Democrat Amy McGrath is running against Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-G.O.A.T.) in Kentucky, and so far her campaign isn’t doing so well. Even the people who hate Cocaine Mitch’s guts are scoffing at her. I’ll let MSNBC’s Kasie Hunt sum it up:
This one is going to leave a mark! Here’s @kasie on Amy McGrath canceling her Sunday night interview on MSNBC after her Brett Kavanaugh meltdown pic.twitter.com/D6jkN1gxTU
— Jesse Hunt (@JJHunt10) July 14, 2019
But it gets even worse. As part of McGrath’s coordinated rollout Completely coincidentally, the day before McGrath announced her campaign, NBC News reported that two of Mitch McConnell’s great-great-grandfathers owned slaves. This is relevant in 2019, purportedly, because McConnell is against the idea of monetary reparations to descendants of slaves.
McConnell’s response was, as always, perfect:
“We both oppose reparations and we both are the descendants of slaveholders.”
Sen. Mitch McConnell compares himself to Pres. Obama, after being asked whether knowledge of his slave-holding ancestors has affected his stance on reparations. https://t.co/ATWPz3amwd pic.twitter.com/AZ7C7k0uhG
— ABC News (@ABC) July 9, 2019
It’s true. Obama has publicly dismissed reparations, and his ancestors owned slaves. These are just facts. If McConnell is guilty, why isn’t Obama?
This line of attack was shortsighted. They tried to nuke Mitch, but the bomb went off in their own faces.
And now the fallout is spreading:
Something that we’ve been talking about in town hall meetings — the legacy of slavery in the United States — now has a much more personal connection. I was recently given documents showing that both Amy and I are descended from people who owned slaves. https://t.co/rGKKLqcoKf
— Beto O’Rourke (@BetoORourke) July 15, 2019
Beto writes on Medium:
I was recently given documents showing that both Amy and I are descended from people who owned slaves. Along with other possessions listed in their property log were two human beings, Rose and Eliza.
A paternal great-great-great grandfather of mine, Andrew Cowan Jasper, owned these two women in the 1850s. There are also records showing that a maternal great-great-great grandfather, Frederick Williams, most likely owned slaves in the 1860s…
I benefit from a system that my ancestors built to favor themselves at the expense of others. That only increases the urgency I feel to help change this country so that it works for those who have been locked-out of — or locked-up in — this system.
I can understand Robert’s Beto’s concern, but I’ve got some good news: Slavery is illegal now! A guy named Abraham Lincoln (Google him) issued something called the Emancipation Proclamation, and now Americans can’t own slaves anymore. This happened over 150 years ago. Beto couldn’t buy slaves even if he wanted to. He shouldn’t be held accountable for things that happened before he was even born. Neither should anybody else.
(If Beto is so worried about his white privilege, though, why doesn’t he drop out of the presidential race and stop making more work for the people of color who are running? He has about as much chance of getting the nomination as his fellow dumb white guy Eric Swalwell did. The smartest thing Swalwell ever did was drop out. Does Beto really want to be even stupider than Eric Swalwell?)
Slavery is wrong. But so is collective guilt. You, Dear Reader, are an individual and you’re responsible for your own actions. Nobody else’s. To my knowledge, no American alive today has ever owned a slave. If you’re reading this, it’s not your fault. You didn’t do it.
Now, this personal responsibility also comes with the responsibility of thinking for yourself. If you understand that and you still want to vote for a Democrat who’s trying to make you feel guilty for things you’ve never done… hey, it’s your life.
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