is this a fair answer to the following question?

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a poster out here just asked the following question:
What do you think of this famous quote on American slavery?
""... In this enlightened age, there are few I believe, but what will acknowledge, that slavery as an institution, is a moral & political evil in any Country. It is useless to expatiate on its disadvantages. I think it however a greater evil to the white man than to the black race, & while my feelings are strongly enlisted in behalf of the latter, my sympathies are more strong for the former. The blacks are immeasurably better off here than in Africa, morally, socially & physically. The painful discipline they are undergoing, is necessary for their instruction as a race, & I hope will prepare & lead them to better things. How long their subjugation may be necessary is known & ordered by a wise Merciful Providence.""

Circa 1856.


and here's my response - that caused this asked to block me almost right away:

"here's what i think of your quote:

to say that a kidnap victim is better of in one place or another only tries to cover up or justify the original CRIME that was slavery.

it's up to each of us to decide what kind of life we live or not - whether in africa or on some godforsaken, disgusting plantation in alabama as forced labor - separated from my family and everyting i ever knew in my life - so that my children would be born into slavery. 

i'll stay free every time - the notion that any other response is acceptable is FUNDAMENTALLY UNAMERICAN - which the more i look at it, the more i think the south is fundamentally unamerican.

this above all else is the american way - freedom to come and go as you please, to marry who you please, to settle and live as you please.

my grandfather came to america of his own free will - he wanted to come here and did.

to say that generations of people forcibly removed from their families, friends, cultures and lives is somehow better for someone in the longrun is the kind of garbage that hitler used to spout and it's high time we called these 18th and 19th century historical revisionists out for the racist, rabid and hateful monsters that they are.

for people who prize freedom above all else, how can anyone anywhere embrace this sort of insipid DREK for anything other than what it is?"

do you think my response if fair?  

what does it say about this poster that they blocked me just a few minutes after posting my response?

Anonymous · Accepted Answer

Perfectly fair. The poster was either a troll or just immature.

justa · Answer

You're looking at an old problem, with today's eyes.
And its impossible to judge yesterday with todays knowledge.

Slavery had been in, and still is, in practice over most of history in all countries.
Even our Bible goes into some detail about the right and wrong way to treat slaves, or women for that matter. Given the specifics of the times, the need for protection, and food and population production
the need for slavery was economic.
On both sides.  Slavery was a step up for some locked in any caste or class systems from abject poverty.  A house slave had better quarters, food and clothing than a field slave.
A poor person had nothing, in some places they were preyed on forced into prostitution, the children abused and no way out for them either.
Life and history aren't about fairness, or nice, its about trying to understand the times and the problems, the way they tried to work it out.
People who make value judgments are doing it in the now, not the then, and its going to make a difference.
The corporate media doesn't spend much time on it, but there have been several specials on NBC on slavery today, as they practice it in much of the Middle East, and a few times a year an Asian prostitution ring gets busted. None if it would exist without our willingness to look the other way.

Warren D · Answer

The original quotation might be defended by the fact is is from 1856 and incorporated views that were shared by many Americans, including some blacks.  While I disagree with it, I do so in the context of a long passage of time and the opportunities to see where an integrated society can take America.

While discrimination against black people remained an ugly practice in much of the South for many years, most parts of the South are now open to all races, and the discrimination against minorities to be found in the North, especially in urban areas, remains a dark and often untold blot on American society.

I am a white man who grew up during the years that schools were being integrated.  From early childhood I believed that all people should be treated equally.  I had occasion to make friends with black children and other minorities and these friendships convinced me that we are all fundamentally human.

Your response is valid in the sense that it challenges a view held a long time ago that was widely accepted in its time.  While we still have not achieved the racial equality sought by Martin Luther King (who was a hero to me in his time) we are closer than we were fifty years ago.  We need to remember--without celebrating them or agreeing with them--the attitudes which led to discrimination, segregation and crimes against racial minorities.

? · Answer

a million. At 17, and I am five'five'' two. My mother is five'two'', and my dad is five'10'' three. As a teenager, I ate healthful, and I nonetheless do four. As a teenager I slept eight or mostly extra hours five. No sporting activities as a teenager 6. No I didn't activity as a teenager 7. No I didn't take progress drugs as a teenager eight. Had a gastrointestinal ailment as a teenager nine. Spanish-American 10. Lisa

thegubmint · Answer

You left off the little attack at the end.

"what's next?
 
will you tell us how much better off native americans are after every treaty they ever signed with the usa's govt was violated?"

Not sure why you felt the need for that, it seemed like a reasonable question about a quote to me.

M S · Answer

God did send instructions about sanitation if you care to know details.

Liddel · Answer

I think your whining about it makes you ill suited for this forum.  People block for whatever reasons they choose.  Get over it.

lp

Anonymous · Answer

Stupid question asked by an obviously stupid person!

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is this a fair answer to the following question?

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