Think the Outcome of the Civil War Was Wrong? The Supreme Court Might Agree (YouTube Video Transcript)

(00:00:00) Your YouTube transcript will appear here (00:00:01) The 14th amendment, you say, is clear. (00:00:03) It says all persons born or naturalized (00:00:05) in the United States and subject to the (00:00:07) jurisdiction thereof are citizens of the (00:00:09) United States. Everybody can see what (00:00:11) that means. Born in the United States, (00:00:13) it's clear. Are these people idiots? Not (00:00:15) so fast. They might be idiots, but (00:00:17) America's hard right isn't attacking the (00:00:19) all persons born part. Go back to the (00:00:21) language and subject to the jurisdiction (00:00:24) thereof. That's the part they're going (00:00:26) after. and who gets to determine (00:00:28) jurisdiction and therefore citizenship. (00:00:30) This president, of course. But where you (00:00:33) stand on that might reveal not what you (00:00:35) think about the advance of civil (00:00:36) liberties in the 20th century, but the (00:00:38) outcome of the Civil War in the 19th. (00:00:41) Hey folks, I'm Tad Sturmer. I'm the (00:00:43) author of Resistance History of the (00:00:44) United States and an American scholar of (00:00:46) resistance history in the American (00:00:48) founding at the University of Southern (00:00:49) Denmark. (00:00:51) The founders, the folks whom Henry David (00:00:53) Thorough derisively called the men of (00:00:56) 87, had a plan for citizenship. You hear (00:00:59) lots of people yammering on about how (00:01:01) American independence was so great (00:01:02) because it turned subjects into (00:01:03) citizens. Let's look at that more (00:01:05) closely. Let's understand what those (00:01:07) words in fact mean. Not just in our (00:01:09) patriotic fever dream. It wasn't about (00:01:11) democracy versus tyranny. Can anybody (00:01:13) pay attention to the history here? (00:01:15) Parliament, you know, the elected (00:01:16) representatives of the people had been (00:01:18) running Britain for a century. The (00:01:20) founders weren't escaping autocracy. (00:01:22) They were renegotiating terms. Here's (00:01:25) what actually changed. Subject and (00:01:27) citizen, just legal categories. Don't (00:01:29) get wrapped up in what those words might (00:01:31) have meant in the 15th century under the (00:01:33) tutors. Think about what they meant in (00:01:35) the 18th and actually what they mean (00:01:36) today. They define who gets the (00:01:38) protection of the state, not just as (00:01:40) penalties. Who gets access to courts? (00:01:42) Who can own property? Who counts? Under (00:01:45) British law, subjecthood was broad. (00:01:48) everyone equal under the king. But after (00:01:50) American independence, as the founders (00:01:52) figured out what it meant to be a (00:01:54) citizen, they centered on this key (00:01:55) principle. Subjects might be determined (00:01:57) by God or what nature's god might do to (00:01:59) roll the dice in the lottery of where (00:02:01) you were born. But citizenship is (00:02:03) determined by men, the men in charge, (00:02:06) them. And they wanted to stay in charge. (00:02:09) So guess who citizens got to be. In the (00:02:11) first republic, the question about (00:02:13) citizenship of those already here was (00:02:15) left up each state. But each state (00:02:17) excluded huge parts of the population. (00:02:19) And it ain't got nothing to do with (00:02:20) birthright. Black people, no. Indigenous (00:02:23) people, the real birthright folks, no. (00:02:25) That's how they built the first republic (00:02:26) as a minority ruled ethnostate. The (00:02:29) founders knew they would always be in (00:02:30) the minority. So they baked protecting (00:02:32) that into the foundational documents. (00:02:35) Now the basis of that minority rule was (00:02:37) of course slavery. But the mechanism was (00:02:39) not just the three-fifths clause and the (00:02:41) fugitive slave clause in the (00:02:42) constitution. It was the electoral (00:02:43) college, the power of the Senate (00:02:45) appointed by state legislatores until (00:02:47) the early part of the 20th century, the (00:02:48) shielding of the judiciary and its (00:02:50) dependence on the executive, and the (00:02:52) ability of a distinct minority to (00:02:54) perpetually block any changes to the (00:02:56) foundations of their power to the (00:02:58) constitution. They fashioned their fear (00:03:00) of democracy under a fiction that I'm (00:03:03) sure you've heard, if you get anywhere (00:03:04) near stubbing your toe in the federalist (00:03:06) papers, tyranny of the majority. A (00:03:08) phrase nobody ever said ever before. (00:03:10) invented by people who knew they'd (00:03:12) always