No. Pull that band-aid off now. Understanding what the people were actually like in history is important. They may have done good things in one regard but were really horrible in others – then you can see why certain things were the way they were with the whole story. Only then can you properly understand your history and then actually accept it. Best to remove those rose-tinted glasses.
Here in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, they are about to change the name of Sir John A. MacDonald school because it was his idea to round up the First Nations children (we used to say Indians, which makes no sense) and send them to residential schools. That is the equivalent of Americans renaming a western state and an eastern city that’s not in a state because their first President owned slaves.
Reminds me of Soviet pictures of their leadership where, as they were reprinted in later years, some of the figures disappeared without a trace. When Uncle Joe took a dislike to you, it was serious.
Same thing with century old statues being torn down. We scorned the Taliban when they did the same thing to 6000 Buddhist statues in Afghanistan but it is okay for us now.
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
The statement stands on it own. Nevermind those who would nitpick what Jefferson et.al. “really meant” or fret about gender phrasing. It is now regarded as universal to all.
I’m sure that someone wanted to say “all white men” but someone being subversive deleted the word white. Mankind and human refer to both sexes, so “men” might refer to both sexes.
Actually there were free men of all races at the time. The intent of the statement was for mankind. Don’t denigrate history by forcing the words to fit a narrative.
Those “slave owners”, along with their non-slave owning buddies in Congress, also came up with the first ten amendments, “The Bill of Rights”? How’d that happen??
As far as I know, Donald Trump was the first President to publicly proclaim that George Washington was a slave owner. If only Trump hadn’t sounded so jealous of George…
It is always dangerous to judge people in the past who lived with certain set of values with the values of the 21st Century. The people were giants with the people and time they lived in. Over the last two centuries we have learned more about what it is to be human.
AH, if only the superficial were the people in power. Oh, wait, they are. That is why we have such drivel being used to justify efforts to “unfound” America (Destroy it) and create a collectivist hellhole.
Here, read this and tell me what is bad here:
‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed, by their Creator, with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.’
You don’t like natural rights, life, liberty and the rest? Do you want your “rights” to be designated for you by elitists who also tell you that you must wear cloth on your face and not breath, get jabbed with whatever the corporate labs have created and deny you entry to civil society if not approved by these tyrants? You think there is no slavery in that?
Pulleze. There is a reason that we do not allow children that are easily manipulated to be in charge. Sadly, we do allow mobs that are easily manipulated to provide political cover to the tyrants in our political class.
You don’t like America- HEAD to VENEZUELA, Cuba, Red China, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, any othe European countries. you don’t want your government limited, then go to a place where the government is all powerful.
Stop trying to use your propaganda to destroy the only place on earth where government is designed to be controlled by the people, not the other way around.
Actually it was landowners who voted and made decisions. The rest of the household was considered one unit under the land owner. Slavery was common in the world and our country struggled our way out of if.
Up until fairly recently, slavery in one form or another was a fairly common and very widely accepted practice. It still is in some places. The examples are endless.
Judging the people of history by our current “woke” standards demands that we “cancel” essentially ALL non-enslaved historical persons up until, oh, maybe 10 minutes ago. Perfect, at a minimum, humans are remarkably uncommon. Without a doubt, there is a certain number of historical figures who are truly and thoroughly execrable and who should be held in very low esteem. That number can change as more information and greater perspective becomes available. But it’s essential that we keep history, and the people in it, in perspective lest we “cancel” the wisdom that we all have paid such a price in history to gather.
Some thought it would be “fun,” when Trump decided in 2015 to run for office. Instead we got a clustermess. Be careful what you allow as entertainment. It can turn ….
Jefferson tried to end slavery with the Declaration, but representatives from the Southern colonies made it clear: they’d rather kneel before the king if it meant they could keep black people kneeling before them. Accepting slavery was the price they demanded to join the revolution. And America has been paying the price ever since.
Tell her about the Trail of Tears and the Japanese internment camps. Might as well get it over with. She can get her “Custer had it coming” pin in the gift shop on the way out. …sigh
The Declaration would never have been signed if slavery hadn’t been allowed to continue in the U.S. But what would have happened in 1833 when Britain passed an act forbidding it even in the colonies? Would southern colonies have rebelled?
