“He said the blacks he knew were happier then than they are now enslaved to the federal welfare tit.”
He didn’t even say that. He never said “happier.”
It’s clear when you look at the GQ article that Phil’s quote was prompted by some question from the reporter, Magary. In the article, though, the quote just hangs there with zero context.
If you imagine that Magary said, “Phil...you worked in the cotton fields during segregation. Before welfare and entitlement...how did the black folks in the south appear to you? Did you ever see anyone mistreated?”
Then you read his quote....
It falls into place. But Magary gave no context.
your correct, I was summarizing.
He said they weren’t singing the blues then or something like that in regards to how they appeared then and how they appear now.
And laid the blame (correctly in my opinion) at the foot of the welfare state