Every Fourth of July, some celebrity will attract national attention by denouncing the holiday as a type of slaver’s celebration. This year was no exception. In past years, I have said nothing because these comments reflect understandable conflicted feelings by African Americans and others whose ancestors lived through decades of oppression and discrimination. However, it is time to put part of this criticism to rest . . . at least in part. There is a tendency to ignore those Framers who advocated emancipation at our founding and the recognition of the scourge of slavery that would forever taint our history.
Damon Wayan Jr. was one of the first to raise the familiar objection in a tweet reading “Happy white people proud of their racist ancestors day.” After a backlash, Wayan later said it was “A joke some took too personally. So what.”
For his part, former 49ers Quarterback Colin Kaepernick went to Ghana and said that “What have I, or those I represent, to do with your national independence?” Instead, he traced his roots to Ghana “to visit the sites responsible for myself (and many other Black folks in the African Diaspora) for being forced into the hells of the middle passage. I wanted to see a fraction of what they saw before reaching the point of no return.”
Kaepernick understandably sought to highlight how African Americans are in a strange position when celebrating independence that did not apply to their ancestors. However, that is only if you define the holiday narrowly. The day celebrates the creation of a new nation and the achievements of a people committed to the values of liberty. We created a nation that was flawed in many ways, but none greater than the perpetuation of slavery. The Constitution would not come about for over a decade when it created a system by which we could change not just our laws but ourselves. Less than one hundred years after that declaration, millions of white and black soldiers went to war to end slavery and, long before the civil war, millions of abolitionists fought to end the scourge of slavery.
This is not the first time that Kaepernick has adopted an artificially narrow view of our symbols or holidays. His controversial refusal to stand during our national anthem reflected his failure to understand the flag (and the anthem) represent the promise of a free people. Standing for the anthem is actually a statement of faith in the rights (guaranteed by the Constitution) that the flag represents. Saluting that flag is to reaffirm the rights of equality and liberty that it represents – together as one people.
It is true that many of the Framers were slave-owners and that some like Thomas Jefferson sought the elimination of slavery while retaining their own slaves. Many Framers were not slave owners like John Adams, Samuel Adams, Alexander Hamilton, Oliver Ellsworth, Robert Paine, Thomas Paine, and Roger Sherman. It is also not that the Framers failed to see the glaring contradiction. George Washington, a slave owner, wrote “I can only say that there is not a man living who wishes more sincerely than I do to see a plan adopted for the abolition of [slavery].” Patrick Henry wrote “It is not a little surprising that Christianity … should encourage a practice so totally repugnant to the first impressions of right and wrong.” John Jay, Framer and first Chief Justice, spent his life fighting against slavery. As is often the case, George Mason put it best
“As much as I value an union of all the states, I would not admit the southern states into the union, unless they agreed to the discontinuance of this disgraceful trade, because it would bring weakness and not strength to the union . . . The augmentation of slaves weakens the states; and such a trade is diabolical in itself, and disgraceful to mankind.”
Again, the issue is important to keep in mind when we celebrate our independence. However, the record is not so black and white as suggested. On Independence Day, we celebrate not the people we were but the people we have become. Millions died to end the disgrace of slavery and to fulfill the promise of our Declaration of Independence. We still have a great deal of work to do. That fact however should not keep us from celebrating what we have achieved, together, as a nation. It is not our “racist ancestor’s day” but our day.
In the end, our greatest accomplishment was our ability to not just break away from the Crown but to break away from our own injustices and immorality. Indeed, as an independent people we could no longer blame anyone but ourselves for the rape, enslavement, and murder of millions of slaves in the Land of the Free. That was exactly the point of people like Jay, Henry, and Mason at our founding. They could not overcome the divisions with Southern states while also going to war with Great Britain. Instead, they agreed to principles of liberty and equality that would be the foundation for the abolitionist movement. Their vision would not be realized for another 90 years, but it was a vision passionately discussed among the Framers. The stain of slavery has left an indelible mark on our history but so have the men and women (including Framers) who spoke against it. It is a collective story full of sins and redemption. It is a history worth celebrating.
So pleased you exposed the odious and offensive falsehood that the founders were all “slave-owing white guys”. White, yes; all slave-owners, not at all. And, I am not aware of one founder who genuinely viewed the institution as anything but morally reprehensible. Unfortunately, slavery was an economic necessity which soon disappeared with the advent of industrialization. Great post. Thank you.
Thank you for pointing out the economic problem with slavery. If a cotton producer had been using slaves prior to 1776, ending the use of slavery and hiring “free labor” would raise his prices. Competition would drive him out of the market. And you couldn’t just open your gates and send slaves out to fend for themselves (we learned that the difficult way as slaves migrated north during the civil war. Their assimilation difficulties were almost hard to believe. I saw a movie recently where Lincoln was talking to a group discussing these problems (who knows if that was so). His meeting ended when Mrs. Lincoln came to get him for the play. Lincoln’s VP was not the enthusiast of freeing slaves. So who knows what Lincoln had in mind. I have since read that helping slaves move to the wide open west was one plan. And that didn’t happen. Will we ever have peace?
Let’s get our responsibilities clear. We the People living now are responsible for designing the future. We’ll be judged on the quality of that design. We’ll be held up to the standards of the future, just as we’re holding the Founders responsible for affairs 241 years hence. Will our posterity say of us, “They didn’t think much about designing the future, content to let it take its own unmanaged path”? Or, “They didn’t want to take responsibility for designing the future, indulging their escapism with pointing the finger of blame at each other for the sins of the distant past.”
