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**WHO IS A PERSON IN AMERICA?** Who is entitled to personhood as defined by US law?

The follow excerpt is from //Thirteen American Arguments//, by Howard Fineman. Fineman, an award winning political analyst, correspondent and writer, was senior columnist for //Newsweek// and is currently enior political editor for //Huffington Post// and MSNBC.

“Jefferson writes in the //Declaration of Independence//, that it is a ‘self-evident’ truth that ‘All men are created equal’ (US 1776). As devoted as we may claim to be to the Jeffersonian ideal, America has an equally deep penchant for denying what we all now call “human rights.” In search of profit or political power, in the fervency of faith and fear, we have limited or ignored the legal personhood-–even the elemental humanity-- of a long list of people, from Native Americans to alleged terrorists.”

Historical Inquiry Time Line Topics

Contemporary Inquiry

•Are you fully a person if you are not allowed to marry in the eyes of the law?

•Should corporations be accorded personage status in American law?

•Is the unborn a person?

•Do undocumented immigrants have any rights that require our respect?

•What about groups for whom personhood status is a settled issue, in the eyes of the law? Do we owe them for their suffering? Do we owe them preference in hiring?

•And what do we do when some persons insist on their claim to separateness—that dwells on differences of race, gender, ethnicity, or sexual orientations? Do our founding ideas require that we ignore such distinctions? Is there such a status as personhood-plus?