quote:

Originally posted by JBrown:

quote:

Originally posted by crbutler:

I get that the implication that someone should be grateful that their ancestor was a slave is bad, and wrong… but similarly they should be grateful that they are here instead of wherever they were before- and if they really feel they are not,emigrate back to wherever.

I have no interest in returning to Norway, Germany, Ireland, England, or any of the dozen other places my relatives came from (that I know of…) to live.

Butler, I am not taking issue with you, but I quoted your post because I want to expand my position (as I am being painted as the guy who thinks that African Americans should be thanking us for slavery -an assertion that I have never made).

I find it offensive when anyone asserts that “blacks should go back to Africa if they think they have it so bad here”. And yes, I do realize that you weren’t saying that.

The reason that I find it offensive is that the descendants of slaves have no where to “go back to”. For better or worse, the twists and turns of history have placed them here in America, therefore they are Americans just like the rest of us. And just like the rest of us, they are of mixed ancestry which means that they, like most everyone else in America, can’t claim to belong to any single country other than the United States.

And as LHeym has pointed out, they deserve to be afforded every opportunity that America offers the rest of its citizens.

Your ancestors were part of the millions of Union soldiers who fought, and the hundreds of thousands who died, fighting and winning the war that ended slavery. They deserve to be mentioned alongside the white and black Americans who fought slavery long before the nation was ready to fight a war over the institution.



Getting back to the topic at hand: should schools teach that “slavery benefited the slaves by teaching them skills?”

I believe that it would be better to teach them about the industrious men who were born slaves, but went on to become successful men and women. Some of whom became rich by any standard.

But I guess that doesn’t follow the victim narrative that is being pushed.

quote:

Originally posted by Mike Mitchell:
Plenty of folks here have already stated that slavery was beneficial to slaves because they learned how to shoe horses.

quote:

Originally posted by RolandtheHeadless:
I didn't learn any such thing. I never purported to speak for all black people--that's your own fantasy talking. If you didn't post so much, you might have learned something yourself.

I'm not black, but I have empathy and imagination to tell me that I would be offended by the statement. It's not a question, even if you disguise it as such.

quote:

Originally posted by RolandtheHeadless:
I never asserted any such thing. You're making up facts to suit your argument again.

It doesn't take much imagination and empathy to tell when you might offend someone. People make these judgments all the time. If I go to a guy's house and tell him his wife is fat and ugly, my empathy and imagination tell me he'll be offended.

quote:

Originally posted by JBrown:

quote:

Originally posted by RolandtheHeadless:
Nah, you didn't show me a thing

Roland the brash idealist last week, telling us what we can’t do and speaking for an entire race of people:

quote:

“the fact that you can't ask the question of black people without giving offense”

Roland so prudent and sensible today, sharing what he “thinks” and mentioning “potential” outcomes:

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Originally posted by RolandtheHeadless:
I do think the question is potentially offensive if asked by a white person of a black person.

I’m proud of you, you have shown amazing growth this week!

You are correct that I probably didn’t teach you anything. Maybe it was Lane? Regardless, that shows some real learning on your part.

Now if you can apply that learning to your other areas of racial bias…

quote:

Originally posted by JBrown:

quote:

Originally posted by Mike Mitchell:
Plenty of folks here have already stated that slavery was beneficial to slaves because they learned how to shoe horses.

Mike, your lack of comprehension is absurd. Beyond absurd actually.

The only person who mentioned “shoeing horses” was Roland, and he was being facetious. I guess your victim mentality twisted that into the idea that “plenty of folks” made the assertion??


For the record, I didn’t make fun of your profession, I made fun of the idea that anyone as sensitive and easily offended as you could actually argue a case.

And I shouldn’t need to apologize for pointing out that some/many of your ancestors were treated horribly, that some of your ancestors were raped, some of whom undoubtedly conceived children as a result of those rapes.

Every single one of us has ancestors who went through things that we can’t even begin to imagine.

You are an educated adult, you should have already known that.



*and if you want me to “leave you alone” then keep my name out of your posts and keep your trap shut when you feel the need to police my speech.


Just for fun: I will be in Zambia in a few weeks, I’ll ask some Africans if they ever wish that their ancestors had been brought to America as slaves. You know, since theback40 is doing all the heavy lifting stateside…

quote:

Originally posted by Bill Leeper:
I have often seen people who refuse to see, or refuse to hear, but I have seldom seen someone as deliberately obtuse as you are, Mike. You win. Your ability to lie, name call, and misrepresent is beyond what a poor high school drop out, like myself, can manage. Regards, Bill.

quote:

What's beyond absurd is your insistence on continuing to assert that it's appropriate to advocate the position that slavery was beneficial to slaves. The level of stupidity defies belief.

quote:

Originally posted by LHeym500:
FL did pass its version on the South Carolina Seaman’s Act of 1822.

In the wake of the trial and execution of the slaves involved in Vesey’s attempted uprising in 1822, South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, and Louisiana passed the Negro Seaman Acts in an effort to curtail the freedoms of black sailors.21 Ships entering ports in these states were required by law to incarcerate black crewmen in city jails.

https://cupola.gettysburg.edu/...cle=1070&context=ghj

quote:

Originally posted by Mike Mitchell:

Sorry dude, but you're the fucking idiot. DeSantis started the "slavery was beneficial because slaves learned blacksmithing."

What's beyond absurd is your insistence on continuing to assert that it's appropriate to advocate the position that slavery was beneficial to slaves.

quote:

Originally posted by RolandtheHeadless:
Tricky, tricky Jason. You can't pony up, so you turn into a moving target.

First you claim, "Yes, you absolutely did assert that you spoke for all black people."

You couldn't produce evidence to support your claim, so you change the claim. Now, it's "you said that it is a fact 'that you can't ask the question of black people without giving offense.'"

But I didn't say that either. You've only produced a partial quote taken out of context.

quote:

Originally posted by RolandtheHeadless:
I'm not sure it's stupid. I think it's calculated. A way to defeat the reparations movement.

The subtext is, "Black people should be grateful for what they've got."

It's got a superficial appeal in logic to those who are, yes, stupid, to bigots, and to the insensitive.