A recipe of blurbs by a hungry dad-filled with sarcasm, truth, and a dash of that rare ingredient, common sense.

Monday, February 21, 2011

Who Is Afraid Of George Washington?

As today is Presidents Day here in America I thought I would ask a very special question. And that question is who is afraid of George Washington?

All through my school age years we were taught that the only people who were ever afraid of George Washington were the British who were trying to get the colonies in line. And maybe latter the Native Americans were a tiny bit afraid of George Washington. And those were the only people who we were taught that were afraid of George Washington.

Well I guess we need to update the history books to reflect a new group of people who are afraid of George Washington some 200 years after his death.

You see on MLK day back in January in Columbia, South Carolina there was a huge MLK day speech and celebration on or near the steps of the State Capital there. The event was put on and hosted by the NAACP.

And where the speaker was speaking there was a bronze statue of George Washington directly behind them. But the statue was covered up on three sides as the picture below shows.


I tried to think of why the statue of one of the most famous Americans in our history as well as our nation’s first elected President would be covered up. The only answer I could come up with was maybe they hung up some sign or banner on the wood surrounding the statue. But that was not the case.

The NAACP came out and flat out said that they statue was covered up so that no one would be offended by it.

Really?

Yes really.

Who would be “offended” by a statue of George Washington? Apparently the NAACP is offended by a dead white man.

Why would the NAACP think George Washington was offensive to people? The only reason I could think of is that because George Washington was known to have had slaves in his employment. Yes I realize that this fact could be offensive to some people, but what about the other stuff that this man did like leading the Colonial Army in defeating the British to help get our freedom from them. What about the signing of his name to the Declaration of Independence which was a death sentence to him (and the others who signed it) had the revolution failed. What about serving two terms as President of the United States and helping form our current government that has stood the test of time for over 230 years. I guess the NAACP can’t see past the fact that he was a slave owner to see the other great stuff that he did as a man and as a leader of our country.

In light of the covering up of George Washington I think we should look at MLK. It has been reported that MLK was a drinker and had also possibly cheated on his wife. Does that take away from his accomplishments that he did throughout his life? Hell no it does not in my opinion. I could care less what he did or didn’t do in his private life as what he accomplished as a man in his public life far exceeds whatever he did away from the public eye.

If the NAACP is going to allow people to be offended because George Washington was a slave owner and bypass all of the other history associated with him, then I think that they should teach people that MLK was a Republican (which it has been widely reported that he was). I think they should also teach and remind people that the KKK was started by Democrats. I think that they should teach people that it was Democrats that did tons of bad stuff to keep black people away from the voting booths in the South. And I also think that they should teach that it was Democrats during the Civil Rights movement that were opposed to any and all Civil Rights legislation that was passed in the 1960’s in the House and Senate. But I doubt that they would do that since the NAACP leans to the Democrat side of the political spectrum.

I wanted some more knowledge on the subject so I called my step dad of 20 years (who happens to be black and the grandson of a slave) to see if he could help explain this to me and give me some insight. I asked if he was offended by George Washington, and he said if someone is offended by George Washington then they are ignorant of history and lack a good education, plain and simple.

I think that the only person on this day who should/would be offended is MLK. I think he would be very pissed off if he were alive to see the statue of George Washington covered up at an event to honor MLK. We have come so far since 1968 in terms of race relations and other advancements for the black community. I mean a black man is President of the United States which is/has been described as the most powerful position in the entire world. Think about that.That is a long way to have come since 1968 don't you think.

I think if MLK were alive and saw this crap that he would tell the crowd and the NAACP that they need to focus on educating people because it appears that people have lost the true meaning of his “I Have A Dream” speech.

43 comments:

  1. awesome post bro!

    the depths of stupidity in this country amaze me to no end...

    wild...

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  2. Not being an American but I know of both people and what they both did for America, how could people be offended, very strange.

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  3. Was it a bad thing Washington had slaves? Yes. Of course. Was it a bad thing anyone owned slaves? Yes. Of course. But a LOT of people were slave owners because a lot of people were ignorant back then. EVENTUALLY through works of people who predated MLK, the general public got the idea that "Whoa, hey, this is NOT okay" Washington was around 100 years BEFORE the flippin' civil war! Unless there is record that he was unusually cruel, then being a slave owner doesn't make him evil it makes him ignorant, just like many many other people of the antebellum period. But I agree, that shouldn't take away from his accomplishments.