The arrow of time points forward, and with it the responsibilities of contemporary citizens. So, it’s really irresponsible to wallow in historical guilt. Rather, when we discuss history, we should frame the discussion in terms of how well those people handles their responsibility to design a better future. Did they possess the tools and techniques of collaborative problem-solving? Did they fall prey to distractions and evasions of responsibility?
On the 4th of July, as I surveyed the crowds on the National Mall, I saw a society well on its way to becoming a post-racial society. Yes serious problems of economic opportunity and human development persist, but they don’t align strongly with race and ethnicity…every race and ethnicity is undergoing dramatic stratification, and the within-group strata look just the same as in the other ethnic groups. Same proximal causes, and same remedies required. In the post-racial society, problems of unequal opportunity are greeted with a problem-solving mindset based on actionable theories….hand-wringing about immutibles such as race, gender, and ethnicity are viewed as a waste of time and energy.
We are making progress toward a post-racial society, and know it the the right destination to shoot for. Posterity will judge us wise and responsible for setting sail along that course.
Professor Turly asserts, “… We created a nation that was flawed in many ways, but none greater than the perpetuation of slavery. …”
The ethnic -racial cleansing and genocide of the “natives” … indigenous … people the professor does not calculate in “his” … “America’s” value system or ethics.
The kindest, but certainty not the most accurate, description of the professor’s system of values must be understood as “Ignorance Is Strength.”
Such is the nature of those who willfully and deliberately attempt to justify and rationalize their position and their place.
I have no quarrel with most of the sentiments expressed in this post. However, I am less sanguine about the Star-Spangled Banner. The second half of verse 3 (rarely sung, I recognize) is as follows:
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave,
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
I find such sentiments anathema to “the land of the free” theme. I also note that Francis Scott Key was a slave-holder and and an anti-abolitionist, though he did free at least some of his slaves pre-Ciivil War. While he did help many slaves as an attorney, he was in favor of sending them back to Africa and was on a board of an organization that had that purpose. With his mixed record on human rights for slaves, if someone does not wish to honor his song, that seems understandable to me.
We need some more holidays. One to celebrate the passage of the 13th Amendment. One for the 14th, one for the 15th and one for the signing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by Lyndon Johnson. LBJ all the Way. He was one of our best Presidents. He rammed that Act through Congress. He rammed the Voting Rights Act of 1965 through Congress. Harry Truman might have give em hell but LBJ was a rammer with a hammer. Ask Fannie Lou Hammer.
LBJ knew if he signed the Civil Rights Act he would have the blacks voting Democrat.
And lose the south for the Democrats.
Racist or reverse racist is still racist. Add Sexist or sex enabler/victimizer is still sexist. Theft of money by any means is still theft. But the synergy of it all when you lump them togther? Fantastic! You get a Democrat Candidate for President.
In the case of Wayons, who is a man with a history of ironic detachment, I’ll take it as a bad joke. As for others, you might reflect on where you might be if you weren’t here, where you’re homeland is if it’s not here, and what you might celebrate if not your homeland. Just a thought.
And worse it begat the Democrat Party. Southern Branch party of slaver owners. Northern Branch party of slave importers and traders. After the Civil War they joined and became the Black Law and Jim Crow Laws Party. By 1900 they had become the Progressive party mostly known for income tax amendment to control everyone’s money, the dismantling of checks and balances (16th and 17th) and the party of anti civil rights. by the turn of the next century they had moved to being the war monger party, the leaders of the single party system of government, renouncing our Constitutional Republic in favor of a fascist socialist foreign ideology and having a right wing called RINOs.
But yesterday we ‘citizens’ celebrated the 241st birthday of our Constitutional Republic having taken part in Independence Day II on Nov 8th 2016.
And still going strong.
First, it’s the Democratic Party, get it right. Second, it evolved from Jefferson’s Democratic-Republican party created at the very start of the 19th century. Third, those southern Democrats that you speak of, the Dixiecrats, they changed their party affiliation en masse in the wake of LBJ’s civil rights achievements, joining the GOP and becoming the Republicans of today.
I will not judge any group of Americans by the actions of a few nor will I accept the punishment of a group of Americans for the actions of a few. Even that excellent statesman Edmund Burke didn’t “know the method of drawing up an indictment against a whole people” Hate-based racism is banished in law and a diminishing problem in society. You may feel differently but the facts don’t support the notion of wide-spread, race-motivated discrimination in employment, benefits or housing, unless, that is, you cook the books and believe in the notion of unintentional discrimination or “disparate racial impact” which means, of course, ignoring discriminatory intent and punishing based on sheer numbers. That’s a tough one to swallow in a nation supposedly guaranteeing equal treatment for all under the law. Even the notion of “protected class” smacks of patronization and the bigotry of low expectations if we assume it’s not a waypoint but a permanent destination as many on the Left do.
Emphasizing our differences and assuming facts that don’t exist as the Black Lives Matter gang did in regards to many of the police shootings of young black males serves only to polarize the situation and exacerbate racial divisions. I evaluate people like I do books — one at a time. No two are the same and each may have aspects showcasing both good and bad. Race is a peculiar and ultimately unilluminating feature of human experience and I prefer to ignore it making my judgments like I do the size of your feet or the color of your hair. Some say this is a racist approach in refusing to render verdicts on past discrimination but I have neither victim to hear nor any perpetrator to try. They are all dead or are susceptible to punishment at law, or are not relevant to the discussion by virtue of their subsequent immigration.
In this position, I have no lesser a supporter than MLK, Jr., who famously hoped for a society not wedded to litigating past racial injustices and making amends but to a society where citizens are “not judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.” That seems a better policy to me to avoid a zero sum game and the incessant conflict that necessarily means.
