Comments on: Emory President “Apologizes” for Praising 3/5 of Person Slavery Compromise

By: Hon. Dr. Desmond A. Assent

Hon. Dr. Desmond A. Assent — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 05:50:11 +0000

I am not suprised by the racist and conformist attitude of a distinguished idiot who would make such an awful comment with regard to the unfortunate circumstance of slavery. This sort of individual is the kind that lay low in the coulds of fear having nothing better to do but to misinform and misrepsent what real acedemia is about. His so called apology should be thrown directly back at him with the advice that all humans were created not just equal, but some who were better in their capacity to admire the greatness of others choose not to become the masters of hate, and indifferent towards their fellowmen.

Finally, what is so terrible about these sort of people is that they make their statements willingly with
a bold intent to carry the level of thier hidden agenda to corridors of the narrow mined,but, rest be assured, President Wagner, your are sorry piece of garbage who shoud be thrown directly out of Emory University. Finally, your foolish apology should never be accepted.

By: Jae Requiro

Jae Requiro — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 17:56:12 +0000

My daughter is in 8th grade and we have been having long discussions on the American Revolution, the Constitution, etc. However, when we discussed the Three-Fifth Compromise, it was an emotional and challenging conversation. I remember learning about slavery when I was in elementary school (in a primarily White neighborhood). It was so matter of fact, detached from the human side of what happened in our country’s past, that I just accepted the words. Today, my daughter and I talk about slavery, institutionalized discrimination, being a woman of color in the workplace and safety in our communities. (Might I add that my daughter is biracial – African-American & Asian-American.)

She said, “We have an African American president, Mom, how is it possible that our government didn’t even consider these slaves as real people?” We continued to talk through the anger, confusion and tears. She’s been so sheltered from discrimination that she could not wrap her head around the concept of Three-Fifth Compromise.

The Emory president obviously doesn’t see the offense in his statement or apology. As leaders, whether in corporations, higher education, non-profits or in our communities, we cannot afford to overlook the human element. It just doesn’t make sense for our future.

By: Luke Visconti

Luke Visconti — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 16:25:43 +0000

Brilliant commentary, thank you. Luke Visconti, CEO, DiversityInc

By: John Pisello

John Pisello — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 16:09:28 +0000

I remember being taught about the 3/5ths Compromise in elementary and high school. This was in upstate New York in the 1970s & 80s, and at that time it was presented primarily as a “good” thing. I do remember that we discussed the inhumanity of considering slaves to be less than human, but we never touched on the inherent hypocrisy and power grabbing that some of the responses to Wagner’s letter have made apparent. (After all, why were women & children not counted similarly? )

Our school’s population was overwhelmingly white, and though we Northerners liked to think of ourselves as more enlightened about racial issues, nevertheless, the Compromise being taught as a “good” example of compromising for a “higher goal” suggests that our society at that time had not come far enough in its thinking to recognize the fundamental error of the Compromise.

By: Jeff Harlig

Jeff Harlig — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 01:38:51 +0000

I remember when, in 1970, Stokely Carmichael said that Hitler was a “genius” and his nominee for “the greatest white man.” (I verified this memory at the NY Times web site.) Of course this was meant to be patently offensive to whites and patently hurtful to Jews, and did a good job of both. Nevertheless, I also remember struggling at the time with the idea of being “objective,” separating rationality from emotion. Carmichael, I believe, justified his comment by declaring Hitler to be awfully good at what he did, and in spite of being Jewish (and white) I found that somehow hard to argue with, if I wished to keep emotion out of it. There are many parallels to this in Wagner’s statement. Of course, I was 15 at the time, and could afford to indulge in these “head games.” I’m not sure what Wagner’s excuse could be.