Hal Rounds, the Fayette County attorney and spokesman for the group, said during a recent news conference that there has been "an awful lot of made-up criticism about, for instance, the founders intruding on the Indians or having slaves or being hypocrites in one way or another.""The thing we need to focus on about the founders is that, given the social structure of their time, they were revolutionaries who brought liberty into a world where it hadn't existed, to everybody -- not all equally instantly -- and it was their progress that we need to look at," Rounds said, according to The Commercial Appeal.
Excuse me while I barf. Hurl. Upchuck. Blow chunks.
That's all I can think about doing after reading that story on Huffington Post. We should all focus on how great the founding fathers were, not the fact that they were just fine with treating some people like property while others got rights.
As if that was really any different from a monarchy. Trust me, to the black folks being beaten and raped, it sure wasn't.
It's funny what certain types of white folks consider the "important stuff". Cherry trees and lighting = important. Human bondage = not so important..
At this point any black person who aligns themselves with the Tea Party movement is a race traitor. Period.
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Sigh. Well, at least I'm once again reassured that it's not just my country that's full of crazies (those who constantly try to downplay the harm caused by Apartheid and colonialism).
I agree. It has been bugging me a lot lately that in general Americans (and maybe all humans)seem to think that pointing out factual things that may show some of the shades of grey or the negative side of either an individual, a group or a nation is the same as attacking it when it really isn't. Showing all sides of the story is good and constructive. We can talk till the cows come home about the good things the founders did, and we usually do, so what is wrong with pointing out the inconsistinces, hypocracisys, and actual bad behavior of the founders? No human or human institution is perfect and of course we all have shortcomings, blindsides and prejudices so why is it wrong to point that out about revered historical figures? Why can't we look at both the good and bad of these people? Too often people just want to go "rah-rah-rah" and act like the founders were perfect. They weren't. In some ways they made available liberties for common people that no one ever dreamed of for anyone but the nobility or wealthy (at least in the west) but it depended on who those people were (white men, no-one else needed to apply for quite some time) and gradually to varying degress that has been expanded to others and that is a great legacy for them. BUt they also participated in directly, condoned or at least tolerated to some degree some of the worst human righs abuses and atrocities ever against people of African descent and the Native Americans. What is wrong with admiting the truth?
Sorry for the typos and spelling errors. Forgot to run this through spell check in word before I hit send.
Don't sweat it Lisa. You should see what I write before my homegirl edits it.
People hate to have their myths destroyed. That's true for everyone.
My original comment got eaten by the Internet, which may be for the best now that I'm at my computer and can have more facts at my disposal instead of just gut feelings.
It's pretty hard to cut the "liberty loving" Founding Fathers any kind of slack, even accounting for their times. Abolitionists have existed for a long time, even in that time and before, so clearly there were those who objected to slavery. In fact, the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, adopted under the Congress of the Confederation, prohibited slavery in territories northwest of the Ohio River.
Hell, Britain abolished slavery in the 1100s before deciding to cash in on it about 500 or 600 years later, so realization of the wrongness of slavery goes way back.
Britain finally abolished slavery, at least officially, in 1807, long before the United States gave it up. So, we were behind the times, and consciously and ignorantly so...one of the most backward of the nations, in fact, since we trumpeted "liberty" so much from the start.
They knew better; they chose not to BE better.
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