EBL: Is Donald Trump right? Is George Washington next?

Tuesday, August 15, 2017

Is Donald Trump right? Is George Washington next?

Damn Straight George Washington is next...

Now I love Dave Chappelle--and I will concede he has a point. George Washington owed slaves. He conflates Washington with Jefferson in this bit, but of course Jefferson owned slaves too (even fathered children with one).

Today lefties are going nuts saying that Trump compared Robert E. Lee to George Washington. Not really, all Trump asked is if George Washington statutes were next? Given someone spray painted the Lincoln Memorial today, it is not that much of a stretch. Do you not think that after the Confederate statutes come down, that next will be going after Jefferson, Washington and other slave holders?

Hell, they went after Teddy Roosevelt tod ay (and by today's standards he would be considered racist, although they seem to dance around Democrat racists like Wilson and FDR). Racist Eugenist Target Sanger gets a pass from the Left.

The Huffington Post puts Bush (11) and Reagan (3) in its list of top 11 racists presidents (they always like to stick it to conservatives and Republicans--even though it was Democrats who were historically racist and pro-Confederate). This preening and posturing will not end well.

You cannot fairly judge someone from history on today's standards. If you were born into a slave holding family, chances are you would be a slave holder. If you were born into a slave family, you were going to be a slave (unless you could escape). What happened in the past with your dead ancestors does not make you today more or less moral. Even in the context of slavery, you have to judge individuals in that context.

Slavery was wide spread back in the day and the Africans were on the receiving end of it--mainly because they were available and were resistant to diseases in the Caribbean and South America (people tried the Irish first, but they died too quickly). The left tries to argue this is a justification for slavery. Hardly. It just goes to show that people take advantage of those they can. That does not make slavery right, but that is the way it was. Saudi Arabia did not ban slavery until 1962.

Proclamation of the Abolition of Slavery in the French Colonies 1849, by Francois Auguste Biard. Versailles Palace

Slavery was a horror, driven by greed. It was also a trap for those who practiced it, as well as those who suffered under it (although it was way worse to be under it). We also ended up fighting a civil war that ended it. Hundreds of thousands of Americans died doing so. I am glad in the West we have moved beyond slavery (although slavery still takes place in many parts of the world and illegally here). I recognize racism is still around too.