1958 revenue stamp of Chief Justice Roger B. Taney, author of the Dred Scott decision.

Department of Internal Revenue, Washington DC.

We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal...

The general words above quoted would seem to embrace the whole human family, and if they were used in a similar instrument at this day would be so understood. But it is too clear for dispute that the enslaved African race were not intended to be included, and formed no part of the people who framed and adopted this declaration, for if the language, as understood in that day, would embrace them, the conduct of the distinguished men who framed the Declaration of Independence would have been utterly and flagrantly inconsistent with the principles they asserted, and instead of the sympathy of mankind to which they so confidently appealed, they would have deserved and received universal rebuke and reprobation.

Dred Scott v. Sandford, 60 US 393 (1856).


BENJAMIN RASMUSSEN





THE GOOD
CITIZEN


The Good Citizen explores how American society came to be what it is today. Over a period of eight years,  Benjamin Rasmussen travelled to 43 states and was introduced to over 500 people as he investigated the impact of the country’s complex history on contemporary society. In this new book, Rasmussen’s photographs are combined with essays by Frank H. Wu­ and collectively they seek to provoke thought and conversation around the complicated nature of American identity.Within this five chaptered project, click on “Captions” for extensive contextual information on the images and on “Essay” for Frank H. Wu’s essay that corresponds with the specific chapter.

Click here to buy a copy of the book. 


CHAPTER 1: VIOLENCE

CHAPTER 2: EXCLUSION

CHAPTER 3: ARCHETYPE

CHAPTER 4: BEAUTY

CHAPTER 5: SURVEILLANCE

VIOLENCE


EXCLUSION


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