Rejecting the Presumption of Black Inferiority

By: Kaci Patterson, Founder & Chief Architect,?Black Equity Collective

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all (white, rich, straight, Christian) men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

1619. 1776. 157 years separate the establishment of the country’s oldest institution, the violent human trafficking and forced enslavement of African peoples, and the establishment of the republic we now call The United States of America.?

These words, which are amongst the most cited from the Declaration of Independence, have been used to inspire the kind of American pride that families across the country will celebrate tomorrow in the form of cookouts and fireworks shows. But these words lack important context that, while missing from the language itself, is a context that is universally understood by political leaders and reinforced through federal, state and local statutes. I’ve inserted that context in parentheses so we can say (or in this case, read) the quiet part out loud. The establishment of this republic was to ensure the supreme protection of white, rich, straight, Christian men. It was to create the legal and organized means by which white, rich, straight, Christian men could pursue their perceived God-given rights. Yes, political revolutionaries throughout the course of history have used these words and the Constitution itself to create a more expansive and inclusive view of these words but we cannot be fooled into thinking that this nation was established for any other purpose other than codifying the protection of rich white, male, Christian interests into law.?

As Black people, we knew for seven-plus generations that when the Declaration of Independence was penned, our expected role would be to fight the wars that made rich, white men free. Our expected role would be to serve the white man’s interest and line the white man’s pockets. We knew then and we must know now that we were never part of their definition of what it means to be equal, liberated or happy.?

The Supreme Court’s decision last week only reinforces this. It took as a matter of fact the presumption that only Black (and Brown) students could be intellectually inferior. It never questioned whether or not other students were the ones being unfairly admitted and given a leg up when their test scores, academic performance and/or other admissions criteria may have suggested otherwise. See the college admissions scandal. In striking down affirmative action in college admissions but in carving out an exception for military recruitment, the Court did, indeed, restate and recodify America’s original intent based on its original belief that Black bodies are what’s useful to America, not Black minds.?

The irony of the Court’s decision is that both the plaintiff and the majority opinion of the court presume that Black intellect is subpar while claiming the law requires a colorblind admission process. It’s the same argument that Thomas Jefferson, one of the authors of the Declaration of Independence, made when he said in 1784: “the blacks are inferior to the whites in endowments of both body and mind.” It’s the presumption of inferiority that keeps America from living into the best version of itself. It’s also the kind of thinking the second paragraph of the Declaration implores us to resist.?

“--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”

What, then, is most likely to affect the safety and happiness of Black people when it’s clear the current structure is “destructive to these ends”? What is the role of we the people in forming a more perfect union? How can we, those who believe in equity and justice, work to end the presumption of inferiority calcified in our country’s DNA??

In philanthropy, it is to take the opposite position: it is to presume the intellectual capacity of Black people. It is to acknowledge the work of Black and other POC-led organizations in promoting access to higher education when there are clear structural barriers that are designed to keep capable Black and Brown students out. It is to understand that inacess specifically and inequity more broadly is rooted in racial bias. It is to reject presumptions that Black-led organizations, particularly those that are fighting the most egregious forms of structural racism and institutional bias, are somehow inferior to their white counterparts. It is to recognize that being created equal is not the same as being treated equal. It is to use the vehicles of personal and institutional power to end anti-Blackness. Then, and only then, will the spirit of the law be fulfilled and every person in this country can finally declare independence.