'Slaves loved their masters': GOP women's club president defends lawmaker's pro-slavery comments

[Soph0571]

In a post to Facebook on Sunday, Martha Huckabay -- a former delegate for Donald Trump -- lashed out at a CNN segment which criticized Louisiana state Rep. Ray Garofalo (R-LA), who said that children should learn "about everything dealing with slavery, the good, the bad, the ugly."

Huckabay took issue with GOP state Rep. Stephanie Hilferty after she criticized Garofalo.

"You are right Stephanie Hilferty 'none of us were around when slavery occurred,'" Huckabay wrote. "Slavery goes all they way back to biblical times, and if you've read your Bible, you would know that many of the slaves loved their masters, and their masters loved them, and took very good care of them, and their families."

She continued: "The question he should have pushed back her way was was their [sic] marriages in slavery? Were families and precious babies born (and I am talking about LIFE itself) into or out of slavery? Were slave owners ever known to be 'GOOD' to their slaves? Were slaves ever known to LOVE their masters?"

Huckabay went on to suggest "that some slaves never wanted to leave their plantation because it had become their home."

[link:https://www.rawstory.com/martha-huckabay-slavery/|]

The GOP has been taken over by the white supremacy underbelly. They are at the point where they are happy to say the quiet horror out loud. I am sure that the women raped by slave owners, and the children born as a result and treated like stock to be bought and sold at will would be delighted to know that in the 21st Century privileged right wing racists Karens think they should have been thankful for their slave status.



How they think that this will resonate with the average American is beyond me? The GOP have gone beyond the pale - and every single one of them needs to own how they allowed this white ethno nationalist, supremacist nazi nasty has been allowed to take hold. How they get back to normal right wing shittiness is going to be hard - pre supposing they want to take the party back from the cult.
Maybe they don't, maybe they are very happy with the fascists taking over? Slavery is a good thing in this GOP... confederacy 101 in 2021.

[Norbert]

1. And women have love for their spouse that beat them

Therefore, according to her 'logic', there is good and bad in domestic abuse.

[Bettie]

13. Honestly, you are probably right

she's likely in the camp of "Well, if she was a good wife, he wouldn't need to hit her!".

I have known women like this, often very religious women who believe that it is their husband's right to smack around them and their children, because he's the man.

[krispos42]

2. Well, ask the slaves themselves.

I'm sure there are a few escaped spaces that fled the South, learned their letters, and wrote long monographs about how much they missed working for free.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

3. If true, masters would have freed their slaves. Didn't happen. Not true.

If you accept Huckabay's supposition that everybody loved everybody ('cause the bible told her so), then there is no more sincere expression of love than freeing the slaves.

Didn't happen. The love was not there.

If everybody loves everybody, there is no need for slaves. You'd free them and they'd just continue working because of love.

Didn't happen.

Huckabay is a sick racist who seeks bubble confirmation and retreats from reality.

[jaxexpat]

4. "Slavery is a good thing in this GOP... confederacy 101 in 2021."

and we now understand why QOP women "love" their rapes from their rapist rapers.

[abqtommy]

5. The present-day QOP is a fascist cult. We understand them better if we realize that

cultists function through illogic. Once we realize that we can understand them but we
can't reason with them in any way.

My first thoughts when I read the op headline were of two names, Spartacus and Nat Turner. Both persons brought terror into the slave masters of their respective societies.
I don't see any love in that, either way.

Slavery is an interesting human condition to study in history and here today. We can't
really change fascist/cultist thinking but we can certainly lock them up.

Slave revolts in U.S. history:

https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffab&q=slave+revolts+in+history&ia=web

[Klaralven]

6. See Stockholm Syndrome and theories of attachment of victims to abusers.

[eShirl]

7. maybe it soothed the slaveowners consciences to believe that

[Demsrule86]

9. This is not well known story but Thomas Jefferson's daughter is said to have beathen

one of her maids to death...my Mom was from Charlottesville and that story was told by my family and others. I have no idea as to the accuracy of this story but I find it credible. Also, slaves were beaten and mistreated at Monticello and he did not free them...sometime between 1780 and the 1790s, his attitude and actions seem to change in regard to slavery.

[obamanut2012]

19. Absolutely not true

She was actually very anti slavery, and believed all "negroes" should be freed, and she, not her father, freed Sally Hemings after her father's death. Jefferson did free his sons.

Now, she lived off the labors of slaves her entire life, and she sold slaves to keep her out of poverty, although she did not believe in selling slaves. She did keep the families together, a;though just typing those words is icky.

Yes, she was still a slave owner and her values horrify us now, but she believed in the "just" treatment of slaves by owners (as much as you can be just to chattel). And, for all TJ's fault, he would not have allowed either of his daughters to beat their housemaids.

So yeah, they sucked, but they didn't beat their slaves to death.

My ex partner is from Cville, went to UVA, and is related to the Hemings, including some folks who gave their DNA to prove TJ fathered Sally's children.

[Demsrule86]

31. My Sister said I had it wrong...she said it was an in law...possibly daughter in law.

I have heard it for years...I come from Albemarle County...my Mom's family was there since the 1600s. When Dad was in the Navy that is where we lived off and on during my childhood...I heard the story for years. My sister can't remember the details either...But she swears it was an inlaw or a relative...I have no idea what the truth is as I said before. Jefferson did outlaw the slave trade which was great, but, he was a man of his times and no hero with how his own slaves were treated. In fact, he sold slaves to get out of debt countless times after the revolution.

