John Washington III: Texas Was Founded in 1845 Without Black Consent — and Votes Cast Later Do Not Cure That, John Washington III Says
John Washington III, a candidate for president, addressed what he called a foundational question of consent and government: the 1845 Texas constitution excluded Black Texans from voting, so the state's founding happened without their consent — and, he argued, legal jurisdiction today is not the same as demonstrated consent from those who were excluded.
DALLAS — John Washington III, a candidate for president, addressed a foundational issue about consent and government in a statement on Texas's founding. In 1845, he noted, Texas adopted a state constitution that excluded Black Texans from voting — which means, John Washington III argued, that Black Texans could not give consent to that government's founding.
Later events did not change that founding fact, John Washington III wrote, pointing to Reconstruction voting rights and limited convention participation. "The principle of 'consent of the governed' cannot be satisfied by saying 'someone voted later, so everyone consented forever,'" he wrote. Texas today claims legal jurisdiction, he argued, but legal jurisdiction is not the same as demonstrated consent from those who were excluded.
John Washington III said Texans are Americans and citizens under the federal Constitution, yet the historical record shows that Texas never obtained Black consent to its founding authority. Government exists to serve and protect the people, he wrote, not to claim authority by default over those it excluded.
"This is not an argument against the United States," John Washington III wrote. "It is an argument for truth, accountability, and genuine consent of the governed."