History books are written by the winner. Always. And so are the “good” valuess and the “right” behaviors. Talibans were the good boys when they killed Russians, then became bad guys whe they killed Americans, now they are half good when they kill ISIS and half bad when they kill women and children. When USA kill women and children is an unfortunate side effect of intelligent drones. Opponents in Nazi Germany were called bandits by the Gestapo, opponents in Afghanistan were called terrorist by USA and NATO. Wait for the war to finish, wait a decade for waters to settle, and you will have the winning truth – until the next woke or Inquisition or HighSparrow.
Before the slaves were freed our founding fathers had to break their own bondage from the King of England. Google Revolutionary War. They knew eventually slavery would be abolished in the new United States. The ugly part of this history is it took til the Civil War for it to happen. The wheels turned slow for this to happen all over the world. Someone correct me if I’m wrong but I think the U.S. the first country in the world with an elected government and was only the third country in the world to abolish slavery.
#Peter Gordon: Comics are an art form. They cause us to feel various emotions, to laugh, to think, to reflect on life and culture (which includes politics). I may not always feel comfortable with what art is exploring or agree with its themes. Yet, I deeply honor the skill and creativity of an artist that causes me to reflect and feel, it is a gift. Art reminds us that we are human. Thank you Wiley Miller, the wide variety of responses to your art work is testament to its power, beauty, and humor.
Life in the preindustrial world required a great deal of manual labor, much of it performed by servants, slaves, people under various forms of indenture. Servitude, whether voluntary or involuntary, was worldwide and cross-cultural.
The thing these people who defame the founding fathers for owning slaves forget is that the constitutional protections those same founding fathers put into place are now applicable to ALL.
until Jefferson took office, in many states all landowners could vote…..until 1800, Indians, Blacks, and women voted, and it is said the women of NJ gave John Adams the election, which is why when Jefferson…….well, you know the rest of the story
“In response to your application to display the image of your ancestor in the National Portrait Gallery, you must know that we have very high standards for who can be honored this way. While we appreciate that your ancestor cured cancer; negotiated a lasting peace in the Middle East; discovered anti-gravity; and won the Nobel Prize, 7 Oscars, 2 Pulitzer Prizes, and the Fields Medal, we must balance that against other aspects of per’s life, and here we are horrified.
“Per was known to wear leather, eat meat, and consume dairy products forcibly extracted from captive bovine Americans. Per not only condoned the auto-torture of neckties and high heels but actively engaged in them. Per consigned wood and petroleum to the flames. Per treated the forerunners of our cybercitizens as if they were mere tools, to be used and discarded. Per supported the sugar trade. Per performed ritual cannibalism at ‘religious’ services. Per engaged in ‘marriage’ to a single other person at a time. Per regularly used sexisms like ‘he’, ‘she’, ‘man’, and ‘woman’. (Pardon our coarseness, but we must face the ugly reality.) Per consumed paper. Paper!
“Worse, on multiple occasions per deplored violence in all its forms rather than proudly promoting good violence. Worst of all, per stood for vulgar democracy instead of the benign rule of our wise Council of Elder Philosophers.
“Since it is universally recognized that the entire measure of a person’s character is the worst thing that per has ever done, you will understand why your ancestor will never be the 3rd image in our Gallery.”
“residential schools”, eh? might want to study up on what happened to those children (hundreds of them- maybe more) and show compassion and care for the families of the First Nation People kids and how those kids were treated. the U.S. had these schools as well. same reason and same treatment. so sad
If folks would go back 500 years or, wait, maybe 1000 years? Or 2000 or so years, you’d find worse atrocities than have occurred in the last 150-200 years. One doesn’t have to erase history to learn from it.
The current moral police says that our values today should govern how we see the people values from another era. What was right for us should be right for them. That is just wrong.
Really the proper standards by which to judge people are the best standards that were available to them in their time. It’s unfair to blame people for failing to adhere to morals that didn’t exist in their time.
The attitude of blame presupposes that the person was in a position to have done better, which of course they were not.
That can not even be applied to modern man, learning to be better is just part of human progress. Otherwise, it will be difficult to learn from our mistakes, for the Moral Police say we should never make mistakes, nor are we allowed to make them.
Scorpio Premium Member about 3 years ago
No. Pull that band-aid off now. Understanding what the people were actually like in history is important. They may have done good things in one regard but were really horrible in others – then you can see why certain things were the way they were with the whole story. Only then can you properly understand your history and then actually accept it. Best to remove those rose-tinted glasses.
