![handle is hein.journals/mlro121 and id is 1 raw text is: (RE)BUILDING THE MASTER'S HOUSE:
DISMANTLING AMERICA'S COLONIAL POLITICS
OF EXTRACTION AND EXCLUSION
Marissa Jackson SoW*
INTRODUCTION
On February 10, 2021, and in the days thereafter, liberal American
commentators showered Congresswoman Stacey Plaskett with superla-
tives and praise due to her masterful takedown of former President Donald
Trump during his impeachment trial for incitement of the January 6, 2021
Capitol Riot.1 Referring to a picture of Plaskett wearing a knee-length blue
dress with draped sleeves, the political strategist (and daughter of House
Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi) Christine Pelosi took to Twitter to note that
[n]ot all superheroes wear capes. This one does!2
Plaskett is one of many Black Americans who has done the hard work
of cleaning up the chaos left behind by former President Trump.3 This
group includes Amanda Gorman, who rubbed balm into the nation's weary
soul at President Biden's inauguration;4 the Senate Chaplain, Barry Black,
* Assistant Professor, University of Richmond School of Law. Leadership in Gov-
ernment Fellow, 2020-21, Open Society Foundations. Research for this Essay was made pos-
sible, in part, by support from the Open Society Foundations. The Author would like to
extend special thanks to Karen Attiah, Blanche Bong Cook, Carliss Chatman, Cary Martin
Shelby, Teri McMurtry-Chubb, and Linda Paris for encouraging her to write this piece, and
to the faculty of the Boston College School of Law and for the opportunity to workshop an
early version thereof.
1. See Colby Itkowitz, Stacey Plaskett, a House Delegate Who Couldn't Vote to Im-
peach Trump, Is Using Her Prosecutorial Background to Try to Convict Him, WASH. POST
(Feb. 10, 2021, 7:10 PM), https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/02/10/stacey-
plaskett-house-delegate-who-couldnt-vote-impeach-trump-is-using-her-prosecutorial-
background-try-convict-him [perma.cc/VUX9-KW3G].
2. Christine Pelosi, (@sfpelosi), TWITTER (Feb. 10, 2021, 3:04 PM), https://twit-
ter.com/sfpelosi/status/1359594124588929025?s=12 [perma.cc/3PVY-ZJ7J].
3. See Cate Young, Who Cleans Up After a Coup Attempt?, CUT (Jan. 8, 2021),
https://www.thecut.com/2021/01/essential-workers-cleaned-up-capitol-riot.html
[perma.cc/GLE5-LH72].
4. See Katie O'Malley, Read Amanda Gorman's Poem 'The Hill We Climb' in Full
and Feel Immediately Inspired, ELLE (Jan. 21, 2021), https://www.elle.com/uk/life-and-cul-
ture/culture/a35276230/amanda-gormans-poem-the-hill-we-climb/ [perma.cc/QVV5-
6Z6E].
1](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/mlro121&div=1&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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