Wow, excellent post mespo!
I used to do them pretty often around here! No really, thanks.
Great post! I second Olly’s Motion!
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
I would love to see mespo resume weekend blogger duties.
Great thoughts!
So now racism has to be “intentional” to actually be racist? Really? If you enact a policy, designed say to suppress black votes in North Carolina but the “intention” was allegedly merely partisan although it targeted black people. Not racist! If a muslim teen is leaving a mosque wearing a burka. It’s announced before the suspect is caught that it’s “road rage” and not a hate crime. How many times do we see official announcements from people who can’t truly know that “race was not a factor.”
Despite Turley’s assertion that these “celebrities” are unsettled by the experiences of their ancestors. I’m sure they have experiences of their own to give them pause. How many of you here explain away laws (and I’m not talking about Voter ID but all the associated laws that accompany it designed to suppress particular votes) and deny the existence of voter suppression. Did any of you find it a bit curious that a police officer was “in fear for his life” while calmly shooting a black man in the back running away from him?
What do you do when you see racist statements made by fellow commenters on this board?
BTW, you’re taking one statement of MLK and saying he supports your position. He was in Memphis where he was killed to support a sanitation workers strike, pointing out the disparities and injustices that existed then and in different forms now.
You talk about “facts that don’t exist” and the words and actions of Black Lives Matter. Have you ever criticized statements made by Police officials and unions that turn out to be far from the truth?
I happen to be 6’6″ and about 280 lbs. My son is 6’4″ and about 220. Do you think he and I have no reason to be concerned that our existence will make someone “fear for their life” which is all the justification required these days to shoot a black man.
I’m happy for you that you have the option to rail against the concept of the “protected class.” You’re in the second most protected class in the nation, the first of course being the rich. Discrimination is not a thing of the past. It is easily dismissed by those who literally have no skin in the game.
Hogwash! You know what the biggest form of voter suppression is??? It’s single black women raising criminal children. Thus about 25% of blacks have a felony record, and can not legally vote. To fix that, black women would have to start getting married, and black people would have to start obeying the law.
Sooo, if you are really interested in voter suppression, why don’t you quit whining about racism and talk to your fellow black people about straightening up and flying right for a change! Or, if you care more about whining about racism, then not.
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
Squeeky, you are the main one people here rarely call out on your views. You need black people to be responsible for anything that befalls them because considering any underlying factors is beyond you.
I could say the same thing about you, that “You need
blackWhite people to be responsible for anything that befallsthemBlack people, because considering any underlying factors is beyond you.Sooo, why not talk about REALITY, instead. Do Black people commit proportionately more crimes? Yes. Do Black people have a way out of control illegitimate birth rate? Hell yes. Does growing up in a single parent home have a negative impact which increases poverty, crime, suicide and education?
Yes. See this short recap:
http://lib.post.ca.gov/Publications/Building%20a%20Career%20Pipeline%20Documents/Safe_Harbor.pdf
Now, who controls whether or not a Black girl gets pregnant out of wedlock? Is it White people, or is it Black people? Black people. Specifically the two black people who made the kid.
Now, do you want to keep blaming White people, or do you want to start putting the blame where it belongs – – – on Black people, and the Black Community, and on YOU, who refuses to tell Black people what they don’t want to hear. That they have the power to change their own lives if they simply quit screwing around and living trashy lives.
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
You have no idea what I tell my children and others. Do black people commit proportionately more crimes? Not a simple yes or no answer. Poor people commit proportionately more crimes. Besides things which individuals are responsible for. There are systemic things that contribute to conditions that affect economic status. Redlining, job discrimination, police targeting. Statistics show drug use is relatively the same between blacks and whites but more black people are being arrested because of which community is policed more. While stop & frisk has been relatively ineffective, if you stop a disproportionate number of blacks and hispanics looking for crime, this will lead to more arrests. Disparate sentencing… the now apparently acceptable 18:1 differential for crack vs. powdered cocaine (down from 100:1) Mass incarceration (which Sessions is bringing back all by himself) takes many of those black men that aren’t marrying black women, out of circulation. Living a trashy life is far less likely to lead to jail if you’re white than black.
There’s no need for me to call you out as a racist.You proclaim it yourself from the highest rooftops.
(And yes I know that redlining was theoretically ended by the Fair Housing Act of 1968. A rose by any other name is still a rose).
You are dissembling.
You said, “Do black people commit proportionately more crimes? Not a simple yes or no answer.” I disagree. There are numerous sites which break down the numbers BY RACE. And the answer is YES. You just don’t like the simple answer, because that does not allow you to BeeEss your way around the facts.
To my question about the disproportionate amount of illegitimate Black births, you said, ” “. Nothing. Once again, a simple question. There is even a chart I gave earlier.
To my question about “Do single parent families adversely affect poverty, crime, children, etc.”,you said, ” “. Nothing.
I have asked you similar questions before, and your response is to simply say nothing. Because those simple answers don’t back up all your “institutionalized” racism BeeEss. Well, I invented a new term. Institutionalized Illegitimacy® . As shown above, that explains the problems faced by Blacks. It is a problem that Blacks can fix, all by themselves.
And, as far as what you tell your kids??? I bet you tell them the same thing successful Whites (and Blacks) tell their children- — Don’t get pregnant before you are married, get a good education, and work hard. Keep away from druggies and thugz. Sooo, why is that message so difficult for you to tell other Blacks? Are you scairt they are going to call you names, just like they do Larry Elder, and Thomas Sowell, and Jacob Riley???