Concretionist about 3 years ago
Because the victors write the text books, partly. And of course, because bad as they are, now; they were excellent, then.
Wilde Bill about 3 years ago
Maybe you haven’t noticed, but we really aren’t listening to them.
Kveldulf about 3 years ago
Here in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, they are about to change the name of Sir John A. MacDonald school because it was his idea to round up the First Nations children (we used to say Indians, which makes no sense) and send them to residential schools. That is the equivalent of Americans renaming a western state and an eastern city that’s not in a state because their first President owned slaves.
Reminds me of Soviet pictures of their leadership where, as they were reprinted in later years, some of the figures disappeared without a trace. When Uncle Joe took a dislike to you, it was serious.
Same thing with century old statues being torn down. We scorned the Taliban when they did the same thing to 6000 Buddhist statues in Afghanistan but it is okay for us now.
Pfft.
C about 3 years ago
Danae has corrupted Kate
jmarkoff2 about 3 years ago
I am trying to jump ship from the male gender to the female. But many angry active women wouldn’t accept me. Danae comes across as a probable TERF.
Alabama Al about 3 years ago
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
The statement stands on it own. Nevermind those who would nitpick what Jefferson et.al. “really meant” or fret about gender phrasing. It is now regarded as universal to all.
Radish... about 3 years ago
And you had to own property, like me.
sirbadger about 3 years ago
I’m sure that someone wanted to say “all white men” but someone being subversive deleted the word white. Mankind and human refer to both sexes, so “men” might refer to both sexes.
Enter.Name.Here about 3 years ago
“Why are we listening to them?”
Because we’d be living in New United Kingdom if it weren’t for them.
sandpiper about 3 years ago
Kate might never make president, but she’ll effective be behind the desk somehow.
GreasyOldTam about 3 years ago
Actually, voting was limited to landowners, so only rich, white men could vote.
A Common 'tator about 3 years ago
Liberty, Equality, Fraternity
So simple yet so effective…
Qiset about 3 years ago
Actually there were free men of all races at the time. The intent of the statement was for mankind. Don’t denigrate history by forcing the words to fit a narrative.
William Bednar Premium Member about 3 years ago
Those “slave owners”, along with their non-slave owning buddies in Congress, also came up with the first ten amendments, “The Bill of Rights”? How’d that happen??
franki_g about 3 years ago
You may have hit on the booger-brained boys to which you referred yesterday, Danae
Differentname about 3 years ago
As far as I know, Donald Trump was the first President to publicly proclaim that George Washington was a slave owner. If only Trump hadn’t sounded so jealous of George…
James Lindley Premium Member about 3 years ago
Actually only white men who owned property.
duggersd Premium Member about 3 years ago
It is always dangerous to judge people in the past who lived with certain set of values with the values of the 21st Century. The people were giants with the people and time they lived in. Over the last two centuries we have learned more about what it is to be human.
david Premium Member about 3 years ago
So you’re saying the rights everyone enjoys in this country were given to them exclusively by white men?
Free or Not? Premium Member about 3 years ago
AH, if only the superficial were the people in power. Oh, wait, they are. That is why we have such drivel being used to justify efforts to “unfound” America (Destroy it) and create a collectivist hellhole.
Here, read this and tell me what is bad here:
‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed, by their Creator, with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.’
You don’t like natural rights, life, liberty and the rest? Do you want your “rights” to be designated for you by elitists who also tell you that you must wear cloth on your face and not breath, get jabbed with whatever the corporate labs have created and deny you entry to civil society if not approved by these tyrants? You think there is no slavery in that?
Pulleze. There is a reason that we do not allow children that are easily manipulated to be in charge. Sadly, we do allow mobs that are easily manipulated to provide political cover to the tyrants in our political class.
You don’t like America- HEAD to VENEZUELA, Cuba, Red China, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, any othe European countries. you don’t want your government limited, then go to a place where the government is all powerful.
Stop trying to use your propaganda to destroy the only place on earth where government is designed to be controlled by the people, not the other way around.
car2ner about 3 years ago
Actually it was landowners who voted and made decisions. The rest of the household was considered one unit under the land owner. Slavery was common in the world and our country struggled our way out of if.
Alexander the Good Enough about 3 years ago
Up until fairly recently, slavery in one form or another was a fairly common and very widely accepted practice. It still is in some places. The examples are endless.
