'Duck Dynasty' Star Phil Robertson Claims Black People Were 'Happy' Pre-Civil Rights

Posted by Maphesdus 11 years, 4 months ago to News
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Question: if black people were so happy during the Jim Crow era, why did they push so hard to have the Jim Crow laws repealed? To me, this sounds no different than the people who said that black people were perfectly happy to be slaves.


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  • -1
    Posted by Hiraghm 11 years, 4 months ago in reply to this comment.
    I have to reflexively question the "ignorance" and "racism" connection, however, because of the left's fondness for portraying any opposition as "ignorant", regardless of merit, and any ally as brilliant "intellectuals", regardless of merit.

    Racism, IMO, is a malignant offshoot of our tribal instincts.
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  • Posted by Hiraghm 11 years, 4 months ago in reply to this comment.
    The breakdown of the black family began before the civil rights act of 1964. It began in the 1950s, along with the civil rights *movement*.

    Poverty didn't cause the breakdown of the black family. Breakdown of the black family caused poverty.

    Last month there was a full moon. Today there's an ice storm. Correlation does not imply causation.
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  • Posted by Hiraghm 11 years, 4 months ago in reply to this comment.
    I call BS, bigtime.

    The reason the black family and black communities broke down is because of progressive policies and propaganda.
    The invention of "black culture", the dismissal of traditional American values once shared by all Americans as being creations of the white man (and therefore automatically evil and oppressive), the victim mentality and dependence on government... a whole campaign by progressives to convince young people, especially young, non-white people that the fabric of their society was unnecessary and everything their parents said was part of a conspiracy to somehow harm them. "Never trust anyone over 30"... "tune-in, turn-on, drop out" and a thousand other catch-phrases and jingles. With the media as more than willing accomplices, they've managed to make Nikita Khruschev's prediction come true.
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  • Posted by Hiraghm 11 years, 4 months ago in reply to this comment.
    So, the truth and reality be damned, if they don't support the "civil rights" narrative.
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  • Posted by $ 11 years, 4 months ago in reply to this comment.
    If he's using his personal experience to downplay and negate the real and genuine suffering that African Americans went through during the Jim Crow era, yes.
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  • -2
    Posted by $ 11 years, 4 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Robinson gave two opinions.
    You could certainly disagree with them, but wrong is not evil.
    ---
    Actually, it can be, depending on the issue at stake.

    Also, I think you're getting a little ahead of yourself by saying this is all a conspiracy by the Marxists. Just because someone isn't a diehard Republican, that doesn't automatically make them a Marxist...
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  • Posted by sdesapio 11 years, 4 months ago in reply to this comment.
    +1 for "Edit: Yes, I'm a dumbass..." and then leaving all the Robinson's in there. THAT'S HOW A MAN EDITS right there. Well done.
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  • Posted by khalling 11 years, 4 months ago in reply to this comment.
    I was speaking of relative happiness in citing statistics. Ignorance may be part of racism but I believe at the root of racism is ultimately force. That is objectively definable for the purposes of "harm."
    I rarely click on links to thinkprogress for the definition of something. It is not a credible site for objectivity.
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  • -1
    Posted by $ 11 years, 4 months ago in reply to this comment.
    The war on drugs started in 1971, so only eight years after the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed. Of course the war on poverty also started in 1964, and there is, I think, a legitimate argument to be made that government welfare actually makes poverty worse, not better. But in order to prove this, we would need to look at statistics concerning poverty rates among African Americans from 1964 to 1971 to determine in which year poverty rates actually started increasing. If the poverty rates started increasing in 1964, then we can logically conclude that it was the war on poverty that caused it. But if the poverty rates didn't start increasing until 1971, then we would have to conclude that the cause was the war on drugs.

    But in either case, it is important to keep the Civil Rights Act and the war on poverty distinctly separate from one another, even though they both went into effect in the same year.
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  • Posted by $ 11 years, 4 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Sorry, I was just kind of tired last night, and continually refuting these arguments for discrimination is exhausting.

    Anyway, racism has ignorance at its root. He was basically saying that the Civil Rights movement was unnecessary because black people weren't actually suffering under Jim Crow laws. Such a comment is a milder form of racism, but it's still racism.

    http://thinkprogress.org/alyssa/2013/12/...

    As for your comment about statistics, it depends on what you use those statistics for. If you tried to say that black people are inherently inferior to white people, and you used statistics about poverty rate and such to support your argument, then yes, that would racist. Now on the other hand, if you used those same statistics as evidence of a problem that needed to be solved, and tried to get to the real cause of a the problem and not blame it on genetics, then that would not be racist. The statistics themselves are neutral. It's the ends towards which they are directed that determines prejudice.

