Those are some good stories that need to be told. No, enslaved people weren't all meek and mild and sitting around singing Negro spirituals waiting for the Great Liberator to come--in fact, one of my own ancestors almost certainly didn't do that since that side of the family were free Blacks from at least the early 1700s on in what is now eastern Tennessee--but the fact remains that the slave population of the South could not have won their freedom on their own at the time, and that it was the rise of industrial capitalism that doomed the slave economy as much as anything else.
None of that diminishes the heroism of the Blacks who often effectively resisted the slave system at all, and there were white antagonists who KNEW that. Another of my ancestors was a Confederate soldier who was at Bentonville, fought Black troops, and concluded that racism was bullshit because they were the best soldiers he ever fought, and he'd been at Shiloh, Chattanooga, and Atlanta.
The fact is it took a civil war to end slavery in the United States, and a LOT of white folks died in horrible fashion to pay the bill for doing that. They don't deserve all the credit, but they deserve to be remembered just as much as the Blacks who freed themselves.
Funny you post this and on a ghost hunting show I am watching what is on. It is about the 1811 slave revolt in LA. People in the area that they talked to about the history discussed how they tried to hide this at the time. Short history some slaves rebelled with one person as the leader and killed their slave owner and took off across the swamp. It ended up a group of 500 slaves who planned on making their own black state. They failed, but shows what you are talking about. Very interesting story from history.
As a believer in non-violence, though recognising need for self-defence in certain scenarios, I did not like where this was going at the start of your piece. But you told the truth, and you tied it up brilliantly, and also informed me (as a non-American not living in your country) about something I'd never known of before. However, I read some months ago about a black history month colouring book provided to kids in Boston which focused on BLM ideology and made no mention of even figures like Rosa Park. This was only discovered by parents because of a snow day when the kids attended classes from home. Some parents who'd come from oppressive regimes in Russia and China recognised some of the materials in this BLM colouring book as socialist propaganda.
The President’s demoralizing comments in his address to the graduates at Morehouse College reflects the thinking you describe at the end. Those fine men are far beyond Biden’s stale worldview and will certainly not be restrained by fear or weakness.
Are there any links to books, articles or reference material you used for this article? It’s always informative to hear history from all sides.
We don't hear much about that part of Black history for the same reason we don't hear much about women fighting off would-be rapists, abusers, and kidnappers...our society sees some people as weak, and does its best to make everyone believe it.
This. "They were not the helpless victims Hollywood and propagandistic historians have portrayed, but stalwart warriors fighting for their liberty." Yes. Yes. Yes. Hell, yes!
Furthermore, and in the same vein, early gun control laws were INTENDED to limit the ability of Black folk to "return fire." Not only were we not meek victims, but the people who wanted to infringe upon us knew it. I wrote about this (https://www.lewrockwell.com/2009/10/wilton-alston/gun-control-is-it-racist/) quite a while back. I am thrilled to see our real history and our legacy of being ass-kickers celebrated. (Then again, I expect that on Wrong Speak!)
Those are some good stories that need to be told. No, enslaved people weren't all meek and mild and sitting around singing Negro spirituals waiting for the Great Liberator to come--in fact, one of my own ancestors almost certainly didn't do that since that side of the family were free Blacks from at least the early 1700s on in what is now eastern Tennessee--but the fact remains that the slave population of the South could not have won their freedom on their own at the time, and that it was the rise of industrial capitalism that doomed the slave economy as much as anything else.
None of that diminishes the heroism of the Blacks who often effectively resisted the slave system at all, and there were white antagonists who KNEW that. Another of my ancestors was a Confederate soldier who was at Bentonville, fought Black troops, and concluded that racism was bullshit because they were the best soldiers he ever fought, and he'd been at Shiloh, Chattanooga, and Atlanta.
The fact is it took a civil war to end slavery in the United States, and a LOT of white folks died in horrible fashion to pay the bill for doing that. They don't deserve all the credit, but they deserve to be remembered just as much as the Blacks who freed themselves.
Funny you post this and on a ghost hunting show I am watching what is on. It is about the 1811 slave revolt in LA. People in the area that they talked to about the history discussed how they tried to hide this at the time. Short history some slaves rebelled with one person as the leader and killed their slave owner and took off across the swamp. It ended up a group of 500 slaves who planned on making their own black state. They failed, but shows what you are talking about. Very interesting story from history.
As a believer in non-violence, though recognising need for self-defence in certain scenarios, I did not like where this was going at the start of your piece. But you told the truth, and you tied it up brilliantly, and also informed me (as a non-American not living in your country) about something I'd never known of before. However, I read some months ago about a black history month colouring book provided to kids in Boston which focused on BLM ideology and made no mention of even figures like Rosa Park. This was only discovered by parents because of a snow day when the kids attended classes from home. Some parents who'd come from oppressive regimes in Russia and China recognised some of the materials in this BLM colouring book as socialist propaganda.
"One of my biggest gripes with how Black History is often told is the information people choose to leave out."
Jeff, this is not an innocent mistake. The perpetrators of this scheme know exactly what the are doing, and what results they will to achieve.
The President’s demoralizing comments in his address to the graduates at Morehouse College reflects the thinking you describe at the end. Those fine men are far beyond Biden’s stale worldview and will certainly not be restrained by fear or weakness.
Are there any links to books, articles or reference material you used for this article? It’s always informative to hear history from all sides.
We don't hear much about that part of Black history for the same reason we don't hear much about women fighting off would-be rapists, abusers, and kidnappers...our society sees some people as weak, and does its best to make everyone believe it.
This. "They were not the helpless victims Hollywood and propagandistic historians have portrayed, but stalwart warriors fighting for their liberty." Yes. Yes. Yes. Hell, yes!
Furthermore, and in the same vein, early gun control laws were INTENDED to limit the ability of Black folk to "return fire." Not only were we not meek victims, but the people who wanted to infringe upon us knew it. I wrote about this (https://www.lewrockwell.com/2009/10/wilton-alston/gun-control-is-it-racist/) quite a while back. I am thrilled to see our real history and our legacy of being ass-kickers celebrated. (Then again, I expect that on Wrong Speak!)