Roy Eaton

Article 1 Section2

During the recent hipocritical reading of the Constitution by the House of Representatives,they did not read this section of Article 1 (which stated that each Negro slave should be calculated for the purpose of apportioning Represetatives as 3/5 of a person). It clearly indicates that Slavery was a vital factor influencing the founders. Section 9 , putting a $10 interstate tax on movement of slaves, and Article 4, promising that all escaped slaves must be returned to their "rightful" owners are other parts of the constitution that were ignored. This selective editing of the underlying princiles at work at the founding of our country highlight the universal denial that our country suffers regarding our continuing responsibility for the difficulties still faced by people of color in the U.S. Regardless of our color, ethnicity, or political persuasion, if we are American, we are by definition also racist because of our heritage as Americans.