US Politics Thread

[BlueMoonAcrossThePond]

Who's the black guy supposed to be?

Frederick Douglass - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[BlueMoonAcrossThePond]

Does anyone else over the age of 50 recall distant, perhaps vague, perhaps even false, memories of the argument that slavery was actually good for African Americans.

It's been so long since I've heard this bullshit... or maybe I haven't heard it before. I've a vague recollection that someone or ones - probably on a TV show - argued that slavery was good for African Americans because it brought them out of a hostile environment in which they'd on average die young, and into a healthy environment in which they'd live much longer. Total bullshit of course - but I think I've heard the current Florida "slavery wasn't so bad" argument before. But I can't remember when or where.

 

[BayernMan]

Does anyone else over the age of 50 recall distant, perhaps vague, perhaps even false, memories of the argument that slavery was actually good for African Americans.

It's been so long since I've heard this bullshit... or maybe I haven't heard it before. I've a vague recollection that someone or ones - probably on a TV show - argued that slavery was good for African Americans because it brought them out of a hostile environment in which they'd on average die young, and into a healthy environment in which they'd live much longer. Total bullshit of course - but I think I've heard the current Florida "slavery wasn't so bad" argument before. But I can't remember when or where.

None of this is new. Look up the “Lost Cause” or “Daughters of the Confederacy”, which have worked very hard to whitewash the Civil War/War of Northern aggression. All these talking points have been re-used and repackaged several times.

 

[BlueMoonAcrossThePond]

None of this is new. Look up the “Lost Cause” or “Daughters of the Confederacy”, which have worked very hard to whitewash the Civil War/War of Northern aggression. All these talking points have been re-used and repackaged several times.

True - these narratives (although somewhat unfamiliar to me), would seem to be mostly prevalent in the American South.

Although I lived and worked in the South years ago, my childhood upbringing was mostly in California. I'd swear that I heard the slavery-ain't-so-bad narrative during my childhood.

 

[BayernMan]

True - these narratives (although unfamiliar to me), would seem to be mostly prevalent in the American South.

Although I lived and worked in the South years ago, my childhood upbringing was mostly in California. I'd swear that I heard the slavery-ain't-so-bad narrative during my childhood.

You most likely did hear them growing up. Jim Crow ended in 1965 and that means the vestiges/narratives continued to be prevalent for at least another decade(though I and many would argue we are still dealing with the remnants of Jim Crow now).

 

[laserblue]

Does anyone else over the age of 50 recall distant, perhaps vague, perhaps even false, memories of the argument that slavery was actually good for African Americans.

It's been so long since I've heard this bullshit... or maybe I haven't heard it before. I've a vague recollection that someone or ones - probably on a TV show - argued that slavery was good for African Americans because it brought them out of a hostile environment in which they'd on average die young, and into a healthy environment in which they'd live much longer. Total bullshit of course - but I think I've heard the current Florida "slavery wasn't so bad" argument before. But I can't remember when or where.

You don't have to go back very far. Only last month De Santis's new Florida school curriculum embarked on rewriting history.

New Florida standards teach that Black people benefited from slavery because it taught useful skills

The standards, which were blasted by a statewide teachers' union as a "step backward," were approved Wednesday by the State Board of Education.

www.nbcnews.com

 

[super_city_si]

Apparently slavery wasn't so bad. Those that were enslaved should think themselves lucky, they could easily have just been killed. MUCH WORSE! Praise the lord!

Absolutely fucking mental. How about just dont do either of those things?

 

[Vic]

Frederick Douglass - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

I'm still confused.

The PragerU video is arguing that the black man (Douglass) was OK because he relied on the Constitution while white man Garrison burned copies of the Constitution.

Yet (linked from the wikipedia article) Garrison and Douglass argued over whether a pacifist response was appropriate to slavery (Douglass in favour of resistance by force) https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83035487/1854-10-14/ed-1/seq-2/# (cols 3/4)

The wikipedia article quotes Douglass saying to Garrison in 1847: "I have no love for America, as such; I have no patriotism. I have no country. What country have I? The Institutions of this Country do not know me—do not recognize me as a man."

Unless Florida is going to stop students from looking at wikipedia, I'm not sure introducing them to Douglass is going to make them pro-slavery.

Have I missed the point somehow?

 

[BayernMan]

By the way, everyone in Ohio. Go vote!

 

[roman totale]

By the way, everyone in Ohio. Go vote!

I voted early and my son, who just turned 18, voted “No” this morning in his first-ever election. My sense locally is that this is not going to pass, but you can never underestimate the stupidity of rural Ohio, who will fall hook, line and sinker for the tv ads that have been shrieking “If you don’t vote yes, then outside interests will turn your children gay”