In a powerful clip from 2014 that remains distressingly relevant today, actor Wendell Pierce (The Wire, Treme) dissects the concept of "American violence." Speaking on a panel, Pierce dismantles the idea that contemporary societal violence is a new phenomenon or an anomaly. Instead, he argues that it is a "learned position," deeply rooted in the historical tactics used by white settlers and institutions to maintain dominance over Black and Indigenous peoples.
Pierce’s commentary is a necessary corrective to historical amnesia. By citing specific, brutal examples, he forces a confrontation with the uncomfortable truth that violence has been a foundational tool for control and resource extraction in American history.
The Theater of Terror: Pointe Coupée
Pierce begins by mentioning the Pointe Coupée slave conspiracy of 1795 in his home state of Louisiana. Following a failed insurrection attempt, authorities responded with performative brutality designed to terrorize the enslaved population into submission.
As historical records confirm, the leaders of the conspiracy were executed, and their heads were severed and placed on posts along the Mississippi River as a gruesome warning to others. Pierce uses this example to illustrate that extreme violence was not accidental; it was a calculated policy aimed at crushing resistance and maintaining the institution of chattel slavery.
Medical Dehumanization: The Tuskegee Experiment
Shifting from physical terror to institutional callousness, Pierce brings up the Tuskegee Syphilis Study (1932–1972). In this infamous study conducted by the U.S. Public Health Service, hundreds of Black men with syphilis were misled into believing they were receiving free health care.
Even after penicillin became the standard cure in the 1940s, researchers withheld treatment to observe the "natural progression" of the disease until death. Pierce poignantly describes this as watching "the pathology of how they die." This example highlights a form of violence that is bureaucratic and clinical, born from a dehumanizing worldview that saw Black subjects not as patients deserving care, but as lab rats for observation.
The Calculus of Genocide: The Trail of Tears
Finally, Pierce addresses the devastation wrought upon Native Americans, referencing the "Trail of Tears" and the infamous "smallpox blankets." While historians debate the extent and frequency of deliberately infecting blankets with smallpox (the most documented incident occurred at Fort Pitt in 1763, prior to the Trail of Tears era of the 1830s), Pierce’s underlying point regarding the intent of these policies is sound.
The forced relocation of Native American nations was a campaign of ethnic cleansing aimed at land seizure. Whether through direct warfare, forced marches under lethal conditions, or the fostering of disease, the ultimate goal was, as Pierce states, "to eliminate their population so we can take all of that land." The violence was a means to an economic end.
Conclusion
Wendell Pierce’s thesis is challenging but essential: the violence we see today is not a glitch in the system, but an inheritance. It is behavior that has been modeled through centuries of policy and practice. By confronting these historical truths—the beheadings, the medical neglect, the calculated displacement—we can begin to understand that American violence is indeed a "learned position," brought here and perfected over centuries. We have to remember, so that we can finally begin to unlearn it.
Sources:
Pointe Coupée Conspiracy (1795): Hall, Gwendolyn Midlo. Africans in Colonial Louisiana: The Development of Afro-Creole Culture in the Eighteenth Century. Louisiana State University Press, 1992. (Details the conspiracy and the brutal aftermath of executions and decapitations).
Tuskegee Syphilis Study: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). "The U.S. Public Health Service Syphilis Study at Tuskegee." (Confirming the timeline of 1932-1972 and the withholding of penicillin to observe the disease's progression).
Smallpox Blankets & Indian Removal: Fenn, Elizabeth A. "Biological Warfare in Eighteenth-Century North America: Beyond Jeffery Amherst." The Journal of American History, vol. 86, no. 4, 2000, pp. 1552–1580. (Discusses the documented use of smallpox blankets at Fort Pitt and the broader devastation of disease during colonization).