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  4. It's not my intention to get all wrapped up in serious debate (golly, I would think that would be obvious by my blog!). Life's depressing enough. But, I agree with you 100%. Thank you very much for writing this-it should be on a newspaper's editorial page. Think about where you could send this. You'd be doing people a great service.

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  5. Thanks for pointing out another dumb stunt in South Carolina, but I'm glad it was the NAACP who did it. Wait a minute! I thought Jesse Jackson told the NAACP to boycott our state, so WTH was this about anyway? Personally, I don't think the father of this country should ever be blocked or covered up. It's because of him and his countrymen that we all have the freedoms we have now, whether we all had them at the time he was in office or not.

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  6. Excellent post - and right on all counts.

    People over think things these days and all it does is take folks with small differences and push them further apart. Foolish.

    SD
    www.TheSimpleDude.com

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  7. To your point I think both holidays need to know how to play nice together. Now if only we could help the orange skinned drug crazed pumpkin people of halloween be more tolerant.

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  8. I know I may be hated for saying this...but get over the whole slave thing already people!!! It happened! You can't erase it and when Washington was around, it was common. It wasn't as if he was doing something out of the norm. I know that doesn't make up for it, but you cannot take away all the good that he did because of it. Pretty much what Yandie said.

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  9. @ Bruce, thanks man.

    @ Lurker, I am glad you get the point.

    @ Janie, thanks.

    @ Yandie, that is a very good point as well.

    @ Al, I am not out for "limelight" so I will keep my stuff here.

    @ Krissy, how did I know that you would say that? LOL

    @ Simpledude, thank you sir.

    @ Copyboy, I agree with you we need to focus on the pumpkin people.

    @ Mash, good point.

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  10. George Washington hated the multiple party political system because he felt that it divided people, causing both hate and bad feelings. Boy did he ever had that right!

    To me, the current acid strength hate between political parties is a HUGE threat to the stability of our country. THAT is what scares me...

    Your post is interesting, troubling and mostly sad... I think I need to be in charge!

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  11. I thought you said this very well, but I'm a white male and I am only discriminated against by law.

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  12. @ Pat, that is perhaps the best point that will be made here.

    @ George, that is funny. And thank you.

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  13. Fabulously insightful and intelligent post!

    When I hear George Washington I think of money. Call me superficial, but he's on the dollar bill, and I am a member of http://www.wheresgeorge.com . (Yes, I'm part geek.)

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  14. Great post, I have to say. The NAACP is so blinded by their twisted view of "minority rights" that they have lost all legitimacy in my mind. It blows my mind that they would hide George Washington, absolutely ridiculous. Wtf is wrong with some people in this country, I don't think I'll ever know...

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  15. @ Kernut, I have heard about that site. And there is nothing wrong with being a geek.

    @ Erasmus, I have long thought that they were looney but for different reasons.

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  16. And then I went and checked my email today and saw this nice little story on George Washington.

    http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110221/ap_on_re_us/us_the_blackest_name

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  17. I'm British and I can assure you that I am not one bit frightened of George Washington....

    Well, other than his teeth that is....

    I have to be honest since reading that old Georgie had wooden dentures I have had nightmares

    Imagine if he bit you…..double trouble, bite marks and splinters, surely the orifice equivalent of a Vampire Zombie…

    And that’s without the problems of Werewolves having probably cocked their leg up against his teeth*.Nasty stuff Werewolf pee it can get fairly hairy at full moons.....

    * I may have lost the plot at this point, sorry it was all that talk about the paranormal.

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  18. the holiday today, here in alberta, is called "family day".

    it's when my brother, dad and i celebrate the fact that mum is still OUR slave.

    "here's your laundry, kagie!"

    "thank-you, mummieeeeeeeeeeeeee."

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  19. Hmm, I agree that more education all around is needed, and ignorance rules this country.

    However, and this is not going to be popular here, I can fully understand being offended by the President (there's belief that he was not actually the first President) being a slave owner.

    I wouldn't want a statue of a leading Nazi in the background of a Jewish gathering. I don't think Washington was nearly as great as Lincoln, who had the courage to oppose slavery - in opposition to the ignorant nation, including much of his own party.

    I till love ya, and hope it was ok for me to spew.
    xoRobyn

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  20. @ BCS, thank you.

    @ BlackLog, I did not know about the wooden teeth. That is very scary.

    @ Kage, I guess in Canada I would have to thank myself.

    @ Robyn, I can see your view point on that. After Washington was in office he freed all of his slaves and tried to get others to do so as well. But that is not really taught as a part of history.

