Imagine The USA Without Black People

[MajGenl.Meade]

OK lib - at least you posted an example of how an achievement can be dishonestly presented in education-light articles.

You are correct to point out that the author(s) of the piece are telling an untruth and that it is done for a socio-political purpose. I'd guess this was written for children and that makes it worse. OTOH it wasn't so long ago that we "learned" that George Washington never told a lie and fessed up to cutting down dad's cherry tree. It is par for the course.

There's a cottage industry in "education" to present as truth an utterly baseless myth regarding slaves quilting in the 1850s, claiming that symbols on the quilts showed escaping slaves how to travel north and where to safely stop for help. Whilst the subject of slave-produced quilts is actually quite interesting and deserves attention, the entire "underground railroad quilt" story is a preposterous invention of the 20th century. But children are taught it as "fact", much enlarged upon with spurious detail.

Shame really.

[Long Run]

Which Slave Sailed Himself to Freedom?
by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. | Originally posted on The Root

Just before dawn on May 13, 1862, Robert Smalls and a crew composed of fellow slaves, in the absence of the white captain and his two mates, slipped a cotton steamer off the dock, picked up family members at a rendezvous point, then slowly navigated their way through the harbor. Smalls, doubling as the captain, even donning the captain’s wide-brimmed straw hat to help to hide his face, responded with the proper coded signals at two Confederate checkpoints, including at Fort Sumter itself, and other defense positions. Cleared, Smalls sailed into the open seas. Once outside of Confederate waters, he had his crew raise a white flag and surrendered his ship to the blockading Union fleet.

In fewer than four hours, Robert Smalls had done something unimaginable: In the midst of the Civil War, this black male slave had commandeered a heavily armed Confederate ship and delivered its 17 black passengers (nine men, five women and three children) from slavery to freedom.

More at:


http://www.pbs.org/wnet/african-america ... o-freedom/

[MajGenl.Meade]

Yep, Smalls was a brave man all right. Bit of crap at the end there about a "heavily armed" Confederate ship. It was a small transport vessel mounting two small cannon and its armament is beside the point given that the entire crew had gone ashore. It did have a cargo containing a few artillery pieces - better in Union hands than in the rebels'.

Smalls had been "employed" by the Confederacy as wheel-man on this and other boats - they taught him the skills to effect his escape! That, however, does nothing to minimize the sheer courage and intelligence it took to plan and carry out the action.

[Bicycle Bill]

Then, we had Robert Smalls.  Now, we have someone like "Biggy" Smalls (a/k/a "The Notorious B.I.G."), a (c)rap artist and drug user with a long criminal record dating back to his early teens who died after being shot in a drive-by shooting allegedly related to his involvement in a long-standing feud with and the death of another (c)rap artist (Tupac Shakur).

Then there's a certain Princeton professor — Imani Perry, who is black — who immediately pulled out and played the race card because she was in fact arrested after she was stopped for driving 67 mph in a 45 mph zone and was found to have suspended driving privileges and arrest warrants for unpaid tickets.

Yeah — let's imagine the USA without black people like these.  I think we'd be better off for it.

-"BB"-

[rubato]

Great story about Robert Smalls. Amazing presence of mind, inventiveness, and courage.



yrs,
rubato

[liberty]

OK lib - at least you posted an example of how an achievement can be dishonestly presented in education-light articles.

You are correct to point out that the author(s) of the piece are telling an untruth and that it is done for a socio-political purpose. I'd guess this was written for children and that makes it worse. OTOH it wasn't so long ago that we "learned" that George Washington never told a lie and fessed up to cutting down dad's cherry tree. It is par for the course.

There's a cottage industry in "education" to present as truth an utterly baseless myth regarding slaves quilting in the 1850s, claiming that symbols on the quilts showed escaping slaves how to travel north and where to safely stop for help. Whilst the subject of slave-produced quilts is actually quite interesting and deserves attention, the entire "underground railroad quilt" story is a preposterous invention of the 20th century. But children are taught it as "fact", much enlarged upon with spurious detail.

Shame really.

I realize that most people could care less about the accuracy of history, but I care. To me details are important; they effect our view of the past. To others it is just propaganda. Two of most prominent recent proponents of propaganda where the Communist and the Nazi. The Communist advanced their view of the superiority of their system by claims of inventing many things they did not invent. The NAZIs claimed racial superiority based on a flawed history. Today’s Afrocentrics are doing something quite similar. They are trying to demonstrate the superiority of the black people by making exaggerated claims of black achievements. Some if these claims are true, some are exaggerated and some are false.

[Joe Guy]

Today’s Afrocentrics are doing something quite similar. They are trying to demonstrate the superiority of the black people by making exaggerated claims of black achievements. Some if these claims are true, some are exaggerated and some are false.

For the life of me I can't understand why anyone would think liberty is a racist. It just minds my boggles. It must be a conspiracy to filthify liberty's reputation.

yrs,
cantseetheforestforthetreesato

[rubato]

"...


I realize that most people could care less about the accuracy of history, but I care. To me details are important; they effect our view of the past. To others it is just propaganda. ... "

But you didn't bother to look up any of the facts in that case. Strange way to care about details. Is it only a coincidence that you made up details which you claimed diminished the accomplishment?


yrs,
rubato

[liberty]

"...


I realize that most people could care less about the accuracy of history, but I care. To me details are important; they effect our view of the past. To others it is just propaganda. ... "

But you didn't bother to look up any of the facts in that case. Strange way to care about details. Is it only a coincidence that you made up details which you claimed diminished the accomplishment?


yrs,
rubato

If you are talking about Robert Smalls, I have no problem with that one it is reasonably accurate.