Judging the people of history by our current “woke” standards demands that we “cancel” essentially ALL non-enslaved historical persons up until, oh, maybe 10 minutes ago. Perfect, at a minimum, humans are remarkably uncommon. Without a doubt, there is a certain number of historical figures who are truly and thoroughly execrable and who should be held in very low esteem. That number can change as more information and greater perspective becomes available. But it’s essential that we keep history, and the people in it, in perspective lest we “cancel” the wisdom that we all have paid such a price in history to gather.
ajr58(1) about 3 years ago
Some thought it would be “fun,” when Trump decided in 2015 to run for office. Instead we got a clustermess. Be careful what you allow as entertainment. It can turn ….
pheets about 3 years ago
Love Kate.
Can't Sleep about 3 years ago
Jefferson tried to end slavery with the Declaration, but representatives from the Southern colonies made it clear: they’d rather kneel before the king if it meant they could keep black people kneeling before them. Accepting slavery was the price they demanded to join the revolution. And America has been paying the price ever since.
vaughnrl2003 Premium Member about 3 years ago
Tell her about the Trail of Tears and the Japanese internment camps. Might as well get it over with. She can get her “Custer had it coming” pin in the gift shop on the way out. …sigh
Peter Gordon about 3 years ago
When comics become woke and political, they become irrelevant.
chaunceygardener about 3 years ago
Only “citizens” of Ancient Rome had the vote, “citizens” being about 1% of the population.
mourdac Premium Member about 3 years ago
The Declaration would never have been signed if slavery hadn’t been allowed to continue in the U.S. But what would have happened in 1833 when Britain passed an act forbidding it even in the colonies? Would southern colonies have rebelled?
Redd Panda about 3 years ago
Kveldorf is feeling rather loquacious today, isn’t he?
Lenavid about 3 years ago
“Divide and Conquer!” A leftist mantra that only works on mentalities like Danae, that have no capacity for context or language evolution.
albertonencioni about 3 years ago
History books are written by the winner. Always. And so are the “good” valuess and the “right” behaviors. Talibans were the good boys when they killed Russians, then became bad guys whe they killed Americans, now they are half good when they kill ISIS and half bad when they kill women and children. When USA kill women and children is an unfortunate side effect of intelligent drones. Opponents in Nazi Germany were called bandits by the Gestapo, opponents in Afghanistan were called terrorist by USA and NATO. Wait for the war to finish, wait a decade for waters to settle, and you will have the winning truth – until the next woke or Inquisition or HighSparrow.
[Unnamed Reader - c91c61] about 3 years ago
White who men who owned property, i.e. land
dimndno about 3 years ago
Before the slaves were freed our founding fathers had to break their own bondage from the King of England. Google Revolutionary War. They knew eventually slavery would be abolished in the new United States. The ugly part of this history is it took til the Civil War for it to happen. The wheels turned slow for this to happen all over the world. Someone correct me if I’m wrong but I think the U.S. the first country in the world with an elected government and was only the third country in the world to abolish slavery.
paranormal about 3 years ago
It’s always fun to push certain peoples button!!!
Will E. Makeit Premium Member about 3 years ago
only the shallow end kiddie pool inbred mouth-breathing floatie-wearing masked dwellers don’t understand that “men” refers to human kind…
Egjen Skis Premium Member about 3 years ago
#Peter Gordon: Comics are an art form. They cause us to feel various emotions, to laugh, to think, to reflect on life and culture (which includes politics). I may not always feel comfortable with what art is exploring or agree with its themes. Yet, I deeply honor the skill and creativity of an artist that causes me to reflect and feel, it is a gift. Art reminds us that we are human. Thank you Wiley Miller, the wide variety of responses to your art work is testament to its power, beauty, and humor.
Holden Awn about 3 years ago
Life in the preindustrial world required a great deal of manual labor, much of it performed by servants, slaves, people under various forms of indenture. Servitude, whether voluntary or involuntary, was worldwide and cross-cultural.
scaeva Premium Member about 3 years ago
Historical persons should be evaluated honestly, and ONLY in the context of their own times, NOT ours. Anything else is revisionist crap.
Dianna Brown about 3 years ago
I like Kate. That perfect calm in the middle of all of Danae’s … fun!
KEA about 3 years ago
REALLY, REALLY good question Danae.
gcreamer Premium Member about 3 years ago
You’re not funny and haven’t been for 5 years
Dooley 425 about 3 years ago
The thing these people who defame the founding fathers for owning slaves forget is that the constitutional protections those same founding fathers put into place are now applicable to ALL.
writerofstories about 3 years ago
Not going to touch THIS conversation with a ten foot pole!!
