Posted on 06/15/2006 4:06:18 PM PDT by Mobile Vulgus
In another example of PC stupidity gone wild, a Civil War re-enactor portraying a Confederate officer was kicked out of Historic Crossroads Village Park, near Flint, Michigan this past weekend, for saying that a young black child would probably have been a slave in 1860's Georgia.
Civil War re-enactor Tim VanRaemdonck said he was just staying in character when he wrote "slave" as the occupation of black children on fictitious enlistment papers during Civil War Days at Crossroads Village.Gosh! Imagine that! A black person being assumed a slave in 1860's Georgia?Word reached Crossroads Village manager Garry Pringle, who had two conversations with VanRaemdonck and asked him to leave.
What's next, assuming a Japanese man might have been in the Imperial Army circa 1930? Maybe an English soldier being thought a Cursader in the 14th century? Maybe it would be wrong to generalize that a North Vietnamese man would be a Communist in 1965?
Darn that history stuff anyway!
Not to be outdone by the stupidity of Village manager, Garry Pringle, Parks Director Amy M. McMillan said the following to the Media:
McMillan believes there were better choices than labeling the young boy a "slave" - even if the label was designed to share history.Um, no Mz. McMillan. You are wrong on all counts proving you know next to nothing about American history. But, also proving you are a swell practitioner of the dark arts of PCism."There were also free people of color in the southern states during this time period," she wrote in an e-mail to The Flint Journal. "More appropriate answers could have included occupations such as farmer, blacksmith, or other occupations typical of that time period.
"It would have been equally inappropriate to respond 'slave owner' to a Caucasian child who had asked such a question. Had any re-enactor provided such a response, he/she would have also been asked to leave the village."
For some REAL history, Mz. McMillan, the total number of free blacks in Georgia as noted in the 1860 census was only 3,500. By contrast, the total number of slaves in Georgia in 1860 amounted to 462,198! So, NO, Mz. McMillan, it would NOT have made much sense to assume that, on average, a black person in Georgia would have been a free man. There was nothing "more appropriate" to have said to the child but that he would probably have been a slave, Mz. McMillan.
Now, to clear up your other garbled historical claim, Mz. McMillan; The number of white slave owners in 1860 Georgia was 41,084 out of a total white population of 591,550. So, while it would not have been an automatic assumption that a white person in Georgia in 1860 was a slave owner it was far, far more likely to assume that a white person might own slaves in 1860 Georgia than to assume a black person was a free man in the same place and time period. The statistics do not lie, Mz. McMillan.
The reenactor was right and the staff of the Crossroads Village is wrong to have removed him from the Park for telling history like it is.
Another member of the group to which the unduly accosted reenactor belongs told the Flint paper:
"If we don't discuss it, children don't learn.""Learning" is NOT what the putrid purveyors of PCsim want. They want whitewashed, cleansed history free of anything that might "upset" or cause certain people to have any "low self-esteem". They don't want people to actually understand the history of this country at all. They just want to label all white people as evil and let that "lesson" go unexamined, kept as a vague notion never investigated and never spoken of directly.
I hope that Civil War reenactors in Michigan stop participating at the "Historic" Crossroads Village Park and stop helping them make all that money off a public whom the Village refuses to help learn about our history. Sadly, the "Historic" part of their charge is to be ignored.
Well, if the units were racially integrated, they are misrepresenting history. Civil war units were segregated by race.
Slave holding was never charitable work, and never done for the benefit of the slave.
I didn't say that. I said that the business men used their assets to turn a profit.
You're busted! Please read the article before posting. The article indicates that about 0.5% of blacks in GA were free in 1860.
Take care of that bad case of Battered Conservative Syndrome you seem to have.
If one selects a place and time in which the odds of seeing a Negro would be maybe less than 1 in a million, there will be some protrayed as being present.
If we are talking 12th century England, 9th Century Scotland, or 10th century BC Greeece, in a movie there will somehow be large numbers of Blacks present.
Now other ethnic groups don't get the same recognition. For instance there will be no American Indians accomanying Jason and the Argonauts. Nor will there be any Japanese included with Robin Hood's Merry Men.
Of course this rule has it's exceptions such as Braveheart.
You know an attack on Southerners how thoughtful of you Northerners.
I have lived in the South my entire life and the only Klan rally I ever had the misfortune of seeing witnessing was in Pennsylvania. A festival full of ignorant Northerners which I found to describe most of the slack jowled yokels that inhabit the North East.
I dont see what the upset is. Blacks are forever hollering about slavery though none alive today personally remember or experienced it.Its not condoning anything to state that a black would likely have been a slave back in the day. They harp about it constantly themselves.Its not news to anyone, least of all a black person so where is the insult?
Liar?
Yes, I agree. Good point!
Someone did not read the article... now did they???
Below is an excert from article...
For some REAL history, Mz. McMillan, the total number of free blacks in Georgia as noted in the 1860 census was only 3,500. By contrast, the total number of slaves in Georgia in 1860 amounted to 462,198! So, NO, Mz. McMillan, it would NOT have made much sense to assume that, on average, a black person in Georgia would have been a free man. There was nothing "more appropriate" to have said to the child but that he would probably have been a slave, Mz. McMillan.
But as I said, in this context the word "wisely" sticks in my craw.
I do hope I have not offended you.
No. In my opinion one can be wise in some areas of life and foolish or blind in others.
Take care of that bad case of Battered Conservative Syndrome you seem to have.
What? Please shed light on this post.
Correct term in this brave new world of ours is European-American.
Might Mr. VanRaemdonck be the victim of wild-eyed Dems pursuing more revisionist history to hide a shameful past?
Nothing like a place where history is supposed to be the subject filling kid's heads with PC crap!!
Perhaps but maybe they should just keep the the history books and not reenact it. In Pennsylvania when I went to school we did not have any of this kinda thing and nobody went beserk. Keep it in an education environment and we won't have stories like this. Don't try to assume anything because that is where people seem to get pissed off. Right or wrong it does not seem to be the theme of the story.
Because every social problem the South has today is attributable to Reconstruction and the abuses committed by carpetbaggers.
I'm a big fan of personal responsibility myself.
You are correct, the situations are very similar. One major difference I see is that when blacks complain, PC rules dictate that they must at all times be catered and pandered to. Meanwhile, caucasion Southerners who object to being constantly portrayed to this day as ignorant, inbred, slaveholders are told they should feel guilt and to shut up and get over it. So if one side is getting a little tired and testy, I can understand it. Still though, going back to my original post, do not see what was wrong with the employee saying that a black in the 1800s would likely have been a slave. Its the sad but true reality of those times and I dont see that anyone was insulted. It is probable that the managers were afraid that someone would complain (though the article doesnt say anyone did) and so to show how politically correct and suffciently guilt-ridden they are, the employee in question was punished.
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