Opinion | Barnes' honest talk about slavery is red meat for the anti-democracy crowd
By: Dave Zweifel (The Cap Times)
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Rebecca Kleefisch, the former lieutenant governor who hopes to be Wisconsin's next governor, was one of several state Republicans who got their undies in a bundle over current Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes' remarks concerning the teaching of slavery last year.
Barnes, a Black man who hopes to win the Democratic nomination to take on the GOP's Ron Johnson for the U.S. Senate, had the temerity to tell an audience in Portage last August, "Imagine being so ashamed of how we got to this place in America that you outlaw teaching it."
Barnes added: "You know, and things were bad, things were terrible. The founding of this nation? Awful. You know, but we are here now and we should commit ourselves to doing everything we can do to repair the harm, because it still exists today. The harm, the damage, whether it was colonization or whether it was slavery. The impacts are felt today and they're going to continue to be felt unless we address it in a meaningful way."
Milwaukee right-wing radio talk show host Dan O'Donnell gleefully posted the video of Barnes' talk on Twitter, insinuating that the Democratic candidate is un-American.
That was red meat for Kleefisch and others in her party.
"I love America and our founding principles of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness," she puffed. "Evers needs to call out his lieutenant governor for these awful comments about our great nation. Unless of course he agrees."
The Wisconsin Republican Party's "rapid response director," Mike Marinella, chimed in with, "Barnes' comments prove why Democrats are advocating for policies that would fundamentally dismantle our country. Our elected officials need to fight for America — not the fringe left."
Now that really does take some chutzpah.
Kleefisch and the other three candidates for the Republican nomination to run against Tony Evers have been on the forefront of a nearly two-year-long campaign to throw out a legitimate American election.
Talk about the "dismantling" of our country.
At least Barnes is asking Americans to address the fact that slavery was dismissed by the founders of our country and the need for all of us to be honest about it.
There has been nothing honest by the likes of Kleefisch and the other Republicans who haven't the guts to call out their supposed leader for attempting to destroy democracy.
Instead, they buy into the fraudulent election hoax, all the while questioning the patriotism of others.
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I have to say this reminds me of members of this very forum. They hoot and holler about the supposed un-Americanism of liberals and "leftists" even as out of the other side of their mouth come weak defenses of Trump concerning his treason surrounding Jan 6th.
Discussing Americas racist past is "un-American", but defending a president who tried to overthrow the US government is ok in their eyes.
Please start the discussion.
"Imagine being so ashamed of how we got to this place in America that you outlaw teaching it."
He's lying. Of course he should be criticized for it.
The more interesting question is why lying plays so well for him in a Democratic primary.
I think you missed the point of the article.
The Freakanomics podcast had a couple of really good issues dedicated to reparations. It explored both the politics and economics of reparations. One criticism against reparations taking the form of cash payouts is that there is a risk of a one and one mentality and within the space of a generation many African Americans may be separated from their reparations by swindlers. (Would you like us to hold your reparations in digital currency for you? Of course you would!)
The most interesting part of the exploration had to do with addressing areas of disparate impact with race neutral solutions. One example offered up was baby bonds. The problem it addresses, young people not having any money when they become responsible for themselves is addressed for everyone no matter what their race with a baby bonds program.
Should America (and FIFA) Pay Reparations?” and “The Pros and Cons of Reparations.”
Nice try, but apparently, no one wants to address the seed topic.
The topic is slavery and our racism, get on topic please.