<p>DENVER — Democrats in Colorado have condemned a Republican lawmaker for joking about lynching before saying a 18th century policy designating a slave as three-fifths of a person “was not impugning anybody’s humanity."</p>
<p>State Rep. Ron Hanks was speaking on the House floor Thursday about legislation aimed at strengthening civics education in schools. He was accidentally introduced as fellow Rep. Mike Lynch.</p>
<p>“Being called Mr. Lynch might be a good thing for what I’m about to say. No, just kidding," Hanks said.</p>
<p>Hanks, who is white, then spoke about the Three-Fifths Compromise, which was made during the nation’s Constitutional Convention in 1787 and classified a slave as three-fifths of a person when apportioning taxes and states’ representation in Congress.</p>
<p>“It was not impugning anybody’s humanity,” Hanks said. “Is this really racist to be talking about what the Three-Fifths Compromise was? I don’t think so, and I think it’s important. It’s part of the civics lesson here. It was brought up, and it merits discussion.”</p>
<p>Hanks added that the compromise was an effort by the Northern states to keep Southern states from having too much representation in Congress and push slavery beyond the South.</p>
<p>“It took a war to do it. It took 600,000 American lives. It took a lot of treasure. That’s the kind of thing that ought to be taught,” Hanks said.</p>
<p>Halisi Vinson, executive director of the Colorado Democratic Party, said Hanks’ comments were a way to "whitesplain the historical experience of Black people."</p>
<p>“The fact that Representative Hanks thought it would be appropriate to make a ‘joke’ about lynching — especially at a time when we’re seeing a rise of racially motivated assaults on people of color across our country — is utterly despicable," Vinson said in a statement.</p>
<p>Shenika Carter, chair of the African Diaspora Initiative of the Colorado Democratic Party, said that calling Hank’s comments “disgusting and ignorant would be a gross understatement."</p>
<p>"For him to downplay the indisputable, historical fact that enslaved Black people were treated less a person’s worth both in law and in practice is offensive and beneath the dignity of our state legislature," Carter said in a statement.</p>
<p>Hanks told The Associated Press that video of his comments was manipulated to make a point that he didn’t make.</p>
<p>“It built the union by having such a compromise. Abhorrent as we may see it in today’s terms, it took a civil war, 80 years later to settle the issue,” Hanks said.</p>
<p>He was speaking about legislation that requires lessons on the three branches of government, how laws are enacted and the formation and development of government at the state and federal level.</p>
<p>He came under scrutiny from other members of the Legislature for marching from then-President Donald Trump’s rally in Washington, D.C., to the U.S. Capitol before rioters stormed the building on Jan. 6.</p>
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<p>Nieberg is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.</p>
