.Bachmann Believes Black People Were Better Off During Slavery?

[CatWoman]

so sayeth Bachmann: "Slavery had a disastrous impact on African-American families, yet sadly a child born into slavery in 1860 was more likely to be raised by his mother and father in a two-parent household than was an African-American baby born after the election of the USA’s first African-American President."



Do Bachmann and others who signed the pledge actually think we were doing better off without freedom and with all of the other emotional and physical horrors that accompanied being enslaved? We don't know, quite honestly doubt they care, and don't believe that's actually the point (and the very accuracy of the statement -- including whether living arrangements during slavery are what we'd consider "two parent households" -- is a whole different conversation).

What's actually disturbing here is the total willingness to invoke slavery -- as well as the current state of the black family -- to serve as a cheap emotional hook to promote a conservative agenda that has nothing more to do with African Americans than it does with anyone else (Not unlike the infamous "The most dangerous place for an African-American is in the womb" billboards).

So while Bachmann and others who sign this pledge will score points with racists who like the dig at black people as well as conservatives who like the underlying political ideology of "The Marriage Vow," the rest of us should focus not so much on what they believe about the state of the African-American family, but what they're willing to say about it to serve their own political ambitions.

http://www.theroot.com/buzz/bachmann-believes-black-people-were-better-during-slavery

[Drale]

1. I was better off before I ever heard Michelle talk, I know that to be a fact. /nt

[Blue Owl]

2. Oh, the things Michele Bachmann believes...

the pretty, pretty things...

[EOTE]

3. Ummmm, weren't free, white children also more likely to be raised in a 2 parent household then, too?

The idiocy that comes from her mouth on a daily basis is beyond sickening.

[Dreamer Tatum]

6. +1 nt

[pipi_k]

4. Well I can see what she means...

to a point.

In some places there were two-parent families.

But I think she forgets that there were plenty of other places where children were ripped from their families and sold to plantations where they would never again see their parents or siblings.

Husbands and wives, as well, were separated at the whim of the plantation owners.


It doesn't seem like she has thought this through on any level before making that comment...

[Angry Dragon]

11. Thoughts ............. she has plenty of them

they just don't, for the most part, connect with any facts in the known universe
She lives in her own little world and universe

[CatWoman]

18. where's Jack Handy when we need him?

:)

[IndyPragmatist]

16. You could turn anything into a positive if you are twisted enough.

The Jews were better off during the Holocaust because they were given a roof over their head and the opportunity to learn basic labor trades that they may not have possessed before.


Obviously, the previous statement is ridiculous. But, Jews were forced to work in concentration camps doing manual labor. It's safe to say that some of these people probably learned a thing or two while there. Therefore, the Nazis provided job skills to the Jews.

9/11 made room for new development in Manhattan.

Hurricane Katrina taught us that levies in New Orleans aren't fully reliable.

The assassination of JFK taught us to not drive presidents around town in convertibles.




All of these things are terrible, and the world would be much better off if they didn't happen. But if you look hard enough, and are twisted enough to ignore the bad things, you can spin anything into a positive. I've learned to do this quite well working in public affairs. However, I'm not being asked to spin horrible things like this into positives.

[pipi_k]

28. One doesn't have to be "twisted" to find something positive

to say about a situation or to understand what someone means by what s/he said.

I don't know if Ms Bachmann is saying kids were better off during slavery days. If she is, then I don't imagine it's because of slavery itself. She may only be making the point that families...black families in particular...may have been stronger at that time.

I don't like her any more than anyone else here does.

She seems to be trying to make a point and not doing very well at it.


And I just wanted to say that not every situation can be looked at in terms of black or white, good or bad.

Sometimes bad things have a grain of positive to them...sometimes good things have a grain of negative to them.

The world isn't totally all or nothing.

[IndyPragmatist]

42. I understand what you mean

And I agree, having two parents is important, whether its a man and a woman, a man and a man, or two women...its all the same.

I just think it's messed up to try and take anything positive from slavery. It was a terrible custom and we have moved beyond that. Just because it created one aspect that was positive (a two parent family), doesn't take away from the horrific nature of slavery as a whole.

[Adsos Letter]

33. "Husbands and wives, as well, were separated at the whim of the plantation owners."

Indeed; the destruction of the family was one of the primary horrors of slavery highlighted by the abolitionist movement in the antebellum North.

The condition/status of many freemen in many areas of the north was certainly no picnic, but the whole idea that slaves were better off than freemen in the North was a primary argument made by southernern slaveholders.

Michelle is an idiot.

[pipi_k]

39. Yes. I said that in my post. n/t

[Adsos Letter]

44. Yes, you did. I was just agreeing with you.

[spanone]

5. she's one sick fuckin' puppy

[fascisthunter]

36. oh yes she is...

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

7. Yeah! They had it sweet back then.

[dixiegrrrrl]

25. and they did not have to pay property or capital gains taxes, either!!!

ahhhh..the good ole days.

