Legal scholar Jonathan Turley slammed Vanderbilt University for a quiz that reportedly told students they were wrong if they said the Constitution wasn’t “designed to perpetuate white supremacy.”
The Young America’s Foundation shared a screenshot of the quiz last week, which shows the question, “Was the Constitution designed to perpetuate white supremacy and protect the institution of slavery?”
Next to the answer “true” is a blue arrow showing that is the correct response, while answering “false” prompts a red “X.”
Turley hit back at the question, saying, “The statement is wrong on a number of levels.”
“There is no question the Constitution did not end our deeply shameful history of slavery,” Turley explained in a post on Tuesday. “However, even with the Declaration of Independence figures like John Adams and Thomas Jefferson sought to address slavery. The decision was made to accommodate slave states to secure the Declaration. The same political calculus was behind the infamous the Three-Fifths Compromise found in Article 1, Section 2, Clause 3 of the United States Constitution.”
He continued, “The Constitution did indeed perpetuate and protect the institution of slavery with its inherent white supremacy values. However, that was not the “design” of the Constitution. The Three-Fifths Compromise was a fight over representation and taxation. The decision to leave slavery unaddressed was based on the same political expediency. It was wrong. It is no excuse to secure the independence of most citizens at the cost of leaving enslaved others. It was and remains the original sin of our nation. The design of our Constitution should have been freedom from all men and women.”
Vanderbilt addressed the quiz last week, saying no student was penalized for answering “false.”
“No student was rewarded or penalized for their answer. The question was posed to stimulate discussion,” Vanderbilt’s Manager of Media Relations Damon Maida said.
The quiz was distributed through a class called “U.S. Elections 2020,” which is described as “the largest class that Vanderbilt has ever taught,” according to Fox News.
