The Wedge of Division: How Racism Feeds the Leviathan

Written By: Roderick Threats

In the study of Minarchy, we recognize that a government’s natural tendency is toward expansion. However, the state cannot expand its jurisdiction without the consent—or at least the fearful silence—of the governed. Throughout American history, racism has served as the most effective “wedge” to widen the gap between the individual and their inherent sovereignty, providing the moral cover for the growth of the police state.

The expansion of state power often begins with the dehumanization of a specific group. From the Black Codes of the Reconstruction era to the Jim Crow laws of the 20th century, the state created a massive infrastructure of surveillance and enforcement under the guise of maintaining “social order.”

When the public is convinced that a specific racial group is a threat, they willingly surrender their own rights—such as the right to be free from warrantless searches or the right to due process—in exchange for the illusion of security.

The tragedy of the police state is that a power once granted is never returned, and a weapon once forged is eventually turned on everyone.

• Stop and Frisk: Policies that began as a tool for racial profiling soon became a standard operating procedure that erodes the 4th Amendment for every citizen on the street.
• Mass Incarceration: The “War on Drugs” was fueled by racialized rhetoric, but it resulted in a carceral state that is now the largest in human history, impacting families of every background and draining trillions from the economy.

Under the 9th Amendment Project (9AP), we argue that the state’s primary goal is to expand its jurisdiction over the “Person.” Racism allows the state to “disparage” the unenumerated rights of some, which effectively lowers the bar for the rights of all. When we allow the state to deny the sovereignty of one man based on the color of his skin, we have essentially handed the state the keys to our own cage.

A truly limited government cannot exist in a society divided by state-sponsored racial tiers. To fight for the 9th Amendment is to fight for a standard of justice that is blind to race but hyper-aware of individual sovereignty. The only way to dismantle the police state is to reject the divisions that the state uses to justify its existence.