.
:sarcasm:
( just in case it is needed here)

[Aerows]

8. I'm pretty sure

she'd like us all to return to slavery, since she also thinks women should have as many babies as possible, which is another tenet on that list. Woohoo, barefoot, pregnant, and a huge population to serve our corporate overlords.

[hifiguy]

9. Sure, Batshit.

And the moon is made of green cheese and I know a place where you can find rainbow unicorns that fart butterflies and pixie dust. :eyes:

[marmar]

10. Sista Bachmann, African-American Studies expert......

She manages to outdo herself on the Fool-o-Meter every time she opens her mouth.

[Rex]

12. Bullshit.

There is nothing worse then a politician that makes up stuff off the top of their head...and it is garbage that no one can believe came from their mouths!

Fucking idiot.

[LiberalAndProud]

13. She's sure going after that minority vote, isn't she?

:rofl:

[Enrique]

14. there's only one logical conclusion

we need to go back to slavery to fix the black family.

[asjr]

15. I understand she home-schooled her children.

If she also gave them tests they may think it is the truth. I pity those kids. How she has gotten so far makes my brain hurt. The tea partiers worship her.

[DocMac]

26. Really?

How can you home school your children when your never home? Does she have a bus of books with said kids in tow?

And the where-with-all to do the job?

[Angry Dragon]

29. She homeschooled for awhile and then sent them

to a Christian school

[The Magistrate]

17. Nostalgia For Negro Slavery, Ma'am, is Pretty Near Universal In the Christian Right

The argument that Africans held as chattel here were better off than their fellows left behind in Africa is pretty commonly encountered, and pressed on levels rangimg from their being made into Christians to the 'familial' relations between masters and their slaves in the antebellum South....

[EOTE]

27. Boy the way Glen Miller played... songs that made the hit parade.

Those were the days.

[ehrnst]

19. If they weren't sold off at adolescence. Where is her brain? (nt)

[etherealtruth]

20. Deranged

"What's actually disturbing here is the total willingness to invoke slavery -- as well as the current state of the black family -- to serve as a cheap emotional hook to promote a conservative agenda that has nothing more to do with African Americans than it does with anyone else (Not unlike the infamous "The most dangerous place for an African-American is in the womb" billboards)."

This is an SOP for the right ... what will happen when we are a majority non-white nation? No more wacko right wing? I can hope.

[Mojeoux]

21. "The Eyes of a young Charles Manson." *

Hey Bachmann, what if your "father" was the white MFer who came down from the big house at night?

This historical revisionist shit is getting deep.


* S. Colbert

[xphile]

22. Gee Bachmann shows yet more evidence that she's fucking ignorant.

Surprise! Surprise!

I guess she didn't hear about children and parents being sold away from their families. Or are black people so interchangeable that one mother is as good as another?

Michele Bachmann is a stupid bitch. So it's not a surprise that she'd believe racist idiocy too.

[jeremyfive]

23. Michele Bachmann is Pulling More "Statistics" Out of Her Butt

Do we take seriously any deranged loon who wants to be President?

[toddwv]

24. She's an idiot. There's no way around it.

I wonder if this is just a prelude to the ultra-right's new vision of a "perfect" economy because based on the past 30 years, it seems like they would be perfectly happy with everyone working under slave conditions.

And these right-wing idiots moan and bitch about how minorities refuse to embrace them?k

[tanyev]

30. It worked out well for them, see?

Just like all those Katrina refugees in Houston who were blessed by a visit from Barbara Bush.

[EC]

31. Really?

I wonder if the families that were split up in slave sales, because the young slave was worth more than the old father or mother thought that?


My old Repub boss used to say this too, so I think it's a talking point they use when talking to each other.

[jaysunb]

32. Sly winks & dog whistles

Republicans, since Goldwater, know how to get their message out. :evilfrown:

[JBoy]

34. It was even better than that

If you count the slave owner and his wife, there were 4 people to raise the children. And the kids had a guaranteed job for life!

Bachmann 2012: It takes a village plantation.

[lolly]

37. The slave owner often WAS the father

And the owner's wife looked the other way while her husband raped and impregnated slaves at will.

But hey, I guess he stuck around, so it was all good, no?

[Strelnikov_]

41. Good one n/t

"Bachmann 2012: It takes a plantation."

[CatWoman]

45. oh, snap!!

:rofl:

[Strelnikov_]

46. JBoy came up with a good one there n/t

[fascisthunter]

35. Just another Right Wing Bigot the Media Keeps Promoting to the Public

[one_voice]

38. She's out of her fucking mind...

families were broken up and sold separately back then. Kids were torn from their parents, husband torn from wives. What an absolute jackass. Oh, and by the way Michelle that was done while we had WHITE presidents..why did she invoke Obama being the African American President as if he caused problems within the black community..

[lolly]

40. Perhaps this is Bachmann's idea of Family Values:

Someone should shut her in a room and not let her out until she's read "Beloved" and "Cane River" cover to cover.

[Evoman]

43. Gotta love the priorities. Two parents > slavery, abuse, raped by master, dying young.

[underpants]

47. Well there goes the black vote

DAMN!!! happens everytime they open their racist mouths. Darn the luck.