1) This guy was in total denial about a variety of things, not the least of which is the extent of black involvement in the slave trade. Fact is, Europeans did not enslave anyone...they merely purchased people who were already enslaved.
2) This guy didn't seem too lathered about slavery going on in Africa today....wonder why not? (answer: he exploits the history of slavery in America to incite white guilt so that he can get things that he wants from white americans).
3) I am slowly coming to believe that this man's opinions are not anywhere near as rare as I had hoped. Sadly, I think that his opinion is shared by the clear majority of black americans.
4) The more time passes, the more I am inclined to actually believe one major point of his: perhaps things really are as culturally relative as he says they are. Perhaps black children in this country should not be taught about great white men in our past, but rather should be taught whatever the leaders in the black community want to teach them. After all, if you go to any black neighborhood in america, what do the people there really have in common with Europeans such as Washington (or Newton, or Jefferson, or any other European). Maybe we should have our teachings and let them have theirs...it seems to be what they want.
Just a thought
There are, no doubt, winners and losers in history. The winners generally have a good bit of influence to cast facts and personal data in ways closely resembling the way they would like them to be remembered. Countervailing facts seen as less relevant are less often--if ever--repeated among succint historical summaries.
Barron called BO's examples of heroes--Washington, Jefferson, etc., "your heroes." He said that because they were slave owners, they should not be honored by blacks. One of Barron's preferred heroes was Malcolm X. Upon hearing that, BO called Malcolm X a clear racist, and cited a quote from him. BO asked him if he would repudiate Malcolm because he was a racist.
Barron wouldn't repudiate him, but said Malcolm's statements evolved over time. BO asked Barron if others' heroes, such as Washington should be viewed more favorably, given that they, too, evolved better understandings over time, but Barron would allow none of that kind of thinking.
"If Socrates and Plato and their like kept slaves, should we no longer hold them in high esteem?" was another BO example. That would be nonsense, as the thrust of such peoples' contributions to history have to do with other aspects of they ways in which they might have participated in that which was common throughout the ages in which they lived. Revising history that way is simply willful ignorance and attempts to create an artificial reality.
Barron and his ilk are yet another threat in the PC crowd's attempt to revise history and take over America with their own version of events and beliefs. These people are simply happy to lie if it furthers their cause. This undermines character, upon which so much has been built in the past.
BO had a point that Barron's way of thinking was very detrimental to the blacks whose interests Barron was purporting to represent. He's right, of course, but as long as they can take over the country, such a means will be justified to reach that end.
There probably have been very good, fundamental reasons people throughout history benevolently wiped out their enemies--to eliminate the detrimental influence of those peoples' pasts and the potential negatives of their future actions might well have, perverse to the beneficent hopes they have for their children's futures, based in a reality worthy of being a foundation for future actions.
HF
Black Nationalists believe in the overthrow of the United States and the creation of a black nation. Such people should be held, as such actions are against the law. He does not believe that he is an American, as he, and all the other Black Nationalists, believes that only white people are Americans. I guess my black friends will just have to follow this racist, as he demands that they do.
http://www.ashbrook.org/articles/mayer-hemings.html