The Three-Fifths Compromise was an agreement reached by members of the Constitutional Convention of 1787. It provided that all enslaved persons would count as three-fifths of a person for taxation purposes. This agreement was included in the Constitution of the United States in Article 1, Section 2 until 1868, when it was superseded by the 14th Amendment, section 2.
Over the history and birthing of this nation, legislation provided that all people were to be counted as equal after that 1868 date, however, there was an ocean of differences as to what was written on paper and what lies deep within the hearts of human beings.
Indigenous people were still driven off their land, and Black people were still, in the eyes of many, a less-tha- human being. People that are considered “less than,” from a historical standpoint, have always been people of color the roots of which may have been derived from that 1787 compromise, creating a culture and an unconscious psychology that some people are just “less than.”
If that psychology has persisted for some in the majority population for all these years, perhaps that culture and psychology can bleed over to the minority population as well in recognizing other like people as “less than” as well. That further explains how five Black police officers can beat another Black citizen to death.
We too often read about the violence between young people of color who may unconsciously possess the feeling that he is in conflict with a person that is “less than” because that is what has been bred into the American culture with tentacles that reach back to the compromise of 1787.
It is that same culture that prohibits communities of color from having safe drinking water, or having books, detailing the African-American experience, being removed from schools and libraries and the same culture that grants the feeling in local radio that says it is OK to only serve the majority population locally in sports, entertainment and news because that other group is “less than.”
We will always have different beliefs, values and perceptions, but we have something far greater than any of those things, we have our common humanity. The view that a segment of American society has people that are “less than” is no doubt a dying ideology, but unfortunately, it is still there after all this time has passed since legislation dismissed the three-fifths compromise by the 14th Amendment.
We are all a part of this vast universe that we call humanity, and this universe will be around long after we leave it. While we are here, shouldn’t we be building a world based on our common humanity and finally look to one another and conclude that no man or woman is “less than”?
Charles Thomas lives in Lima. His column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Lima News editorial board or AIM Media, owner of The Lima News.