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  21. You don't need me to tell you this is a great post. I would have to agree that MLK would be seriously offended for the NAACP's warped reasonings for covering up George's statue. Very special indeed. I hadn't heard about this-thanks for bringing it to my attention.

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  22. Good point re the southern Democrats, people tend to forget about this, because of of Lyndon Johnson's Civil Rights Act, but the Democrats were the guys who fought to keep slavery back in the day and Abraham Lincoln, who abolished it, was a Republican.

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  23. Good point, OT. I didn't realize that, since I was never taught it. xo

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  24. @ Jewels, thank you.

    @ David, that is another valid point as well.

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  25. @ Robyn, I didn't know that either until today when I read this article. I plan on getting some books about him to learn a little bit more.

    http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110221/ap_on_re_us/us_the_blackest_name

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  26. Great post man. That is just crazy. Love it or hate it, you have to take the bad part of history with the good.

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  27. @ TS, what you just said is one of the best comments I have ever seen. That is so true, you take the bad with the good. Perfectly said.

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  28. The same way people will kill in the name of God is the same way they will be racist in the name of Dr. Martin Luther King. I have never been offended by George Washington and I don't appreciate anyone who claims to speak for me. That's bullshit. They covered up the statue because they didn't want any attention taken away from MLK. Either have the balls to admit it or have the celebration some place else.

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  29. @ Becca, thank you.

    @ Mrs Hyde, I Agree with you about the god and MLK thing. They actually said it was covered as to not offend someone. Which I thought was (like you said) ball less. Once again in our country common sense is lacking.

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  30. To be honest, the NAACP has never impressed me, and they failed again here. I totally didn't know about any of this, thanks for sharing.

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  31. Oh for crying out loud! First off, wonderful post. Sorry I took so long getting here. I had not heard about this, but it's getting pretty damn old with everyone worrying about someone else being offended about everything! Can we all just grow up, act like adults, and stop trying to tip toe around everything. If you don't like something, fine. But the whole world should not have to go out of their way to accomodate someone who can't handle life. I'm so glad you wrote about this because it's just proof once again at how messed up everything is becoming. Again, well done!

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  32. Nice post OT. The way I look at it is if you're offended by our counrty's history, then I'll help ya to the door. And, there are a few major points that are usually neglected; most slaves weren't beaten like movies and politicians would have you believe, not all slaves were from Africa, some came from South America, and The Civil War was almost over when Lincoln declared that slavery would be abolished IF the North won. Now, I do think that slavery was wrong, but it has been a year or two, and I don't know if anybody that was enslaved is still alive to tell about it, and the ones that were opressed before affirmative action, and political correctness come about, are in the latter years of their lives. Yes, I believe in equality for ALL, and yes I fly The Confederate flag. And, if that offends you, I'm offended that you're offended. :)

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  33. NAACP Logic: By pointing out MLK's flaws, you are a racist. By questioning why people must be offended by Washington, you are a racist.

    Broad brushstrokes here (and I mean BROAD), but there are a LOT of people that think like that. And then demand people to be tolerant. Ironic?

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  34. udderly ridiculous (and yes, I misspelled that on purpose.)

    I agree about your point on MLK. He may have been a piece of shit in his personal life but the man really did do some good. I think that's true for all leaders. JFK and Clinton were philandering while in the white house, Shrub was a druggie...

    I like Lost in Idaho's point. You're totally a racist by asking questions, dude. ;)

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  35. @ Paul, they have been crazy for a long time. Glad I could tell help you learn something new.

    @ Hannah, thank you glad you liked it. I agree people need to quit looking for bullshit reasons to be offended.

    @ Jeff, thank you. Glad you agree.

    @ Lost, well by your logic I am a racist. Wait no I was a racist because I did not want the healthcare bill passed.

    @ Miley, thank you for agreeing with me. And I know, I know. But wait I have screwed more black women then FEMA, how can I be racist?

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  36. Oh snap. You thought I was black? I know I have the ghetto booty and my people are from NOLA and all but... honey... I'm not black. I'm not even Creole!

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  37. @ Miley, you have some creole in you somewhere down the line.

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  38. Uhm, no. Truly don't. We can trace our people back to the "other boat". That's on both sides of the family. My mom's people have barely been here 100 years.

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  39. I agree with you. It's really ignorant for black people to hold the slavery card over EVERYTHING...I mean come on so much has happened since the abolishment of slavery, why can't they just let it go and move on?

    The Adorkable Ditz' Missteps

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  40. @ Miley, I forgot your people came across the pond on a single wide. lol

    @ Ditz, thank you. I am glad you agree.

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