Wednesday, December 26, 2012

On A Stunning Example Of Leftist Historical Ignorance

The Detroit Free Press carries an article that is a collaboration of a number of journalists on the Emancipation Proclamation.

The Detroit Free Press: 150 years later, Lincoln's Emancipation still sparks debate

It has plenty of the same racially-based leftist tropes, like the emphasis on the existence of a collective African-American consciousness, but one statement really stood out as a demonstration of leftist belief and how it is so at odds with historical reality.

Of course, history, even fairly recent history from living memory, is not exactly these journalists' strong suit. Even as they pontificate on history, we get some amazingly ignorant and politically biased statements in the article such as this one:

The nation has just re-elected an African-American president who hangs in his Oval Office a signed copy of the Emancipation Proclamation. This, the executive order's 150th anniversary, is the first major one when black people can fairly be called free.

Seriously now?

It takes the re-election of a black president for black people to fairly be called free? I guess in 1972 for the 110th anniversary and in 1987, the 125th anniversary of the Proclamation, blacks were still being sold into slavery or something?

The mind boggles at the need for lefty journalists to ignore history and pretend that black people in America somehow only achieved becoming "free" upon the election of Barack Obama.

On the upside, at least these journalists can finally say they are proud of their country.

1 comment:

ProudHillbilly said...

Considering the Emancipation Proclamation only covered the states in rebellion, leaving slavery legal in slave-holding states that had remained in the Union, I find that a bit...overblown.