If I did not hear it, I would not believe it. We have reached a point in this country that we are willing to say anything to support an ideology including defending the history of slavery. We have a lot of work to do.
We are in dire straits when an administration can send out a black spokesperson to defend white supremacy and slavery as “good history.” The following snippet from Fox News illustrates how far some have fallen.
Slavery part of America’s “good history”
Ainsley Earhardt (CO-HOST): Do you think that [House] Speaker [Paul] Ryan [(R-WI)] should join in with [House Minority Leader] Nancy Pelosi [(D-CA)] and take down those Confederate monuments that are in the halls of Congress?
Katrina Pierson: Absolutely not, Ainsley. Look, how long has Nancy Pelosi been in Washington, D.C.? Those monuments have been there for a very long time and suddenly Nancy Pelosi wants to actually help these anarchists and these violent protesters tear down pieces of America, American culture, and American history. The only place that’s being done right now is by ISIS and I really don’t think that you should have leaders actually encouraging people to do these types of things, because Americans actually love their history, their culture, good and bad, because it helps them learn and it helps keep people educated about why America is so great, to begin with.
Ainsley Earhardt (CO-HOST): All right, Wendy, according to a recent poll, most Americans agree with Katrina. The NPR/PBS Newshour/Marist poll, they said 62 percent said that they want to keep the monuments the way they are, 27 percent said to remove them. What are your thoughts?
Wendy Osefo: We have to be mindful that polls are not necessarily predictive but rather reflective of a current trend. But what’s being lost in this entire conversation is the history from which Confederate monuments sprung from. Confederate monuments came after the South lost the war. Six hundred and fifty thousand people died and the southerners were considered treasonous. On top of that, this sprung up after December 1865 when the Ku Klux Klan actually was trying to revolt against “black” local power that came about during the Reconstructionist era. So this is not a symbol of patriotism. This is a symbol of hatred and division. And while it is a piece of American history, it’s not necessarily the good part of American history. It’s actually nefarious. So it doesn’t deserve a place on state grounds. It deserves a place in museums. And that’s where they need to be.
Katrina Pierson: It absolutely deserves a place, because bad history is still good history for this country —
Wendy Osefo: Slavery is good history?
Katrina Pierson: — considering where we are today, where we are today. Absolutely.
Wendy Osefo: Slavery is good history? Absolutely. Oh, wow.
Katrina Pierson: During those times, during those times — think about this for a second. Where would we be today if not for that Civil War? How would our children even know —
Wendy Osefo: Where would we be without slavery? Are you serious? Do you hear what you’re saying?
Katrina Pierson: How would our children even know how special and how wonderful this country is that we can even be having this discussion today?
Wendy Osefo: How special slavery is? You know how many people died?
(h/t MediaMatters)