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
Until you are willing to consider the underlying causes that are a factor I will not limit myself to the part of the conversation you want to have. You probably tell your friends that if you’re going to be overtly racist, do it anonymously. Your racists posts litter the comments on this blog. You are what you are.
The “underlying cause” of illegitimacy is having sex without proper birth control. I am quite willing to discuss that. Are Black girls allergic to birth control pills??? I doubt it. Sure can’t be the cost, because poor folks get them for free. A lack of knowledge about sex??? OK, that excuse might work once, but criminy some of these Black gals have a whole slew of illegitimate kids.
No, I think you don’t really want to discuss the ridiculously high illegitimate black birth rate because you know that is what the problem is, and when people focus on that, then it annihilates all the “systemic” BeeEss excuses. But, let’s pretend that you are right, and there is some systemic reason besides purely trashy behavior. Let’s call the alleged systemic bogey man “KKK.”
Sooo, KKK causes high illegitimacy in the Black community, and then the high illegitimacy rate cause a whole host of other problems, like poverty, crime, poor education, etc.
What is the answer? What simple answer would start solving the problem in a mere 10 months??? BLACK GIRLS STOP HAVING ILLEGITIMATE KIDS!!! Kerblammmm! In less than a year, you start to see improvement in the Black community. Shaneeka didn’t have Jaquarius’s kid, and can stay in school. Jaquarius doesn’t have a child support obligation. Both young blacks now have more money. Shaneeka finishes High School (I wanted to be sarcastic and say she finishes Middle School, but eschewed that little barb!)
Shaneeka has a diploma, now, and can go get a job, or start college. Three years later, she has a Nursing Degree, and can marry Tyrone, whom she met and fell in love with. Tyrone can marry her, and start a family with her, instead of meeting Shaneeka when she already had three little bast*rds by three different baby daddie. Tyrone can just marry her, and there is no step-family dynamics, and no having to raise 3 extra kids by God knows who, or having to mess with three different baby daddies, and their families. Both Tyrone, and Jaquarius and 2 other black men, can look forward to being a part of their community, and be fathers and husbands. Shaneeka’s now legitimate kids don’t have to watch momma have a new boyfriend every other month or so, they aren’t getting molested by whatever thug she brings home, or eat Doritos and Top Cola for supper. With two incomes, Shaneeka and Tyrone can move even out of the hood!
See how that works out! No matter what KKK is, or whether it is real, or just a figment of your imagination, the answer is the same. Blacks just need to quit having illegitimate kids. Something that is totally within their control.
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
The racist is strong in this one!
To Engima
Calling me a racist is just your way of admitting that you don’t have a good answer to the issues I raised! Which, you have a habit of doing.
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
Right on, Squeeky! Rational discussion about emotional matters is nearly impossible these days.
Thanks Jim!!! I try to hold their feet to the fire.
Uh oh!!! There is a helicopter outside of my window. . . It seems to be a CNN news copter. . . OMG! It must be this thing that I put on Penelope’s Twitter!
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DD_1dW-UwAAW6Gv.jpg
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
You are a smart, commonsense and a riot !! Refreshing.
It is easily dismissed by those who literally have no skin in the game.
“You don’t have to be guilty to be killed, you just have to be in the environment,” Rev. Jesse Jackson said.
http://abc7chicago.com/news/102-shot-14-fatally-in-chicago-over-july-4-holiday-weekend/2184156/
In Europe, they call that no-go zones.
We all have skin in the game. This is our country and if we are not secure in our life, liberty and property in every jurisdiction in this nation then hell yes we have skin in the game. If we have laws that do not treat all equal, then hell yes we have skin in the game. While you shadowbox all the ism’s in your blog, the real fight is in the degradation of our culture where there are no moral absolutes. Where the rule of law is no longer respected.
Can the rule of law be respected if it isn’t equitable? Crack vs powdered cocaine 18:1 sentencing disparity, why?
I have zero compassion for any disparity in the sentencing guidelines. You don’t like the crack cocaine sentence, then don’t do crack. I get a stiffer penalty for driving 25 mph over the limit than I do for 10 mph over. So I leave earlier or run the risk. It’s called personal responsibility.
I’m in no class. This isn’t India. And we punish people for actions coupled with wrongful intent not innocent intent. We used to live by those rules but because we were bamboozled into believing we had to grant favored status to some segments of society over others we now bear a striking resemblance to Beruit of the 90s as groups claim entitlement and imposed on groups cry foul.
I will acknowledge there is such a thing as “innocent intent” and unintended consequences. I submit if the consequences are intended there is no innocence.
Exactly and we don’t punish for innocent intent otherwise every NBA team would have four Caucasian/ Hispanic starters to “look like America.”
We also don’t punish legislators for gerrymandering districts specifically to lessen the impact of black voters. Al long as they claim it’s only partisan which I still can’t see why that’s okay either?
The district boundaries are reviewable by courts if based on racial discrimination and are routinely challenged.
The day after the Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act of 1965 what happened in Texas, Louisiana and Alabama. Four years later the Texas changes are now being reviewed and found to be discriminatory (intentionally by the way). The review of a discriminatory change may take decades to happen. In the meantime, injustice prevails. The challenges you speak of are generally well after the fact.
I would also say we have more of a caste system here in America than most would care to admit.
I wouldn’t.
This may annoy you, enigma…., but get over it. You are not a slave now and never will be in this country. No one living today had anything to do with slavery. Your son will be fine if he doesn’t wear a hoodie or hang out with lots of fellow blacks after dark. It’s sad, but true. But your generation must be role models for the next.
