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Politics, Racism
What it Means To Be 3/5ths Human In America Today
Slavery does not exist in America today, but not being fairly counted still does
Upon first reading, Article 1, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution, you may assume that the 3/5ths rule is a simple calculation that identified slaves i.e. “other Persons”, as only 3/5ths human, but the story of racism and power in America is far more complicated then you might imagine.
“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.” — Article I, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution
The Lesser of Two Evils
In reality, the 3/5ths rule was a compromise between the Northern and Southern states that allowed for slaves to be included in official census counts but limited the power of Southern states. There were two options:
- To count slaves equally. The rationale was that if all slaves were counted equally, Southern states would benefit from more representation in…
