Quote:
Originally Posted by icenine
this is basically the old myth that African Americans were better off with Ole Massa back on the Plantation.
there are three trends in American History from the date of 1620 onward
1. Slavery and and the Civil War, Reconstruction and the journey from Jim Crow to Civil Rights.
2. Westward expansion.
3. The rise of American as a great power in relationship to the rest of the world in the 20th century.
you have to remember that many slaves were separated from their families when they were sold. Many were killed by their owners, who were never prosecuted for murder. Many female slaves were raped by their owners, too.
And any relationship between a female slave and a white owner could not have been 100% consensual.
so when I hear comments that blacks after the Civil War were not ready for free citizenship it makes me sort of sick.
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Hear, Hear! This is why it is hard for me to control my ire when people start trying to speak of Confederate leadership and the wealthy plantation owners that supported them in wistful, sanctimonious terms. It's almost, not quite, but almost, like listening to someone speak in such terms about any ruthless tyrant. Polite Gentlemen? Perhaps. But, I hear Stalin was quite the charmer at parties and social gatherings too. Manors are meaningless in the big picture. Like my Dad used to say, "Smilin' Bastards.".
Now, someone can try to tell me, "...but that's the way it was and had been for thousands of years.", and they would be correct----to a point. I just happen to believe we had passed that point by the early 1860s. But, some individuals, North and South, just couldn't let go of the idea of humans as property and the notion of their own racial superiority. Still can't, really.
Dave