Dennis Nichols about 3 years ago
Wiley and a slew of his followers need to parade their virtue from time to time.
oakie817 about 3 years ago
until Jefferson took office, in many states all landowners could vote…..until 1800, Indians, Blacks, and women voted, and it is said the women of NJ gave John Adams the election, which is why when Jefferson…….well, you know the rest of the story
tung cha cha cha about 3 years ago
WHY are we still listening to those who consider only “them” matter????
Richard S Russell Premium Member about 3 years ago
A letter to your descendants in 2121:
“In response to your application to display the image of your ancestor in the National Portrait Gallery, you must know that we have very high standards for who can be honored this way. While we appreciate that your ancestor cured cancer; negotiated a lasting peace in the Middle East; discovered anti-gravity; and won the Nobel Prize, 7 Oscars, 2 Pulitzer Prizes, and the Fields Medal, we must balance that against other aspects of per’s life, and here we are horrified.
“Per was known to wear leather, eat meat, and consume dairy products forcibly extracted from captive bovine Americans. Per not only condoned the auto-torture of neckties and high heels but actively engaged in them. Per consigned wood and petroleum to the flames. Per treated the forerunners of our cybercitizens as if they were mere tools, to be used and discarded. Per supported the sugar trade. Per performed ritual cannibalism at ‘religious’ services. Per engaged in ‘marriage’ to a single other person at a time. Per regularly used sexisms like ‘he’, ‘she’, ‘man’, and ‘woman’. (Pardon our coarseness, but we must face the ugly reality.) Per consumed paper. Paper!
“Worse, on multiple occasions per deplored violence in all its forms rather than proudly promoting good violence. Worst of all, per stood for vulgar democracy instead of the benign rule of our wise Council of Elder Philosophers.
“Since it is universally recognized that the entire measure of a person’s character is the worst thing that per has ever done, you will understand why your ancestor will never be the 3rd image in our Gallery.”
MarshaOstroff about 3 years ago
Kate is my new hero!
yarnm57 about 3 years ago
I think Danae is coming of age and consciousness. I knew this girl had a soul.
wndflower1 about 3 years ago
“residential schools”, eh? might want to study up on what happened to those children (hundreds of them- maybe more) and show compassion and care for the families of the First Nation People kids and how those kids were treated. the U.S. had these schools as well. same reason and same treatment. so sad
comixbomix about 3 years ago
Why? …Because, with all their flaws and foibles, they were still smarter than we are.
bakana about 3 years ago
Half of our country respects the Founding Fathers in spite of the Ugly things they did while they were giving birth to the American Dream.
The Other Half seems to think it was the Slavery that made them great.
And, wishes they could bring the Slavery Back.
bakana about 3 years ago
Kate just enjoys watching Danae chew on the Worms.
grenjello about 3 years ago
Sometimes Kate can be down right evil.
morgankhat about 3 years ago
If folks would go back 500 years or, wait, maybe 1000 years? Or 2000 or so years, you’d find worse atrocities than have occurred in the last 150-200 years. One doesn’t have to erase history to learn from it.
Night-Gaunt49[Bozo is Boffo] about 3 years ago
Danae isn’t as smart as she thinks she is. Mainly because she doesn’t study and always wants the easy way and cheat code way.
Richard S Russell Premium Member about 3 years ago
Exactly what the country needs, right? Replace discrimination against the XXs with discrimination against the XYs.
Sailor46 USN 65-95 about 3 years ago
The current moral police says that our values today should govern how we see the people values from another era. What was right for us should be right for them. That is just wrong.
Really the proper standards by which to judge people are the best standards that were available to them in their time. It’s unfair to blame people for failing to adhere to morals that didn’t exist in their time.The attitude of blame presupposes that the person was in a position to have done better, which of course they were not.
That can not even be applied to modern man, learning to be better is just part of human progress. Otherwise, it will be difficult to learn from our mistakes, for the Moral Police say we should never make mistakes, nor are we allowed to make them.
keenanthelibrarian about 3 years ago
Slavery was common in The Bible, too (Old and New Testaments) and we still look on it, mostly, as a guide to the ‘right’ way to live.
198.23.5.11 about 3 years ago
We still listen to them because nobody has come up with a better idea than democracy yet.