My saying racism still exists isn’t claiming we’re still in slavery. I have already learned that living in a suburban almost all white upper class neighborhood wasn’t sufficient to keep my son from being stopped and detained on his two block walk to school because he was “out of place.” That you think he should have no concerns for his safety is not his reality… or mine!
That you think he should have no concerns for his safety is not his reality… or mine!
Or this man either. This empathetic gentleman has clearly met the enemy of the minorities in this country and apparently it is the reality of his imagination. Oops, the video would tell a different reality.
I’ve just come to appreciate even more the words of those minorities when they speak of harassment and police arrogance. I had a good dose of arrogance on this evening and, in my rear view mirror, the image of the second officer out of the car, his hands ready in case I made the wrong move. My life seemed to be in danger.
http://ijr.com/the-declaration/2017/07/913189-columnist-claims-hes-lucky-cop-didnt-shoot-encounter-sheriff-releases-video/?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=Owned&utm_term=ijamerica&utm_campaign=ods&utm_content=Politics
I think all that is proven by this video is that the white reporter faced no read danger. There are other videos of black men being shot dead because the armed officer was “in fear for his life,” they “thought he had a gun.” Certainly there are circumstances where suspects present a real and present danger and lethal force may be required. There are other cases where people have been shot sleeping on their couch with no repercussions. The definition of whether or not a different standard of policing exists shouldn’t be whether white people acknowledge it.
Well said, enigmainblackcom. But look out, here come the closet klansmen with the same, tired, lame, excuses, and buts….
It’s a new day and they don’t need to hide in the closet anymore. They march and hold rallies, call themselves Nationalists, the Alt-Right and the Alt-Lite (not quite as racist). They occupy some of the highest offices in the land.
Strike one. Try again. In my day job I see up close the institutional racism of the criminal justice system. From every step through the machine; traffic stop, arrest decision, charging decision, jury/judge finding, sentencing, to parole, the statistics show that black defendants have worse outcomes than white defendants in similar circumstances. So, your “preferences” — while interesting, or not, fail to recognize the reality that statistics tell a different story. How would you feel upon awakening every day knowing the cards were stacked against you because of your skin color?
Before anyone fires up their white pride responses about “violent tendencies” or some such, note that my statement shows “similar circumstances,” so we are not comparing hot check offenders to burglars.
This is to 727
Complete hokum, I’ve never any judge discriminate based on race and you haven’t either. Show your proof.
Millions died to end the disgrace of slavery. But what Mr. Turley fails to mention is that millions died trying to preserve it. Those that honor the Confederacy and support the display of Confederate monuments in locations of prominence are validating traitors that fought to continue the enslavement of other human beings. They are no more Americans than the traitors that fought against the Stars and Stripes.
Did you know that at the time, in the context of the time your charge was invalid. Since then the Democrats of those years have, in the context of our times earned the bricks and stones you threw.
Hogwash. The Civil War was about State’s Rights. The issue that had everybody pissed at each other was slavery. But, slavery did not end until December 1865, about 8 months after the war ended. Because it was still legal in the Border states. Plus, Lincoln was pretty adamant that he would accept slavery if the Union was preserved.
Today, California is going the route of the Old South, threatening to secede to protect their cheap Mexican labor. I am curious how you are going to react if that comes to pass.
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
Yes, a state’s right to preserve the institution of slavery.
From the South Carolina Declaration of Succession:
“We affirm that these ends for which this Government was instituted have been defeated, and the Government itself has been made destructive of them by the action of the non-slaveholding States. Those States have assume the right of deciding upon the propriety of our domestic institutions; and have denied the rights of property established in fifteen of the States and recognized by the Constitution; they have denounced as sinful the institution of slavery; they have permitted open establishment among them of societies, whose avowed object is to disturb the peace and to eloign the property of the citizens of other States. They have encouraged and assisted thousands of our slaves to leave their homes; and those who remain, have been incited by emissaries, books and pictures to servile insurrection.”
http://avalon.law.yale.edu/19th_century/csa_scarsec.asp
Blah. Blah. Blah. Read what Lincoln said. It’s on the Internet.
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
“Blah. Blah. Blah.” Translation- My argument was just proven to be total BS and I have nothing to refute the evidence that was just presented to me.
I think you are the kind of person who can not be convinced of anything by evidence. You have a belief system, which probably includes an irrational hatred of the South, and The Confederacy, and you will stick by it thru Hell and High Water. For others, who have open minds:
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
“What I do about slavery, and the colored race, I do because I believe it helps to save the Union.”
What he was about to do was give the Emancipation Proclamation which set the Union firmly on the course towards abolition.
Yes, I have a hatred towards the Confederacy whereas apparently you do not. I guess the idea of slavery doesn’t bother you all that much. You’re probably one of those who long for the ‘good old days’ where African-Americans knew their place and wouldn’t dare mouth off to Miss Squeeky.
I knew it! Your beliefs about the Civil War are a result of personal animus, not a knowledge of history. As far as Blacks knowing their place, then Yes! I wish they did! Because it ain’t their place to blame me and other White folks for their problems, when they are popping out 75% illegitimate kids all over the place. Their “place” is getting married, and raising their kids right, and fixing them breakfast in the morning, and making the little heathens do their homework.
Which, will never happen while a significant number of White folks are like you, and go around looking for excuses for them, so that you can virtue signal to other Whites.
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
I have long grown weary of this rhetoric. Maybe people will be happy when all reminders of that most uncivil of all wars are erased, northern as well as southern. This would include the Lincoln Memorial.
