POLITICAL WELLNESS CHECK-UP

Across Philadelphia, communities continue to feel the impact of harms that are rooted in the legacy of slavery — yet our legal and civic systems often fail to recognize them for what they are. Acts with deep historical meaning are routinely misclassified as ordinary misconduct. Once misclassified, they fall into the realm of rational basis deference, the lowest level of constitutional scrutiny. And when that happens, the constitutional value at stake — (the total abolition of slavery) — is quietly removed from the equation.

As we prepare for Public Hearing on Resolution 250781 Office of Freedmen Affairs, it behooves us not to know deference cripplles everything we do.

By understanding how misclassification and deference operate, Philadelphians can better recognize when constitutional values are being sidelined and what tools exist to correct that course.

Know what’s Happening Next — before everyone else does.

Get App

Host or Publisher Philadelphia Reparations Coalition for American Freedmen