Posted on 01/04/2002 5:02:25 AM PST by Who is George Salt?
Please, tell us more. If all people are not created equal, who is better than whom?
Sure there is ...
Here he is Front annd Center, Morris Dees and The Time
"...but he and Judge Douglas argue that the authors of that instrument did not intend to include negroes, by the fact that they did not at once, actually place them on an equality with the whites. Now this grave argument comes to just nothing at all, by the other fact, that they did not at once, or ever afterwards, actually place all white people on an equality with one or another. And this is the staple argument of both the Chief Justice and the Senator, for doing this obvious violence to the plain unmistakable language of the Declaration. I think the authors of that notable instrument intended to include all men, but they did not intend to declare all men equal in all respects. They did not mean to say all were equal in color, size, intellect, moral developments, or social capacity. They defined with tolerable distinctness, in what respects they did consider all men created equalequal in "certain inalienable rights, among which are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." This they said, and this meant. They did not mean to assert the obvious untruth, that all were then actually enjoying that equality, nor yet, that they were about to confer it immediately upon them. In fact they had no power to confer such a boon. They meant simply to declare the right, so that the enforcement of it might follow as fast as circumstances should permit. They meant to set up a standard maxim for free society, which should be familiar to all, and revered by all; constantly looked to, constantly labored for, and even though never perfectly attained, constantly approximated, and thereby constantly spreading and deepening its influence, and augmenting the happiness and value of life to all people of all colors everywhere. The assertion that "all men are created equal" was of no practical use in effecting our separation from Great Britain; and it was placed in the Declaration, not for that, but for future use. Its authors meant it to be, thank God, it is now proving itself, a stumbling block to those who in after times might seek to turn a free people back into the hateful paths of despotism. They knew the proneness of prosperit to breed tyrants, and they meant when such should re-appear in this fair land and commence their vocation they should find left for them at least one hard nut to crack."
-- Abraham Lincoln, June 26, 1857
Now, let's contrast those words with those of the Southern-fried bigot in question, Vice-President of the Insurrection, Alexander Stephens:
"Our new government is founded upon exactly the opposite idea; its foundations are laid, its corner-stone rests upon the great truth, that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery -- subordination to the superior race -- is his natural and normal condition....The prevailing ideas entertained by him (Jefferson) and most of the leading statesmen at the time of the formation of the old constitution, were that the enslavement of the African was in violation of the laws of nature; that it was wrong in principle, socially, morally, and politically...Those ideas, however, were fundamentally wrong. They rested upon the assumption of the equality of races. This was an error."
-- Alexander Stephens, "Cornerstone" speech
Now you and your "Confederate Hammerskin" buddies can quibble and cavil and whine about "Lincoln the racist" all you want, but the FACT is this - emancipation did occur, in spite of Lincoln's flaws (and he was a flawed man - I idolize no man) and IN SPITE OF the efforts of Alexander Stephens and Jefferson Davis and all the other slavers. And that --- EMANCIPATION --- is the source of your rage.
"A mind is a terrible thing to waste!"
The rest of this Thread is hereby sentenced to 24 hours of uniterrupted Dennis Miller viewing.
(1) Are Pat's statistics that imply the future takeover over America by those of a different cultural background than the founding fathers?
(2) Is this takeover a good thing?
If you want to deny the first answer is yes then give your evidence. If you think the answer to the second question is yes, then tell us why. Is one a Nazi if he believes that the answer to the second question is no? If so why did we fight Hitler in WWII instead of joining his cause, because that was the view of most Americans in the 1940's?
Pat is correct to say in fifthy years, white americans will be much smaller.
We're going to shrink? OMG...
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