Silver; I understand your position; I really, really do. However, such a position is not productive, or conducive to moving forward as one nation. Our forefathers definitely took the high road when the shooting stopped in 1865. Imagine the sacrifice the Yankees had to make to not treat every Confederate soldier as a traitor; not to start lining Confederate officers up against walls. Every family lost loved ones in the horrible war, yet they were able to move past the “darker angels of our souls” which demanded vengeance, retribution and punishment. There comes a time when what happened over a century and a half ago has to be laid to rest.
Discrimination is the first step of freedom.
If Americans cannot discriminate, Americans cannot be free.
Of Course the Preamble, Constitution and Bill of Rights, with emphasis on the 9th Amendment,
provide every conceivable natural or god-given freedom to Americans.
The Justices of the Supreme Court would do well to read the founding documents.
“Happy white people proud of their racist ancestors day.”
~+~
That statement in of itself is racist.
Much of this expressed outrage against white individuals, none of whom were alive during those times, amounts to self-aggrandizement and virtue signaling. That the factual record of our past in relating to pasts were, along with the current state of affairs is for them unimportant to their narrative when it is contradictory to their political position.
I agree with ModernMiner in that racist expressions by Colin Kaepernick and other celebrities and politicians are best ignored. These types of impossibly unwavering positions, no matter how absurd, held by racists prove the futility of discussion with them. I am no longer to engage these individuals when they bring up complete absurdities and simply walk away from the conversation. It’s not worth the energy and aggravation.
This reminds of a lesson taught by a joke I read:
I Sent You a Rowboat
A very religious man was once caught in rising floodwaters. He climbed onto the roof of his house and trusted God to rescue him. A neighbour came by in a canoe and said, “The waters will soon be above your house. Hop in and we’ll paddle to safety.”
“No thanks” replied the religious man. “I’ve prayed to God and I’m sure he will save me”
A short time later the police came by in a boat. “The waters will soon be above your house. Hop in and we’ll take you to safety.”
“No thanks” replied the religious man. “I’ve prayed to God and I’m sure he will save me”
A little time later a rescue services helicopter hovered overhead, let down a rope ladder and said. “The waters will soon be above your house. Climb the ladder and we’ll fly you to safety.”
“No thanks” replied the religious man. “I’ve prayed to God and I’m sure he will save me”
All this time the floodwaters continued to rise, until soon they reached above the roof and the religious man drowned. When he arrived at heaven he demanded an audience with God. Ushered into God’s throne room he said, “Lord, why am I here in heaven? I prayed for you to save me, I trusted you to save me from that flood.”
“Yes you did my child” replied the Lord. “And I sent you a canoe, a boat and a helicopter. But you never got in.”
Lesson: The Declaration of Independence is based on timeless principles that would be the vision for what these United States would strive to reach. With it, it was the lifeline towards eliminating slavery. Without it, the power to eliminate slavery would remain in the hand’s of Great Britain. Our founding generation got in.
Too many Blacks whine about slavery and the country and the founders, and the Confederate flag, and whatever, because whining pays dividends to them, both financially, and psychologically. Financially, thru affirmative action, welfare, housing vouchers, food stamps, and like programs. Psychologically, because it keeps them from having to do what every drunk, drug addict, sex addict, and every other person whose behavior causes them major problems has to do to get better – – – that is, admit they have a problem, and the problem is THEM, and their own choices.
Too many White people (Liberals and Democrats) support them in this for the same reasons that wives, children, parents. and friends, enable (and are codependent with) drunks, drug addicts, etc. – – – that is, they get a “a sense of reward and satisfaction from “being needed” and they get to virtue signal to other White people.
It is the year 2017. This year, in my city which is 55% Black, the illegitimate birth rate among blacks is 75%. It has been at that level for years. Nationwide, it is the same, and in some cities, even worse. For example, in Minneapolis, that well-known hotbed of slavery and discrimination, the rate is around 82%-84%. As a national average, Blacks have been popping out over 50% of their children out of wedlock since about 1974ish. They hit the 70% mark about 1992, and have kept it there since. There is a chart below.
Think about that. Forty one straight years of a >50% illegitimate birth rate. Twenty five years of a >70% average illegitimate birth rate. That’s about three generations of this nonsense. And if you dare mention this, you are a racist if White, and an Uncle Tom coon if Black. These statistics almost guarantee poverty and crime. These children are not provided for in the way they should be, and are being raised in large numbers as feral, violent savages who feel “entitled” to act however they want. They are being taught to hate and resent White people. Why? Because their mother doesn’t want to take the blame on herself. Just like a drunk who blames the boss for firing him, and not his own chronic absences.
And White Liberals make it worse, some trying to deepen the racial divides to get votes, and others to satisfy some sort of sick inner need. For examples, putting on hoodies and prissing around whining about Poor Old Trayvon Martin, who got shot while he was banging some poor guy’s head into the concrete. As I have said before, Trayvon is the Left’s Horst Wessel.
Sooo, no. It is not surprising to me that Blacks are spinning around madly, grasping at every silly excuse they can think of to not confront this problem. They come up with White privilege, Institutionalized racism, post traumatic slavery disorder, segregated neighborhoods, mass incarceration, etc. etc. etc. And it is all a bunch of bullsh*t. It is all the widespread trashy behavior of blacks themselves.
Now, we have another bunch of excuses directed at the founding of our nation. While JT is attempting to apply reason to this, and to argue it out, that isn’t going to work. Because Blacks aren’t adopting this line of silliness out of any “reasoned” argument. It is just another irrational self-defense mechanism to not have to deal with their own lousy choices in life.
And White Liberals aren’t going along with it out of any rational “reasons.” They are just trying to feed their own needs to be co-dependent. To virtue signal.
