inwardly and ask ourselves what might be an uncomfortable question – do I see others in society as equals? Are the people in that homeless encampment equal to me? Are women, people of color, LGBTQ people, Asians, Muslims, Jews, and other minority groups in our society equal to me? If I see even a tiny bit of inequality in my thinking, I have work to do and the mere fact of my question should be evidence enough for me to be motivated to work on those changes. So I can change myself.
What about all the racism I see in other people? Should I try to change any of that? The answer is YES and here is how. First, we must learn to talk comfortably with total strangers about the racism we see. We must talk to our friends and families as well. We must let it be known that we disapprove of racism, but we do not disapprove of the racist because the racist is our equal. In effect, we must shun the racism behavior, but be careful not to shun the racist.
With practice we will come to understand how to change our own thinking about equality and we will be able to help others in their efforts because we will avoid letting the conversation become personal. When we shun the behavior and not the person, the person will be more likely to change the behavior.
This will not be easy so we will need to pace ourselves.
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