Monday, December 6, 2021

Republican campaign to whitewash American history (New Hampshire edition)

 


A reporter for WMUR, the ABC affiliate in New Hampshire, asked one of the bill's sponsors, Representative Erica Layton (R), how a teacher could "address something like the Three-Fifths Compromise in the Constitution which basically invalidated the humanity of enslaved people who were black" if the new legislation became law. The reporter noted that's a "racist aspect of America's founding." 
Layton said that teachers should explain that the 3/5ths compromise was an effort to end slavery, which Layton said was "already on the way out." The only problem with this solution is that it's not true. 
Scholars agree there is "no evidence the constitutional provision was intended to end slavery," which persisted for nearly a century after the Constitution was ratified. It conferred additional political power to states with large slave populations. In so doing, it helped entrench the institution of slavery.


Original 12/3/2021 post, "White men rule:  Texas bill that whitewashes American history becomes law", starts here.

Top headline:  Texas Tribune, 12/2/2021
Photo credits:  Patrick, Phelan
Bottom headline:  Texas Tribune, 1/11/2021

Screenshot from 1/11/2021 Texas Tribune article

Since Texas became a state in 1845...

... 5,444 men have been elected to serve in the Legislature.
... 5,444 men have been elected to serve in the Legislature.
... and only 179 women have served.

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