Perhaps he doesn’t understand how fractions work.

That’s about the only rationalization Indiana Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith could make for his appallingly inaccurate characterization of the Three-Fifths Compromise, an agreement reached between the North and South during the 1787 U.S. Constitutional Convention that stipulated 60 percent of the enslaved population would be counted to determine both representation in the U.S. House and direct taxation.

'An Affront to Human Dignity': Indiana Lt. Gov. Faces Backlash After Claiming Law That Declared 'Slaves' Three-Fifths of a Person Ensured 'Justice Was Equal for All People'
Indiana Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith (Photo: Micah Beckwith.com)

“The 3/5 Compromise was not a pro-discrimination or a slave-driving compromise,” said Beckwith, 42, in a video he posted last week on X. He claimed it “was actually just the opposite. Instead, he said, it confirmed ‘justice was equal for all people.” (Except maybe the people who counted as only three-fifths a person.)

Beckwith insisted the compromise was a “great move” by the North because it kept power from the Southern states to enshrine slavery, as enslaved people weren’t allowed to vote.

But by increasing the slaveholding states’ Congressional representation, the compromise made it nearly impossible to pass legislation that would abolish slavery — a fact Beckwith doesn’t mention.

The compromise is widely seen by historians as an example of amoral peacekeeping between two sides with conflicting interests. It was declared unconstitutional in 1868 following the passage of the 14th Amendment, which granted equal protection and due process to all American citizens.

But Beckwith said the critics are spinning a “DEI radical revisionist history that is happening in today’s culture.”

“Know your history. Go back and study the documents,” he said. “Read them for yourself like I have. Go look them up and you will find that the Three-Fifths Compromise and many other things like that were designed to make sure that justice was equal for all people and equality really meant equality for all.” 

It would be interesting to know from which books Beckwith, a self-professed Christian nationalist, gleaned these observations, which were shared last week on his X account.

They came after an emotional floor debate on the passage of Indiana’s controversial Senate Bill 289, which seeks to neuter diversity, equity and inclusion efforts in the state. The legislation will allow people to sue publicly funded schools or government entities if they’re required to undergo trainings that use a characteristic like race or sex to blame one group of people for actions in the past. 

Maybe Beckwith’s next “history lesson” will touch on how Southern whites can’t be blamed for slavery.

The anti-DEI state bill passed the state House by a 64-26 vote and the state Senate by a 34-16 vote and awaits the signature of Indiana Gov. Mike Braun.

Opponents say the legislation would prevent instruction on shameful moments from America’s history, including the Three-Fifths Compromise, Jim Crow and real estate redlining. The Concerned Clergy of Indianapolis asked the governor to condemn Beckwith’s statements, but Braun has yet to weigh in on the controversy.

“This language is not merely insensitive, it is an affront to human dignity and an echo of a racist ideology that sought to legitimize the inhuman treatment of Black people in America,” a Friday news release from the CCI stated. 

The group also demanded that Beckwith issue an apology as well as a formal retraction affirming Indiana’s commitment to an accurate history education. 

This wasn’t the first time Beckwith, a pastor in his spare time, caused controversy with his far-right social media musings. In a previous post on SB 289, he derided “taxpayer-funded race hustling” trying to stop the legislation. And last October, while campaigning for lieutenant governor, Beckwith claimed his female opponent was a “Jezebel spirit,” an Old Testament reference to a malevolent influence, almost always a woman, characterized by manipulation, pride, idolatry and seduction.

He previously served on the Hamilton East Public Library board of trustees — a platform he used to warn parents that their children were being indoctrinated with positive views of LGBT sex and Marxism in Indiana classrooms. Nearly 2,000 titles were removed from the library’s young adult section for containing depictions of sex, violence and profanity in the less than two years Beckwith was on the board.

‘An Affront to Human Dignity’: Indiana Lt. Gov. Faces Backlash After Claiming Law That Declared ‘Slaves’ Three-Fifths of a Person Ensured ‘Justice Was Equal for All People’