President's Day Weekend -- Celebration of Genocidal Monsters
5 Comments Published by LeftyHenry on Monday at 9:09 PM.
While President's day serves as a welcome rest from the usual, much like Colombus day, few actually take the time to reflect what the day is for. It seems like people just forget around this time what president's day really is; a celebration of genocidal racist maniacs. The featured presidents, George Washington and Thomas Jefferson for example, who President Bush has spent the weekend praising while comparing the Iraq war to the Revolutionary was, and who are the centerpieces of any American history propaganda session oops! I mean high school/college American history course, were the two presidents, who of any president, owned the most slaves. George Washington for example, "owned" over 200 slaves! Thomas Jefferson, who "owned" 161 slaves, and was famous for saying, "all men are created equal," expanded on the genocidal views of George Washington, by beoming active in the Native American genocide and encroachment of Native lands movement that the patriots of the revolution rallied around. On numerous occasions he called Naitve Americans "savages" inferior to whites.
This, of course, is (hopefully) well known, just forgotten by people in general. In "celebration" of these "heroes," I was active distributing leaflets and literature on the oppression this system is based on, focusing on the fact that this system runs heavy with the blood of slaves. The truth is that this system still oppresses minorities. In place of Thomas Jefferson's whip, there is a cops riot stick and pistol. In place of slavery on the fields, there are pockets of share cropping, the re-emergence of chain gangs, as well as the disgusting sweatshops all over the underdeveloped world. on this day as well as thursday (George Washington's birthday), people should really recognize the truth about this "holiday," and the oppressive nature of this system and its' "heroes."
This, of course, is (hopefully) well known, just forgotten by people in general. In "celebration" of these "heroes," I was active distributing leaflets and literature on the oppression this system is based on, focusing on the fact that this system runs heavy with the blood of slaves. The truth is that this system still oppresses minorities. In place of Thomas Jefferson's whip, there is a cops riot stick and pistol. In place of slavery on the fields, there are pockets of share cropping, the re-emergence of chain gangs, as well as the disgusting sweatshops all over the underdeveloped world. on this day as well as thursday (George Washington's birthday), people should really recognize the truth about this "holiday," and the oppressive nature of this system and its' "heroes."
Labels: U.S. History
Actually, the only reason Washington and Jefferson kept slaves was not because they were "genocidal monsters", but because they viewed it as an economic necessity. If you know so much about US history, then you probably know that the Declaration of Independence originally featured an anti-slavery tirade: a tirade penned by none other than Jefferson himself. Jefferson had slaves because he was always in debt: without them, he simply could not survive economically. The hope among the Founders was that future southern leaders would recognize the evils of slavery and use a system of gradual emancipation to phase out the instiution. Of course, this would never be realized due to stubborness and stupidity by the southern leaders.
Also, when did Jefferson steal Native American lands? If you are referring to the Louisiana Purchase, Jefferson did not actually want to take Native American lands. He simply wanted their cooperation in forming a trade empire to grab the fur trade from Britain.
One of the positive aspects of the American revolution, is the "Bill of Rights", a document that would be included in a socialist constitution as well.
anon,
I have read that passage, and its full of shit. He just blames slavery on the British in an attempt to rally urban abolitionists.
In the end, it would come down to who really acted and it was the British who offered emancipation for service in fighting the patriots while at the end of the war it would be the patriots harrassing the British to pay back slaveowners whose slaves had joined the war.
Plus, that passage was only in the rough draft. As for the rest of you're arguement it really does not justify the brutality of slavery. My family has been in debt before. Doesn't mean I enslave people to pay it off for me.
Jefferson was a leader of the patriots who appealed to yeomen farmers by ending the proclamation of 1763 which barred the colonists from trespassing on Native American land past the Appalachian mountains.
ren,
You're right. The Bill of Rights was pretty radical for that era, and something similiar may apply in a socialist constitution, however, the bill of rights -- or maybe just the constitution as a whole, has clearly failed the working masses and allows much room for the suppression of the working class and empowerment of the bourgeois.
History doesnt give many examples of perfect utopia, more a process of development in which abolition andthe Bill of Rights were steps in the right direction. We must continue to build on a foundation.
anon,
You said: "Jefferson had slaves because he was always in debt: without them, he simply could not survive economically."
Are you serious? Jefferson's economic survival depended on slaves? I try to get my students to avoid saying the following words, but "no duh!" Slaves made Jefferson possible. Slaves made the American empire possible. Slaves made (and continue to make) capitalism possible. A genuine bill of rights needed to be written by slaves and native Americans, that would have been a revolutionary foundation of interest.
Why are we celebrating this fuck's contributions. It makes his declarations about the rights of all human beings vacuous. How could Jefferson "hope that future southern leaders would recognize the evils of slavery" while simultaneously benefiting from their brutal existence? Isn't it a little too convenient to say that Jefferson was "using a system of gradual emancipation to phase out the institution" as long as he reaped its rewards?
I think its cynical to recommend what would be good for others to abide by if the recommender failed to follow his own advice! Jefferson was no MLK Jr., Gandhi, Malcolm X, Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, Lucy Parsons, Che Guevara, Emma Goldman, Mother Jones, or Nelson Mandela!
I think that most U.S. presidents have amply demonstrated their contempt for democracy and the constitution. I'm with Lefty, I think President's Day would be better put to use as a day of revisionism and protest!