Eve L. Ewing

So those are some of the ways in which we see these legacies moving into the present.

So those are some of the ways in which we see these legacies moving into the present.

So Thomas Jefferson laid down these two ideas. One is the idea that Black people were not capable of sophisticated thought. And this is something he wrote very explicitly in Notes on the State of Virginia, which is not as famous as the Declaration of Independence, but incredibly influential in terms of text that he wrote over the course of his life.

So Thomas Jefferson laid down these two ideas. One is the idea that Black people were not capable of sophisticated thought. And this is something he wrote very explicitly in Notes on the State of Virginia, which is not as famous as the Declaration of Independence, but incredibly influential in terms of text that he wrote over the course of his life.

And he wrote, among the Blacks, there is misery for sure, but no poetry. He believed that Black people were constitutionally unable to do forms of cognition beyond sort of mimesis and copying and very emotional outbursts, things like that. This is something he said in his own words, which I think is important to understand today.

And he wrote, among the Blacks, there is misery for sure, but no poetry. He believed that Black people were constitutionally unable to do forms of cognition beyond sort of mimesis and copying and very emotional outbursts, things like that. This is something he said in his own words, which I think is important to understand today.

And in his time later on as a statesman of the United States, he also put forth an idea called the Doctrine of Discovery. And this was the idea that basically legitimized the theft of native land by European powers. Now, we know that even in Jefferson's time, the idea that European powers would just seize land from each other without war, without some sort of critical resistance.

And in his time later on as a statesman of the United States, he also put forth an idea called the Doctrine of Discovery. And this was the idea that basically legitimized the theft of native land by European powers. Now, we know that even in Jefferson's time, the idea that European powers would just seize land from each other without war, without some sort of critical resistance.

didn't make any sense. But the way that they viewed the United States and the land that had been stewarded by Native peoples since time immemorial was that it was empty land. It was barren land, right? It was ready for the taking.

didn't make any sense. But the way that they viewed the United States and the land that had been stewarded by Native peoples since time immemorial was that it was empty land. It was barren land, right? It was ready for the taking.

And many listeners might be familiar with the idea of Manifest Destiny, which was something that Jefferson oversaw with the Louisiana Purchase and the expansion of the western border of the United States. And so in order to justify that, in order to say this is empty land, God wanted us to have it. There was this necessity of talking about the disappearance of Native people as destiny. Right.

And many listeners might be familiar with the idea of Manifest Destiny, which was something that Jefferson oversaw with the Louisiana Purchase and the expansion of the western border of the United States. And so in order to justify that, in order to say this is empty land, God wanted us to have it. There was this necessity of talking about the disappearance of Native people as destiny. Right.

And a reframing of this land as empty land when, in fact, it certainly was not.

And a reframing of this land as empty land when, in fact, it certainly was not.

The first that I write about is the idea of intellectual inferiority, the idea that Black people and Native people are inherently less intelligent. And we see this playing out, again, in spoken and unspoken ways.

The first that I write about is the idea of intellectual inferiority, the idea that Black people and Native people are inherently less intelligent. And we see this playing out, again, in spoken and unspoken ways.

There is a troubling amount of survey data that has suggested that even in the contemporary era, there are many people who believe that Black people are inherently less intelligent genetically. and therefore that educational interventions are not likely to be effective. The second of these pillars is the idea of discipline and punishment.

There is a troubling amount of survey data that has suggested that even in the contemporary era, there are many people who believe that Black people are inherently less intelligent genetically. and therefore that educational interventions are not likely to be effective. The second of these pillars is the idea of discipline and punishment.

The idea that children, we expect them to go to school and explore and learn and discover their own lives as autonomous beings, But that for Black children and Native children, that the most important thing is that they learn self-control and that they be controlled through surveillance and through a very strict corporal discipline.

The idea that children, we expect them to go to school and explore and learn and discover their own lives as autonomous beings, But that for Black children and Native children, that the most important thing is that they learn self-control and that they be controlled through surveillance and through a very strict corporal discipline.