Jefferson neutralized Banneker’s evidence by branding him an exceptional Negro.

Evidence

In his letter to Condorcet, Jefferson called Banneker a “very respectable mathematician.” In Notes, he claimed that Black people did not think “above the level of plain narration.” Did Banneker change Jefferson’s mind? Yes and no. Jefferson branded Banneker an extraordinary Negro. “I shall be delighted to see these instances of moral eminence so multiplied,” he told Condorcet. — Ibram X. Kendi, Stamped from the Beginning, 322

Categorization

• XREF: The ‘extraordinary Negro’ move is the assimilationist escape hatch Kendi defines — the exception that preserves the rule. Nice concrete specimen of assimilationism.
• QUESTION: This is a candidate for testing the reader’s core question: does the ‘exception’ move evidence ideas driving policy, or self-interest preserving itself against counter-ideas?