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
https://thesocietypages.org/graphicsociology/files/2010/10/maritaldecline.jpg
I am thoroughly sick of stupid females who lack any kind of a soul attempting to comment on social issues, especially the bottle blonde variety. See, a bottle blonde doesn’t view her own brown hair as acceptable because she accepts the notion that adult women should look like Barbie: long blonde hair, fake rubber boobs, show a lot of skin, tight yoga pants, stupid high heels that kill your feet, ankles, knees and back, expensive clothes and jewelry [they mis-pronounce this as “jew-la-rhee”–dead giveaway] and then there’s the phony way of speaking. You are one of these. That you can’t see reality when you look in a mirror and that you buy into a look established by someone else, instead of accepting your natural appearance, establishes that you can’t think for yourself and therefore have proven that you are insufficiently bright enough and lack insight and reasoning sufficient to offer social commentary, especially on racial issues. You dare to argue that a law professor discussing racial topics is unsuccessfully attempting to apply “reason” to what you consider black people’s failure to take personal responsibility and their alleged institutional racism, laziness and lack of what you consider proper values. You can’t even take personal responsibility for accepting your appearance in its natural state. You are incapable of cogently reasoning anything, proven by your appearance: you are facially stupid and racist. Now, how do you like being judged based on appearance? You don’t get it–do you–Dum Dum?
Probably wins the award for the most disjointed, illogical, bizarre, nonsensical incoherent comment ever posted in response to another’s comment. How frightening. Are you the nutjob, sitting on the bus, wearing a heavy winter coat, in the middle of July, with lipstick all over her face, and screaming something about martians who have listening devices in your molars? I thought that I recignized you from somewhere! You have every right to disagree with Squeeky’s thoughts and beliefs, but your bizarre allegations about how she dresses or looks? Are you totally, f’ng nuts? Seriously. You haven’t got a clue as to how anyone on this blog dresses or looks, with the exception of JT, so ease up on those meds and let someone else in the dayroom use the computer. You are hallucinating.
+10
Well, JT suggested yesterday that perhaps the 4th was “a day where we could suspend our anger and vitriol just for the day”.
And Natacha referred to that yesterday.
My understanding is the same as Natacha’s; i.e., glad that the 4th finally over with, and we let the hate and vitriol fly once more.😊
It’s kind of the same principle as having to be nice to people around Christmas time….a real pain in the ass, but at least it’s only temporary.😄
This isn’t even about being nice or not nice. It’s about writing a comment which appears as though it comes from a lucid and sane individual. Don’t agree with Squeeky? Fine. Write what you wish, but to go off on some bizarre and odd tangent about Squeeky’s appearance? Her clothing? Her jewelry? Comments that have no relevance and are the product of some delusional thought process?
I was wondering if I missed something. Why does Natacha think Squeeky is a bottle blonde? Because of her cartoon drawing avatar?
I am thoroughly sick of stupid females who lack any kind of a soul attempting to comment on social issues,
Does this mean you’ll remain silent in the future?
So you aren’t Russian after all…. you don’t get it do you? Figures. ask your programmer.
Dear Natacha:
Hmmm. Please read what you just wrote:
Now, please, after reading your own words, tell me what you think of black women who put white hair weave into their hair to make them look white? (Remember the Minneapolis Riot: The dead thug’s sister: “Don’t burn our sh*t down. Burn they sh*t down! We need our weave!)
Are they too stupid to comment on racial issues? Here, is you a video to comment on:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPn21Hs1mj0
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
Great post Squeeky!
Thanks, Olly!!! I am glad you liked it!
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
Too many Blacks whine about slavery and the country and the founders, and the Confederate flag, and whatever, because whining pays dividends to them,
No, too many blacks on journalists’ Rolodexes. I’ve never met a black person in meatworld who was vociferous on these subjects.
I am sure the journalists egg it on, but the hostility towards America is real.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzhX2zH28Qw
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
Strike two. Try again. There are more white people utilizing the social safety net than black people. There really aren’t a phalanx of “welfare queens” driving Cadillacs. Turn off the Faux News and gather your own facts.
This is to squeek
There are more white people utilizing the social safety net than black people.
White anglos outnumber blacks by a factor of 5. Were there more blacks making use of particular programs, that would be indicative of some serious social pathology in the black population. (BTW, about 1/2 of the client population of the old AFDC program was black).
Sorry, I didn’t see your comment was to me. I think I have given you this info once before, but if not:
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
So, you are agreeing that black people are disproportionally poor? Thanks, finally.
You are in Top Form Squeaky! Let it Roll!!
Slavery is contemplated today entirely out of context. Colonists and the American Founders were BORN into that reality. Life was completely different and much more raw and difficult. For example, the punishment of public Drawing and Quartering persisted longer than slavery:
Wiki –
“In 1803 Edward Marcus Despard and his six accomplices were drawn, hanged, and quartered for conspiring to assassinate George III. The sentence was last passed (though not carried out) upon two Irish Fenians in 1867, and it was officially abolished in 1870.”
What should have happened in America to effect abolition was freedom, free enterprise and free markets. Public sentiment or “demand,” would have freely generated less demand, boycotts and divestiture. Slave based businesses would have been driven into insolvency and bankruptcy if people in Ameirca, Europe and related markets would have shut off demand for their products.
