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Pete Buttigieg: "The people who wrote the Constitution did not understand slavery was a bad thing."
- Thread starter PMS341
- Start date
I went down a bit of a rabbit hole. Jefferson still had slaves up to the day he died in 1826. (Which he then freed upon his will.) Crazy.
Ending slavery was literally a part of the earlier drafts of America's founding documents. This is just plain fucking ignorance.
the derogatory remark about sanders supporters is likely them trying to discredit keith ellison's tweet in the OP because he is a sanders supporter, despite him also being a prominent black democratic politician
Obviously we can become morally desensitized to anything routine or that is 'just the way it is' (we have our own examples today) but to frame it as if people were legitimately naive or unaware of the moral problems of owning human lives is ridiculous and pathetic.
The founding fathers clearly didn't think slavery was bad enough to move against it aggressively and instead allowed it to fester and metastasize for another 100 yrs in the American republic. I'd say that represents an unfortunate lack of understanding from a group who were otherwise seemingly compassionate and morally obligated toward their fellow man. Not that it should absolve them in any way of their guilt and not that I can tell from this quick clip whether that's actually Buttigieg's intent. It seems to be a clip from a larger discussion about how the Constitution is a living document and he's just using slavery as a quick, easy example.
retaining their slaves was also part of the reason the south joined the war against england in the first place. abolitionism was a stronger political movement in europe than it was in the US back then, and the rich slaveowning class was worried they would win power in parliament and abolish the practice in the colonies.
It wouldn't surprise me at all. Intelligence loves to recruit from Ivy League schools and I just saw he was a Naval Intelligence officer. He was so nice with it he was sent to Afghanistan afterwards. I don't trust this nigga for shit, he's probably bodied a lot of Black and Brown people in the name of "democracy". He and US' garbage foreign policy are another form of White Supremacy .
OP
OP
To be fair, I'm sure Pete just forgot to add him to the fake list of black people who supported his campaign (not that he wouldn't add Sanders supporters to said list anyways).
Yeah, if I think about it, not sure about his intent, but the fact that like you said, they didn't think it was bad enough to actively move against it means that ALL of the constitution should be up for reviewing and updating. These rules were created by people who thought it was OK to have slaves.
dude could also be an asshole. Unsure.
Yeah, I'm not denying that Pete should have chose his words better i.e. "The people who wrote the Constitution couldn't agree that the institution of slavery should be abolished". But you can snip out stuff like that for every politician. This was a 2014 local PBS station special that maybe 10,000 people max watched that nobody cared about until we elevate it into a national primary where people can use this to enforce an existing negative narrative about Buttigieg.
I don't think that paints a full picture of his understanding of the history of slavery in 2014 and especially not now.
"It's just a great big bowl of nonsense, but he looks confident when saying that stuff" kind of sums up the appeal and strategy of Buttigieg
He's not a CIA officer. He deployed to Afghanistan for 6 months as a Naval reservist, working in the Afghan Threat Finance Cell. He didn't "body" anyone. His deployment seems a lot like mine: mundane, relatively speaking.
Even if there is somehow a nuanced point buried there, Pete already lost the benefit of the doubt months ago and has actually made zero strides towards addressing it. It also shows a fundamental ability to miss the forest for the trees: slavery is never a "quick, easy example" even if it's illustrative towards the idea of a Constitution as a living document.
Is it possible for someone to have negative support among black voters while also achieving solid polling in Iowa?
Dude's like the Jameis Winston of Democratic nominees.
Yea, this is totally false.
There were a number of founders who opposed slavery, such as Benjamin Franklin and Alexander Hamilton.
Moreover, many slave owners at that time thought slavery was a 'necessary evil' that would die out in 30 years (this didn't work out thanks to the cotton gin and industrialization)
There were a number of founders who opposed slavery, such as Benjamin Franklin and Alexander Hamilton.
Moreover, many slave owners at that time thought slavery was a 'necessary evil' that would die out in 30 years (this didn't work out thanks to the cotton gin and industrialization)
You seem to think that "racists didn't think slavery is bad" is the same as "it's ok that they were racist because they didn't think it was bad". That said this isn't a hill I really care enough to die on so I'll concede.
Admit ignorance, learn and move on. How he didnt seem to know is not suprising. Most Americans probably think the Founders wanted all people vote when in fact they only allowed wealthy land holding white men.
"Holy fuck bro, this is evil but I love raping women and not having to work my land. I hope someone does something about this!" -- America's Founding Geniuses
That is a really bad way of saying the constitution was written by many people who did not value the lives of black people
Pete needs to read a history book. The founders kicked the slavery issue down the road so they didn't have to deal with it. They knew it could cause something as horrific as a civil war.
John Adams literally warned the other Founders that the spectre of slavery would come back to haunt the US in a hundred years, and he was only off by ten. What rubbish.
EDIT: Not to mention Thomas Paine, the dude who helped kickstart the Revolution with Common Sense, was also one of the few founders who wasn't a massive hypocrite and thought slavery should be abolished on moral grounds. Even Aaron Burr thought slavery was evil.
EDIT: Not to mention Thomas Paine, the dude who helped kickstart the Revolution with Common Sense, was also one of the few founders who wasn't a massive hypocrite and thought slavery should be abolished on moral grounds. Even Aaron Burr thought slavery was evil.
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The one thing I'll say personally is that this sounds like something he's saying to appease moderates who have been taught to hold the founding fathers in high regards and not necessarily something he believes himself
This wasn't a mistake.
This was deliberate white washing and dog whistling.
Yeah, Pete has finally made it to my shitlist. Originally, I thought of him as an intelligent, but not exciting candidate. Now I think of him as mostly stupid, corrupt, and not at all a good representation of the generations he claims to speak for.
IIRC, the Haitian Revolution hardened his stance on slavery and African-Americans, which is likely one of many reasons that him and Adams had their legendary fallout.
Really interesting how growing up I missed the point that slavery was always a problem in America, to the end that if it was abolished, we wouldn't have a union. Really just sucks that they always knew it was bad, or that black people aren't less than human, but still didn't fight to change it.
Not making excuses for the founding fathers who basically said, "Yes it's a problem, but not one I want to fix in my lifetime.". I can tell they definitely believed that the creation of America was more important than the black Americans who helped create it. Kind of reminds me of the stigma attached to many people who say that they want to see the world changed, but aren't willing to change their lifestyle or go vote in order to make steps towards that goal.
I've got nothing to add about the OP or Pete Buttigieg that hasn't already been said in this thread.
Not making excuses for the founding fathers who basically said, "Yes it's a problem, but not one I want to fix in my lifetime.". I can tell they definitely believed that the creation of America was more important than the black Americans who helped create it. Kind of reminds me of the stigma attached to many people who say that they want to see the world changed, but aren't willing to change their lifestyle or go vote in order to make steps towards that goal.
I've got nothing to add about the OP or Pete Buttigieg that hasn't already been said in this thread.
I feel like most politicians say stuff they don't mean to appeal to a base
So now you're whitewashing the whitewashing of racism.
Lovely.
Yeah I stopped giving him the benefit of the doubt a while ago
Buttigeg doesn't have a blind spot with African American issues. He knowingly works to whitewash them and would undermine the work of activists if given more power than he deserves.
I'm not saying it's a good thing, just something people do to get elected
He has closed door fundraisers with wealthy donors. What made you think he cares about constituents at all?? Minorities will be the first under the bus.
Yes, and those that propagate racist lies in order to get elected deserve criticism. What's your point??
Murder happens.
People criticize murder.
You: humans sometimes commit murder
Ok???
