(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . 1830's Gag Rule And Black History Censorship [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2023-02-07 John Quincy Adams, holding still for the first photograph of a President of the United States. My eyes almost water to see him willing himself not to blink. Ouch. William Lee Miller wrote Arguing about Slavery: The Great Battle in the United States Congress using, in part, a trove of documents that once passed for the Congressional Record. In the 1830’s Southern Representatives and their allies instituted a gag rule in the US House of Representatives to prevent debate on the subject of slavery. Abolitionists had found a champion in Massachusetts Representative and former President, John Quincy Adams. With keen intelligence, an agile wit and a righteously relentless temperament he fought the gag rule year after year. He went beyond most abolitionists with his opposition to racism as well, which “taints the very sources of moral principle” by establishing “false estimates of virtue and vice.” But, on the House floor, he played the fox – to paraphrase his strategy – I don’t know if slavery is a good thing or a bad thing. We should reason with each other to learn the truth of the matter. If you get a chance treat yourself to a good read, this one’s a page turner. In those days it was not uncommon for speeches and debates to be printed, verbatim, in newspapers throughout the land. Citizens were, for the most part, very much aware of current events. When slavery was the law of the land, politicians whose positions and fortunes depended on it were fully aware that enslavement was evil. They were defensive because they didn’t have a moral leg to stand on and they feared that public sentiment could turn against them. From the National Archives. Note — in one legislative session 130,000 petitions were sent to Congress. I wonder how many signatures that was. During and following the Trump Show racism came back out from under the rocks. By that, I mean racists are more open and less coy. DeSantis is only one of many. We see racist Republicans working on their own gag rule. They will censor Black History anywhere they can get away with it. People who never bothered to read the 1619 Project have their talking points. CRT is even worse. How dare they explore and reveal a system that prevents meritocracy from gaining hold?!! Today’s urgency was spurred on by massive BLM protests across the land — with oh so many pale faces in the crowd. The protests did not only reveal overwhelming support but also grew more support. There never was white unity on either matter, slavery or racism — but — the racism divide is nearing half nowadays if you believe polling data. Democrats have little tolerance for it but racism is not yet near to becoming another Lost Cause. The problem for the far right is that they cannot rely on quite as much passive acceptance when overt behavior is absent. If Republican politicians were willing to work for Equality Under the Law their hostility to history and fairness would not be necessary. Their fortunes and positions rely, not only on the more recent Big Lie, but also on the Original Lie underpinning the Con that has prevented a frightful unity among all working men and women. I think Joe Biden is leaning into this fracture all the while playing the fox. “There’s nothing America cannot do when we work together.” I’m not sure if he actually said that but it sounds like Joe. He called out MAGA Insurrectionists then speaks to their constituents in the language of brotherly love. Our top-heave economy with great wealth and great poverty relies on working people being at odds with one another. A majority of Americans embrace a multi-cultural society and equality under the law. Politics just hasn’t caught up with us. Gerrymandering, a packed Supreme Court and our Senate map slow us down. But since they are mere obstacles to the power of public sentiment, that leaves racist politicians in the position of trying to drown out or shut down a dialogue that they cannot win. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/2/7/2151529/-1830-s-Gag-Rule-And-Black-History-Censorship Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/