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The 14th Amendment only for the babies of slaves ? Fact or Fallacy ?


The Great 14th Amendment Debate at Harvard The First Tribe vs The President of The United States



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Setting: 

The grand, wood-paneled auditorium of Harvard University Law School. Ornate moldings crown the ceiling, where a massive brass chandelier throws golden light across a sea of eager students, professors, legal scholars, and journalists. At the front, a rich crimson banner reads:

“Constitutional Questions in the 21st Century: Race, Rights, and Recognition”

Two podiums stand center stage. At one: Ishmael Bey, wearing a finely cut brown three-piece suit, a crimson scarf tucked at the neck, and a stack of aged court documents beside him. At the other: Former President Donald J. Trump, clad in his signature navy suit, red tie, and an American flag pin gleaming on his lapel. A panel of moderators sits between them, and the debate is about to begin.


MODERATOR:

“Ladies and gentlemen, scholars and citizens, welcome. Tonight’s topic: The 14th Amendment – Only for the Babies of Slaves? Fact or Fallacy? Each speaker will begin with a five-minute statement. Mr. Bey, the floor is yours.”


Ishmael Bey’s Opening Statement:

ISHMAEL BEY (leaning forward): "Thank you, and good evening. We are gathered in one of America’s finest halls of learning, so let’s learn. The 14th Amendment is often sold as the cure all bandage for slavery’s historic wounds. But the truth? It was a political tool with a narrow scope and a tangled origin.

Now, it’s framed as giving rights to ‘the babies of slaves.’ But which slaves? Whose babies? The United States this experiment of liberty had enslaved not only Africans but American Indians, Filipino Indios, even so-called Moorish captives.

Let’s talk facts, not feelings.


In 1836, long before Dred Scott, we had the Marguerite Scypion case. A woman of Natchez and Black Ancestry, enslaved in Missouri. The courts ruled her and her family free—not under the 14th Amendment, which didn’t exist yet—but because Indian slavery had been declared illegal since 1769 under Spanish rule. That’s nearly 100 years before the 14th was ratified.

In short: not all slaves were considered legal, and not all slavery was covered by the 13th and 14th Amendments. So when my opponent says ‘babies of slaves,’ we have to ask—legal slaves or illegally held captives? Because the Constitution doesn’t protect crimes; it’s meant to correct them."

(Applause. A few murmurs of agreement in the crowd.)


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Donald Trump’s Opening Statement:

DONALD TRUMP (smirking): “Well thank you, thank you, everybody. A beautiful crowd, very smart , not falling for the Fake News ,some of the best minds here tonight, they tell me. Look, I love the Constitution. Nobody loves it more than me. We’ve got great Amendments, powerful Amendments written by wise Men. 


Now the 14th, okay, it’s very clear: it granted citizenship to the formerly enslaved. That’s what it was for. After the Civil War. Very important. It wasn't about all these other groups, Mr. Bey is talking about. It wasn’t about lawsuits in Spanish courts, it wasn’t about Indians or Moorish science temples, or FBA’s  it was about the freedmen, okay? That’s history. That’s how it was written.


And let’s be honest if we start rewriting history, that will be very bad,  we’ll say anything was slavery. We’ll say waiters and Uber drivers are slaves. We can’t do that. We need law and order. And the 14th was about giving rights to a specific group descendants of African slaves in America. That’s it. That’s the fact.”

(Polite applause. One or two awkward coughs.)


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Crossfire Segment:

MODERATOR: “Mr. Bey, rebuttal?”

Ishmael Bey’s Rebuttal:

ISHMAEL BEY (turning to Trump): “President Trump, I appreciate your passion for the Constitution. But it seems we’ve confused amendment with amnesia.

Let’s examine this: the 13th Amendment abolished slavery except as punishment for crime. That’s one caveat. The 14th promised birthright citizenship to those subject to the jurisdiction of the U.S.

Now here's the catch, what about people who were never lawfully enslaved?


 Indigenous groups, like Marguerite Scypion’s family, were illegally enslaved. The courts said so. That means their babies were never supposed to be slaves. So tell me—how can the 14th Amendment apply to babies of slavery that was never legal to begin with?


Isn’t that like giving a pardon to a person who was never guilty?"



Trump’s Counter:

DONALD TRUMP (raising eyebrows):


 “Okay, okay I get it. But listen. When we talk about slavery, we mean the massive system plantations, chains, the South. That’s what the 13th and 14th were responding to. Not isolated cases. Not Spanish land disputes. We can’t open the door to every claim. Otherwise everyone gets in ,birth tourism, anchor babies, reparations for all! Chaos!”



Bey's Checkmate:


ISHMAEL BEY (walking from his podium, holding up a court document): “This is not a Spanish land dispute. This is a Missouri Supreme Court case, filed in English, under U.S. law.

You say the system was clear. But here's the truth: the system wasn’t legal—it was corrupt. And the Constitution doesn’t protect corruption. It was never meant to. You’re arguing that the 14th only covers legally enslaved people.” Babies of Slaves”  I’m telling you most slavery involving American Indians was already illegal, which means the 14th doesn’t apply to them because they were never legally bound to begin with.

So, I ask you, President Trump: Are you willing to admit that if some slavery was illegal, then the 14th Amendment cannot be limited to just the babies of legal slaves? That there are whole groups of American-born people who are unprotected because the Constitution never acknowledged their captivity in the first place?”


The Concession:

DONALD TRUMP (pauses, lips pursed, then shrugs): “Well… I didn’t say it like that, but I’ll say this: if it’s true and it sounds like it might be then yeah, maybe the 14th wasn’t enough. Maybe it missed people. Maybe just maybe we need to fix that. Maybe we need a 15th-and-a-half Amendment.”


(The audience breaks into laughter. Trump half-smiles.)


Moderator’s Closing:


MODERATOR: “Ladies and gentlemen, it seems we’ve found agreement: the 14th Amendment, powerful as it is, doesn’t cover everyone it was presumed to. And in a nation that prides itself on liberty and justice, that’s worth debating. Thank you, Mr. Bey. Thank you, President Trump. And thank you, Harvard.”


(Standing ovation. Ishmael Bey bows slightly. Trump nods, half in thought. The crowd buzzes with excitement as history professors and students crowd the stage.)


End Scene.



FIRST TRIBE

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