Abraham Lincoln on post abolition status and compassionate repatriation for the benefit of freed slaves and to correct a wrong, provide a sense of nationhood and to imbue self-esteem:
“If all earthly power were given me,” said Lincoln in a speech delivered in Peoria, Illinois, on October 16, 1854, “I should not know what to do, as to the existing institution [of slavery]. My first impulse would be to free all the slaves, and send them to Liberia, to their own native land.” “…he asked whether freed blacks should be made “politically and socially our equals?” “My own feelings will not admit of this,” he said, “and [even] if mine would, we well know that those of the great mass of white people will not … We can not, then, make them equals.”
Lincoln should have been impeached and convicted for nullification, despotism, usurpation, treason and conspiring to conduct a coup d’etat. Slaves indicated that they wanted freedom. That they got. Then they wanted “free stuff,” a perpetual and increasing demand.
Compulsory integration and “multiculturalism” are artificial and only exist due to the implementation of unconstitutional laws on redistribution and social engineering.
Either Americans are free or they are not.
People must adapt to the outcome of freedom.
Freedom does not adapt to people.
I taught high school history. It was appalling how many fellow teachers hate America. This blog used to be dominated by people who hate America. ALL civilizations have histories of oppression, hatred, etc. Those who overcome their dark inclinations, as this great country did and continues to do, flourish. Even if you hate America you have to admit this is the most successful country to ever inhabit this planet. And therein lies the reason for so much hate. The deadly sin of envy.
Nick, your comment would make sense, about envy or jealousy, if those guilty of trashing the US were outsiders, looking in, with their noses pressed up against the windowpane and unable to access the benefits and the rewards that few, if any societies on earth, offer. Those complaining and griping, however, are not outsiders; they are insiders. The ultimate insiders, who live and work in this allegedly unfair and detestable country. A country worthy of scorn and derision. That’s the crux of the matter–that those, bestowed with the privilege of living and working in this great country, who have succeeded way beyond their dreams–and, I might add, way beyond their true respective talents–continue to speak of this country in such disrespectful and ungrateful terms. It’s symptomatic of a much larger and more serious problem inherent in the black community. I would allege that it is one explanation for the continued downward spiral of black communities, across this land–a victim mentality which perpetuates its continued descent into oblivion.
Nicky- just think — in another hundred years ago, we might have a government that works to help the poor not one that just works to cut taxes for the rich, invades countries to steal their natural resources, and pays more attention to what Israel wants than the needs and wants of our own citizens. A government that provides medical care and free education for its citizens…and for good measure STOPS the invasion of illegals — no matter what the open borders folks say.
Bill McWilliams,…
No need to wait another 100 years.
The Great Society programs and the War on Poverty programs have been such a great success over the past 50 years, we already have achieved the noble goals you listed.😒
Tap the brakes teach. We’ve only made a little over two centuries. Take a gander at the Ancient Egyptians. Your definition of “success” may vary, but they pretty much dominated everything in the hood for millennia.
This is to spinner
Right. Because the ancient Egyptians “pretty much dominated everything in the hood for millennia”, it’s inappropriate to evaluate the success or failure of a U.S. policy or program.
Going forward, we’ll defer judgement on those issues due to your “Egyptian Time Test”.
Please sit down. I’ll try to break it to you gently, but this will make you very sad. Your comment does not apply to anything that spinner said, which is what my statement was referring to.
OK…do you have a timestamp reference for spinner?
Replies aren’t always in chronological order, or next to the original comment that the reply references.
It’s helpful to either partially quote what it is you’re responding to, or mention who it is you’re addressing.
but they pretty much dominated everything in the hood for millennia.
No, they were a regional power whose influence hardly extended beyond the Levant.
Does Colin Kaepernick celebrate the oppression of the Apaches by the Buffalo Soldiers? This was an important part of the history of the Southwest
Paul, Kaepernick was adopted and raised lovingly by a white family. He is one screwed up dude. The sportswriter, Jason Whitlock nails Kaepernick on a regular basis.
I continue to be mystified as prominent African Americans–like the previously mentioned individuals in the article, who play significant roles in the entertainment and sports arenas–who have been blessed and graced–yes, both blessed and graced–with the good fortune and luck to be living their lives in the United States of America, where they have been handed opportunities to amass great amounts of wealth and influence, who still, to this day, behave like ungrateful, petulant and disgraceful beings. Nothing of which to be proud? Nothing of which to be grateful? Had their ancestors not travelled those brutal passages, where they landed in this country, these two would still be sitting on the dirt floor, in some thatched hut, somewhere in Africa, barefoot and dreaming about finding a scrap of food to eat. Yes, there was slavery. Yes, it was a terrible time in our history; however, there is no appreciation and no recognition that this country has given these two, and countless others with the same diseased mindset, opportunities that their distant cousins, wandering around in various parts of Africa, could never imagine. If this country is so unworthy of praise, so vile. . .go back. Please, go back to Ghana and whatever Godforsaken village from which your ancestors emerged. See how great it is, among your own backwards and primitive people. In the meantime, America, love it or leave it. . .or, as I would say, America, love it or stfu. Unfortunately, people like JT, with a platform, where he could truly discuss the disgrace that is the sick mentality of a portion of a large segment of the African American population, drop the ball by soft peddling the audacity of this demented mindset. It is discussed, yes, but in a very cautious and tenuous manner, for obvious reasons. That is why is continues to persist. It isn’t condemned, in no uncertain terms, as disgraceful and abhorrent by those with a voice. That is more disgraceful than the warped mindset, itself.
Well said.
There is a change in universities. Sports is now in the Entertainment Department of the Arts Department with a major in football etc. but the minor is significant. How to choose a financial adviser and balance a check book.
Well stated. I can never have enough reasons to ignore Kaeperdinck and his pseudo-celebrity ilk. Thanks for a couple more.