(08-02-2023, 08:43 AM)Lucky2Last Wrote:

(08-01-2023, 02:41 PM)mikesez Wrote: I don't disagree with the bolded. Benefits were possible, but could only accrue after emancipation. But that's not what the curriculum literally says.  The curriculum says benefits were possible without regard to emancipation.   That takes the eye off the ball.  Away from the point of the story.  The point of the story is slavery was morally abhorrent and there was a moral duty to end it.
You are, and perhaps they are, trying to make a different point using a different story about LBJ era programs.  That's historical malpractice though, for a variety of reasons, not least the hundred year time gap, but mostly because it ignores the many disparities that were still present when the great society programs began.

Even if I concede this point (which I don't, because this concept seems foundational for moving into life after slavery), do you think it makes DeSantis a racist? Does it undermine what this team of diverse professors put together? Even if you and I agreed we could change that wording slightly to make it more accurate, do you really think this small quibble is a national issue? Do you think it justifies Kamala's speech in Jacksonville?

If you are trying to undermine and argue against great society programs, then focus on things that happened from 1950 to 1970.
Trying to reframe things that happened from 1619 to 1865 will not help you make your point.  Trying to reframe the existence and experience of slavery in any positive light serves "lost cause" hagiography and other subtle forms of white supremacy.  I don't think DeSantis is racist, but i dont think he's not, either.  I do think he is trying to leverage the racism and aspiration of many white voters to get himself in the news and hopefully leapfrog over Donald Trump.

People said the same thing about Trump. You could never tell if he was personally racist or just aping for racists, but after a few months or a year, that's the Hamlet dilemma. You play at something long enough it becomes your identity.

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