From the article, "Southern Slave Codes I had thought that the governing rule was that any one of even 1/16 African blood was considered black and thus could legally be enslaved. But this was not the case. I believe that this fraction came from Southern legal codes following the Civil War. As segregation developed in the South, a way of legally defining race had to be developed. The slave codes passed by the different states before the Civil War differed from this definition. A way of legally defining slavey was needed as the institution developed in America. The English colonists that originally came to America did not bring slvery with them. As a result, it became necessary to pass new laws to provide a legal foundation.
The governing rule in the slave codes, especially the ones passed by the southern states was, “partus sequitur ventrem”. This was a legal dictum of ancient origins which based the social status of the child on that of the mother rather than the father. While it is true that slavery as it developed in America was based on importing Africans, the legal foundation in the slave codes employed “partus sequitur ventrem” rather than race.
This meant that appearance was not the legal basis for either enslavement or empancipation. It was all based on the legal status of the mother. Thus an individual with a minisule amount of African ancestry could be a slave. There are a few exceptions to this in the legal principle in the judicial record in the north, but in the South the principle was enshrined in the slave codes and held up in the courts. I don’t believe a case, however, ever reached the UnitedStates Supreme Court. The principle was first adopted by the sate of Virginia (1662). [Hening, p. 170.] Virginia was the first and the most important southern colony/state and thus this legal action set the precedent throughout the South. None other than Thomas Jefferson discussed this principle in “What Constitutes a Mulatto?” [Jefferson, pp. 1022-23] "
Interesting, and valid, point about the complexity of his tax returns. The analysis of whether or not to release them seems more gray than black and white. On the one hand, as you point out, the optics of Trump paying a low rate will not sit well with the general public, even if he’s playing within IRS regulations. On the other hand, HRC will have a field day in the debates bringing up the fact that she has released her tax returns and Trump hasn’t. Damned if you do damned if you don’t I suppose.
Some reason Trump might not release his tax returns:
He is not as rich as he says he is
He pays negligible tax rates
He has made donations to the Democratic party in the last 5-10 years
He has financial ties with Russia
I’m sure the more imaginative out there can add a lot more to the list. The point is, every candidate for decades has published their tax returns. If Trump chooses not to, it clearly suggests he has something to hide.
This is politics and its why he has been getting hammered in the polls lately. HRC put the Khans up as bait for trump and he couldnt help himself, she released her returns because its a win win for her. Either he releases them and it looks bad for him likely, or he doesnt and she can use that as a point to make him look bad. Trump stormed onto the landscape marching to a different beat, but it seems he missed a few lessons in campaigning along the way. Not to say he cant right the ship there is still time but its going to be an interesting few months for sure.
fivethirtyeight forecast still strongly in Hill dawgs corner after shifting to trump just 2 weeks ago. Still plenty of time for a bombshell to erupt on the clinton campaign though
1 through 3 are basically non-events, he would be better off releasing and clearing the air in those cases. My money is on 4, especially given his taste in women.
Perhaps biggest reason for not releasing; he knows he will likely lose anyhow, and he doesn’t want this presidential candidate crap carrying over and damaging his brand (because of things Carson listed and more). He’s got to carry on with his crappy life after this!
Trump actually admitting he was wrong, pretty shocking! But it’s only cause he’s losing so bad, obviously he doesn’t give a crap about offending people, and will do it again once voters forgive.
