A Republican lawmaker in Tennessee defended the Three- Fifths Compromise–an 18th century policy designating a slave as three-fifths of a person–in a debate with black lawmakers on the House floor on Tuesday.
Rep. Justin Lafferty, who is white, made the comments during a debate about legislation meant to impose restrictions on how schools teach students about systemic racism. Several Black lawmakers expressed concerns about the bill’s impact on how certain subjects would be taught in schools, specifically highlighting the Three-Fifths Compromise, according to the Associated Press.
But, Lafferty stood up to defend the 1787 policy and falsely claimed that it was adopted for “the purpose of ending slavery.”
“By limiting the number of population in the count, they specifically limited the number of representatives who would be available in the slave holding states and they did it for the purpose of ending slavery,” Lafferty said. “Well before Abraham Lincoln. Well before Civil War.”
Historians disagree with Lafferty’s interpretation.
According to AP, historians largely agree the compromise gave slaveholding states more power in selecting president.
This never stopped Lafferty’s Republican colleagues from applauding him after his speech
Rep. Antonio Parkinson, the chairman of the General Assembly’s Black Caucus, said in a statement that Lafferty’s comments were “alarming.”
But, the “real insult” Parkinson said came after, “when the House Republicans clapped for him when he finished his diatribe.”