    I up-voted your post for contributing to the discussion. ;)
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  • Posted by $ 11 years, 4 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Ugh, I already find that book repulsive just from looking at the title and description. I don't know if I want to actually read it...
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  • Posted by richrobinson 11 years, 4 months ago in reply to this comment.
    I think the war on drugs came after. Welfare which came along at around the same time as the Civil Rights legislation is probably more to blame. It is clear that at around that time mistakes were made and now we have major problems.
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  • Posted by $ Susanne 11 years, 4 months ago in reply to this comment.
    +1 for that!

    I see so many sheep - following (and parroting, er, bleating) those they percieve as "cool", and if they can make someone look bad, then they think they look good. It makes them... followers. Not leaders.

    Just gets mighty old. When you know people living in various *extremely* rural communities (can't help it where I live) that are "GLBT", vote conservative (or TeaParty), have businesses that are supported by their local communities, attend Church - and everyone knows about their personal life, and honestly doesn't care - these parrots and sheep (who drink the hype and BS about we that live out here in the sticks) look pretty (I hate to say this) ignorant.

    And to us deep rural "locals", seeing these types - because they stand out so much - make us laugh our butts off. And the "heat" we feel... is what's coming off their embarassed cheeks once we figure them out. ;-)
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  • Posted by $ Susanne 11 years, 4 months ago
    A&E was doing... damage control, nothing more. If they didn't move on it, they would have lost sponsors, which means losing revenue... No matter if you follow this guy's belief system or not (and that's not really iup for discussion), what they did was a solid BUSINESS decision. One I would have made, even IF this guy was one of my best friends and we were 110% in concert with one another.

    You can't have someone on one of your (if not your leading) hottest revenue shows decide to talk about his "personal beliefs" that they know would up and piss off a huge segment of your viewers and not do anything... it's like what the food network did with whatzername (sorry, I'm not a big People-style media watcher) when she pissed off the black community. He's paid acting talent... when he torpedoes his own value, and puts his employer at risk, just like any other job, it's time to say Adios.
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  • -1
    Posted by $ 11 years, 4 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Except the primary reason why the black family and black community is breaking down is because of the war on drugs, which had nothing to do with the Civil Rights movement.
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  • Posted by khalling 11 years, 4 months ago
    I don't think the post should be dinged because I think the discussion needs to happen. The LGBT community takes a lot of heat in here, mostly because many want to hide behind the group instead of be recognized based on merit and individualism.
    everytime a producer on the site chooses to push a group right to something or a group being disparaged by perceived offenses, the producer will get that heat.
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  • Posted by $ Susanne 11 years, 4 months ago in reply to this comment.
    You are kidding, right? My premesis? Seriously?

    It was an interview given for publication in a national magazine.

    As the face of the show, it was well indeed "part of the show" - you think he would have gotten the GQ interview were it not for A&E or their DD property?

    Asked a question? He didn't have to respond. There is such a thing as being judicious in an interview.

    Nature and Locale?? You do realize that A&E is more than 200 miles of Rural Louisiana. Something about being a National Network. Based in New York. And DD is one of their biggest properties - with a viewership larger than 200 square miles of Louisiana Swampland.

    And as to the "homosexuals and homophiles" comment, Check YOUR premesis. A lot of those you disregard as "homosexuals and homophiles" live in, and participate in, Rural, Christian communities, watch shows like this, and purchase from advertisers.

    Between their *national* demographic (5-10% of 313 million), and the black demographic (20-25%),, that's... what, almost 100 million. Add their family, friends, and people who just don't like people who have racial or sexual bias, and sure, any broadcasting company can piss off maybe 20-30% of their viewers, and convince their advertisers (who may be black, or gay, or maybe just not stupid or prejudicially biased) that they'll go elsewhere... They (A&E) wisely, as a business, cut their losses.
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  • Posted by richrobinson 11 years, 4 months ago in reply to this comment.
    The problem is that they acted too quickly. They didn't talk to him or even wait to see what the public reaction was. They reacted to the whims of a far left activist group. That makes it a bad business decision. They needed more facts in order make a better decision.
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  • Posted by Hiraghm 11 years, 4 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Check your premises.

    The interview was for GQ, it was not on the show or part of the show.

    He was asked a question, he didn't introduce the topic.

    But the premise you most need to check revolves around the statement, "...piss off a huge segment of your viewers..."

    Considering the nature and locale of the show, I'm not all that sure that homosexuals and homophiles make up all that large a segment of their viewing audience.
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