Analysis Of Rogers Smith's Ascriptive Inegalitarianism

Historically, the United States has prided itself as the most egalitarian and autonomous nation in the world. Political figures and institutions have attempted to uphold the theoretical ideals of the nation, while in practice often fail to fulfill their promises to the people. This gap between our fundamental values as delineated in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution and our discriminatory practices such as slavery and gender discrimination can be found in competing political ideologies which purposefully exclude marginalized peoples. The framers built the United States for the white man; every other person’s rights came, and continue to come afterwards. Once one people’s freedom is postponed, the same oppressive strategies

and ideologies are applied to other marginalized groups. These strategies become embedded in the inner workings of society and the supremacy of the prioritized people expands exponentially, creating an enduring divide that many argue will never be closed.
The divide can be seen in the life of one of the founding fathers: Thomas Jefferson. In Conor Cruise O’Brien’s piece, “Thomas Jefferson: Radical and Racist”, he writes that Jefferson himself contained these same paradoxes the nation itself faces. He “believed that slavery was morally and politically wrong, yet … he was able to discuss the matter of slave breeding in much the same terms that one would use when speaking of the propagation of dogs and horses.” Although he morally denounced slavery as a sin, Jefferson institutionally supported the degradation of blacks and allowed their human rights to be deferred until his own rights as an American were solidified, along with the economic success which slavery produced. Essentially, it can be shown that the early success of the United States was built upon the gap created by slavery, separating the American experience from the African American experience and forever normalizing the United States’ ability to preach one ideology and act in a contradictory manner.
The second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence states: “Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed (U.S 1776).” The concept of government legitimacy only being justified and legal when there is consent from those who are governed sets up a foundation of obligation from the state to its people. This ideal, however, was conveniently set aside to accommodate the slave system. Despite slaves not having the power to consent to the system that ultimately governed them due to their social class, which ranked them as subhuman, the legitimacy of this ideal was not questioned, as it gave the white community the freedoms they desired. The American civil religion, also known as the “American creed,” can be defined as the “institutionalized collection of sacred American beliefs providing sources of cohesion and prophetic guidance through times of national crises.” This collective concept to which the American people subscribe specifically caters to a white majority which minorities not only do not resonate with, but are not allowed to participate in because of their systematic oppression. Frederick Douglass said “[t]here is consolation in the thought, that America is young. —Great streams are not easily turned from channels, worn deep in the course of ages.” Douglass gives Americans the benefit of the doubt during their July 4th celebrations, recognizing that although there is potential for the United States to change its discriminatory ways, it is more difficult the longer they are propagated. This shows the disconnect between the communities of color and their inability to fully participate in politics because they are excluded from it on a fundamental level.
Unsurprisingly, this trend is carried on through the rest of US history. The experience of white cis-gendered men varies widely from all minority groups to this day. For example, even post-Civil Rights Movement, the African-American and black communities face unfair segregation policies which heavily impede families’ ability to attain housing and education security. From the mid 1980’s to the 2010’s, the wealth gap between whites and blacks has almost tripled despite the promise of equality. This shows that white households can accumulate wealth exponentially faster pace than the black community, dictating an unequal distribution of opportunity. Compounded, mass incarceration of specifically black men triggers a chain reaction of loss of rights for not just the prisoners who face disenfranchisement, housing inequality, inability to attain work, and basic physiological insecurity, but also their potential families.
From a gender perspective, the gender pay gap plagues women in every profession shows the gross economic inequality forced upon women regardless of race. The average female's unadjusted annual salary has been said as being 78% of the average male salary. Although in recent years, there is evidence that discrimination against women in the work force has declined, some discrimination does continue to exist and in concurrence with Rogers Smith, will always exist. And seen once again within the LBGT community, even President Clinton amended an executive order to include sexual orientation as a protected class in the federal government's equal opportunity employment policy, suicide is the leading cause of death among Gay and Lesbian youth nationally which can be explained through ascriptive values which allow one group to set the status quo and oppress one the group which is not assimilated.
Pushing the gap between our ideals and our reality further apart, differing political concepts act as a barrier to the marginalized people of America. The republican ideology consists of maximizing personal liberty through certain democratic preconditions. In this system, the government must be concerned with shaping virtuous citizens by insuring they are engaged in politics and are well educated, critical thinkers who are willing to sacrifice for the good of the community. The political concept of liberalism also prioritizes personal liberty above all else; however, the approach differs drastically from that of republican ideology. Although the two types of liberalism (classical and modern) diverge on the issue of government intervention, they both look to limit power in the government, majorities, and fundamental liberties. These two political ideologies are constantly at play in American politics and cause discord between the implementation and interpretation of policy simply on the grounds of their differences.
Rogers Smith raises an argument to combat the idea that the problem solely lies within the two ideologies and presents a structure that accounts for the systematic inequalities in our political system.

Smith introduces the concept of ascriptive inegalitarianism, which effectively brings to light the conditions in which the reality of political ideologies exist due to social preconceptions that are passed from one generation to the next about the “natural” superiority of one race, gender, religion, etc. Liberalism and republicanism exist and function within this realm, not allowing for their respective ideological potentials to be fully realized. Hereditary burdens are placed on minorities because of clashing of democratic liberalism and republicanism along with these systematic and cyclical discriminatory practices. When seen through the eyes of society and government, these systems are completely inescapable. Americans, through these ascriptive systems of multiple political traditions, struggle with the contradictions each idea presents against the other and as a society attempt to embrace the best qualities of each. These outlooks help explain why liberalizing efforts have failed when countered with supporting a new racial or gender order. The ascriptive tradition allows for intellectual and psychological validation for Americans to believe their personal and hereditary characteristics express an identity that has inherent importance in regards to the government, religion, and nature. This provides those who are a part of the white elite to dictate which features are the most desirable and holy, giving head to social conceptions like “white wages”, which make them inherently superior to all other races and cultures. These ideologies are institutionalized within all facets of American life such as causing evils like mass incarceration, wage gaps, and rising suicide

rates.
The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution are both symbolic documents in which the government holds themselves accountable to the American people. The concepts embedded within them positively impact our politics by perpetuating the concept of all people being created equal. However, these do not directly apply to all the marginalized people they govern due to the ascriptive beliefs held above our political ideologies. Traditionally, those in power in the United States tend to look to the past to govern for the future, effectually saying that what once worked in reform will continue to work because the American creed is eternal. However, this remains to be seen. Since the American culture is ever-changing and consistently becoming more diverse, the Constitution and Declaration of Independence should be regarded as living documents which adapt along with the society they influence. The founding documents have now been altered to better fit people of color and women, as seen in the Constitution with the 14th and 19th amendments, and can continue to be changed along with the progression of future generations. It is essential to continue to uphold these values portrayed in the documents and measure ourselves with the moral goodness embedded in the wording instead of disregarding their importance entirely because of the gap between the potential social progress and the authentic history of the nation. The “American creed” is meant to be the bonding force of all political establishments now and for the future, therefore it is impossible to unite a heterogeneous population with a homogenous-favoring creed created by slavery and multiple contradictory political traditions.