be outnumbered and wanted to (00:03:14) maintain control anyway. And what (00:03:16) happened after that? American mythmakers (00:03:18) turned it into a virtue. Evidence of the (00:03:20) genius of American exceptionalism. Want (00:03:22) to continue to subjugate a fifth of the (00:03:24) population for your own financial (00:03:25) political gain? We got you. And the (00:03:27) first chance the founders had to make a (00:03:29) national statement about who could be a (00:03:31) citizen, who the jurisdiction of the (00:03:32) United States would apply to, they did (00:03:35) exactly what you think they'd do. And in (00:03:37) 1790, they said that no women, no (00:03:40) indigenous people, and a key point here, (00:03:42) no black people, not enslaved people, (00:03:44) black people could become naturalized (00:03:47) citizens. They, the white Protestant men (00:03:49) in charge, would say who was a citizen (00:03:51) and who wouldn't be. Anyone who didn't (00:03:54) look, walk, and talk like them. Fast (00:03:57) forward to the 1850s and 70 years of (00:03:59) that exclusionary ethnostate machinery (00:04:02) working when a majority of the Supreme (00:04:04) Court decided Dread's gone. There were a (00:04:06) few opinions written for the majority, (00:04:07) but the one we remember was signed by (00:04:09) the Chief Justice Roger Tony of (00:04:11) Maryland. And he just stated the (00:04:12) obvious. The founding fathers never (00:04:14) intended for black people to ever have (00:04:15) rights in the United States. Forget (00:04:17) about even being citizens to ever have (00:04:19) any rights. And he was right. They (00:04:21) didn't. It wasn't novel to anyone in the (00:04:23) 1850s. It didn't matter they they were (00:04:26) born here. It just mattered what color (00:04:28) of skin they had. But again, that wasn't (00:04:30) new. What was novel was how it showed (00:04:33) how deeply the enslaver power controlled (00:04:35) every branch of government and the (00:04:36) resistance to that first republic perked (00:04:38) up. Congress had shown it was never (00:04:40) going to do anything but strengthen (00:04:41) slavery when it passed the fugitive (00:04:43) slave act of 1850 which extended the (00:04:45) reach of enslavers even into free states (00:04:47) in the homes of abolitionists. And then (00:04:50) they let one of their own beat a US (00:04:51) senator bloody on the floor of the (00:04:52) senate over it. (00:04:54) The presidency had long been in the (00:04:55) pocket of the enslavers, usually held by (00:04:57) enslavers themselves, but then even (00:04:59) controlled by the ones from New England. (00:05:01) And now the judiciary showed that no (00:05:03) change was coming through that quarter. (00:05:05) DreadScott was just being consistent (00:05:06) with what every other branch of the (00:05:08) government was doing. By 1861, Congress (00:05:11) would pass a constitutional amendment to (00:05:12) forever ban itself from interfering with (00:05:15) slavery. The Corwin Amendment approved (00:05:16) hours before Lincoln's inauguration as (00:05:18) one last capitulation. Now, it never got (00:05:21) ratified, but that's cuz the war came. (00:05:23) That wasn't a betrayal of the founding. (00:05:25) It was its fulfillment. And the (00:05:27) radicals, including those who became (00:05:29) radical Republicans, saw all that. But (00:05:31) playing by the rules, was no longer (00:05:33) going to get it done. Would no longer (00:05:36) tear down the minority rule and the (00:05:37) slavery it was based on. So after (00:05:39) 750,000 people died, after the United (00:05:42) States Army occupied the rebel states, (00:05:44) after the radicals seized the power to (00:05:46) abolish the basis of the minority rule (00:05:48) strangle hold, they then took the next (00:05:50) step to clearly spell out access to (00:05:52) rights in the 14th amendment. (00:05:53) Birthright, citizenship, and language (00:05:55) designed to be crystal clear, all (00:05:57) persons born. Now, the author of the (00:05:59) amendment was explicit that it applied (00:06:01) to everyone. Not all persons born who (00:06:04) would threaten the establishment's hold (00:06:06) of minority rule. Not all persons born (00:06:08) whom Congress deems worthy. Not all (00:06:10) persons born whose parents have proper (00:06:11) allegiance. All persons born and thereby (00:06:15) take another swipe at the constitutional (00:06:17) mechanisms of minority rule. Slavery the (00:06:20) foundation was gone but most of the (00:06:21) structure was still there. Change the (00:06:23) political nation then you might change (00:06:25) the political culture and change the (00:06:26) nature of freedom itself. It was the (00:06:28) real introduction of a chance of (00:06:30) democracy. That's the spirit of 1866 of (00:06:33) 1867 of 1868. When a lot of people talk (00:06:36) about the things that make America (00:06:37) great, that they love about America, a (00:06:39) lot of us mean that America, that (00:06:41) moment. Those are real heroes, real (00:06:42) ideas, the real founding. The radical (00:06:45) Republicans thought they had taken (00:06:47) citizenship out of the hands of the (00:06:48) minority. But there were still holes. (00:06:51) The Second Republic had its own (00:06:52) exclusions. Much of the 14th Amendment (00:06:54) was gutted within a decade. Even Justice (00:06:56) Harlland's famous descent in Py versus (00:06:58) Ferguson, I'm sure you've heard all this (00:06:59) one, the one everyone cites, it needs (00:07:01) some teasing out. Yes, he wrote, "Our (00:07:04) Constitution is colorblind and neither (00:07:06) knows nor tolerates classes among (00:07:08) citizens." Hooray. But then, as with all (00:07:10) things in history, you got to keep (00:07:12) going. The very next passage, there is a (00:07:14) race so different from our own that we (00:07:16) do not permit those belonging to it to (00:07:18) become citizens of the United States. (00:07:20) Persons belonging to it are with few (00:07:22) exceptions absolutely excluded from our (00:07:25) country. I allude to the Chinese race. (00:07:29) Still not everyone. Lots of people like (00:07:31) to site Wong Mark in 1898. Yeah. The (00:07:34) Supreme Court ruled 6 to2 that the San (00:07:36) Francisco born son of Chinese immigrant (00:07:38) was a citizen. Victory, right? Except (00:07:40) Wank Mark was detained in El Paso in (00:07:42) 1901, three years after his Supreme (00:07:45) Court victory. Held for four months (00:07:46) while officials tried to deport him (00:07:48) again. He spent decades trying to bring (00:07:50) his sons to America. Repeatedly (00:07:51) challenged, repeatedly having to prove (00:07:53) what the Supreme Court supposedly had (00:07:54) already decided. So in 1931 he filed (00:07:57) notice that he was traveling to China (00:07:59) but planned to return but he never came (00:08:01) back. We think that he died there. Man (00:08:03) with a Supreme Court decision bearing (00:08:05) his name worn down by a system that (00:08:06) refused to accept what it had been (00:08:08) forced to concede. And indigenous (00:08:11) Americans they weren't even eligible for (00:08:13) citizenship until 1924. It's been only a (00:08:16) hundred years. And that fight was led by (00:08:18) this extraordinary woman named Mishik (00:08:20) Kales Sha, a Yankton Dakota writer and (00:08:22) activist who spent decades lobbying and (00:08:24) fighting for the Indian Citizenship Act. (00:08:26) Even then, it didn't guarantee the right (00:08:28) to vote. States retained that authority. (00:08:30) It wasn't until 1962 that New Mexico (00:08:33) finally infranchised Native Americans, (00:08:35) the real birthright people, last in (00:08:37) line. (00:08:39) What we're seeing now is the latest in (00:08:40) the regime's attempt to restore the (00:08:42) First Republic and all the elements of (00:08:44) minority rule. It's a real form of (00:08:46) counter resistance to the resistance to (00:08:48) that first republic to what the radical (00:08:50) Republicans in their 20th century errors (00:08:52) built on the 14th amendment. The rights (00:08:55) already succeeded with a woman's right (00:08:56) over her own body. They've gutted the (00:08:58) Voting Rights Act. They've dismantled (00:09:00) agency difference that let the (00:09:01) government actually function. They've (00:09:02) overturned affirmative action. And this (00:09:04) court has made clear it's willing to (00:09:06) overturn president after president. Just (00:09:08) this term they're considering ditching a (00:09:10) 1935 ruling on presidential power, a (00:09:13) 1986 election law, a 2001 campaign (00:09:16) finance decision. Row lasted 49 years. (00:09:19) Wank Mark has lasted 127. They're not (00:09:23) relitigating the advances of the 20th (00:09:24) century. They're relitigating the (00:09:26) outcome of the civil war. The ruling is (00:09:28) probably going to come down in early (00:09:29) July 2026, just in time for the 250th (00:09:32) anniversary of the Declaration of (00:09:33) Independence. I don't think the timing (00:09:35) is accidental. (00:09:36) >> Is it going to get worse before it gets (00:09:37) better, folks? Next, we're going to talk (00:09:38) about the vision of this regime for (00:09:41) national security and the way that (00:09:42) Europe does and doesn't fall into that. (00:09:45) Support for the hard right in Europe. (00:09:47) Oh, yeah. Let's talk about it. But more (00:09:49) to the point, let's do something about (00:09:51) it.