Record: the document says itPattern: documents line upOur lens: how we read it
Year: 1683 · Places: Northeast, Europe
The case
Our case: William Penn, founder of Pennsylvania, wrote in 1683 that the Lenape were "Of complexion black." Then he added an excuse: they did it to themselves, by design. He wrote what he saw; the excuse is his to prove.
What this case proves for us
Point 1: We are of this land. The founder of a colony saw the people of the land as black.
Background
William Penn wrote to the Free Society of Traders in London in 1683, describing the Lenape people of Lenapehoking, which he called Pennsylvania.
Our evidence
Exhibit A · Record: His words"Of complexion black, but by design, as the gypsies in England."
Exhibit B · Record: Again"their skins must needs be swarthy."
Exhibit C · Pattern: Saw it, explained it awayHe saw them as black and called it something they did to themselves.
Exhibit D · Our lens: Our lensHe wrote what he saw, then gave an excuse; the excuse is his to prove.
The colonizer lens
They were black by design: grease and sun, not birth.
Who says it: Penn himself.
What it covers: That he gives no proof, and that Gómara (P927) found people darker than their cold land could explain.
Cross-examination
If it was only grease and sun, why did the children look the same?
What proof does Penn give? None.
Verdict: we won
We won on Penn's own letter. He saw the Lenape as black. His excuse comes with no proof.
How we won
The witness: the founder of Pennsylvania.
The words: Of complexion black.
The excuse: by design, unproven.
The burden is on the colonizer lens: Penn says they were black by design. He has to show it.
Where this gets us
Level 1: Awakening. A colony founder's own witness.
To reach level 2, Paperwork, we still need:
The other English writers who saw the same and gave the same excuse, side by side.
RECORDWilliam Penn, letter to the Free Society of Traders (1683), section XI, on the Lenape: "Of complexion black, but by design, as the gypsies in England"; "their skins must needs be swarthy."
PATTERNthe founder of Pennsylvania saw the Lenape as black and explained it away as something they did to themselves
LENS (WW9)he wrote what he saw, then gave an excuse; the excuse is his to prove