And of course, people romanticize the Hemmings/Jefferson relationship. But she was a child when it began. I find his conduct less than honorable even for his own time. I understand we can't judge those who came before us using today's standards, but I wonder if men like Jefferson had held their ground and stamped slavery out at the birth of this nation, what would it look like today?

Jefferson was interested in modern methods to manage slaves and new types of labor to support his plantation...he wrote extensively on it. Below is the tale of one of these endeavors...I found it at the Smithsonian. I just find him to be a hypocrite on this issue. He lambasted cruel overseers but wanted his own rebellious slaves punished with the whip...I posted the link. It is an interesting read...a subject not taught in school not even at my college.

'Planting wheat required fewer workers than tobacco, leaving a pool of field laborers available for specialized training. Jefferson embarked on a comprehensive program to modernize slavery, diversify it and industrialize it. Monticello would have a nail factory, a textile factory, a short-lived tinsmithing operation, coopering and, charcoal burning. He had ambitious plans for a flour mill and a canal to provide water power for it.

Training for this new organization began in childhood. Jefferson sketched out a plan in his Farm Book: “children till 10. years old to serve as nurses. from 10. to 16. the boys make nails, the girls spin. at 16. go into the ground or learn trades.” I should add that food rations were determined by your status when you were a slave...so the nail boys got extra rations while others did not.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-dark-side-of-thomas-jefferson-35976004/

[Demsrule86]

32. I read about Jefferson's daugter who presided over the selling of slaves after Jefferson's death. I

find little to admire about her either.

[raging moderate]

10. Slaves were FORCED to PRETEND to love their "masters."

Last edited Tue May 4, 2021, 09:14 AM - Edit history (1)

The so-called "masters" forced the slaves to pretend to be stupid, adoring, mesmerized subhumans while somehow performing much better than the so-called "masters" did. Solomon Northrup documented this horror in his book about being kidnapped into slavery: "Twelve Years a Slave." This was obvious to visitors who came to the slave plantations from outside the delusional shell inhabited by this woman's ancestors. The deliberate torture, starvation, and brutalization were also obvious, and that is why the Abolitionists increased in fervor and influence. In fact, Ulysses S. Grant and other writers mentioned how they tended to identify more with the slaves because, back where they had grown up, in a region with NO slaves, EVERYBODY PROUDLY did physical labor unless they were extremely little, sickly, or crippled. One man wrote that he got thinner during his plantation visit because he could hardly choke down any food in the presence of the obviously starved, beaten, disfigured people who were bringing the food to the table. When he got back to his home state, he launched a series of lectures at many churches about the evils of slavery. Abe Lincoln had a similar background, and he seems to have had a similar reaction, once he learned how brutally the slaves were mistreated. It should be mentioned here that these self-styled southern "Bible Believers" VIOLATED the directions for slave-owners laid out in the Hebrew scriptures which they PRETENDED to revere. There actually were a few people with decent reading comprehension skills who tried to combine Biblical principles with slave "ownership," but following actual Bible directives made for unusual outcomes. There were the so-called "owners" of Elizabeth Keckley, who became an independent seamstress and dressmaker employed by Abraham Lincoln and others, and she later wrote a great book about her life. Mrs. Keckley had a brutal childhood with her first "owners," but finally wound up in the home of a decent family where she slept in a bed, ate at the table, and was helped to develop her skills in readng, writing, math, and fine sewing. They treated her like a young relative who simply pitched in with the chores. (Which, when you think it over, is actually what she was.) A few years later, when she fell in love, they threw a wedding for her with a minister and a wedding reception. Elizabeth Keckley seized her chance to repay their kindness when they all fell terribly ill for awhile. She got neighboring families to pay her for fine sewing, and she used the money to buy food and medicine for everyone. When they were well, they helped her to get her emancipation papers. After the war, Mrs. Keckley went back to stay with them for a long visit. She stayed with them as their guest, and THEY waited on HER, as was right and proper. THIS WAS NOT THE TREATMENT GIVEN TO 99.99% of the people enslaved in the United States!

[GeoWilliam750]

24. Enslaved people who complained about their treatment were commonly sold into far worse conditions

Even the blood children of their owners.

The silent endurance of abuse can still be found today in many workplaces, where a POC risks their livelihood if they show anger.

[raging moderate]

27. YES! You are RIGHT! Slavery was HORRIBLE!

Last edited Wed May 5, 2021, 05:35 PM - Edit history (1)

And traces of it can be found in our country even today. This reminds me of something I heard on Public Radio many years ago. The territory of Vermont did not join the Union in 1776; Vermont became the 14th state in 1791. Before joining the Union, Vermonters elected a delegation to go into the newly formed United States to investigate whether that was a good idea. I hope I am remembering this right. This guy on the radio said that a majority of the delegation voted for statehood, but that a significant minority on that Vermont delegation voted against joining the United States because of the dreadful compromise which had allowed slavery in the new country. The radio guy said that these people had accurately predicted three bad effects of slavery: a privileged aristocracy will reduce social equality for everybody else, there will be a huge and bloody civil war, and little children around the world will be taught to curse the United States.

[raging moderate]

29. "Never wanted to leave..." Yeah, sure. Hence the slave patrols.

I suppose she thinks those armed slavery enforcement patrols were formed to help poor lost slaves find their way home again. "Oh, here, honey, we know your poor little brain can't remember where you live, are you hungry or thirsty, sit down and rest a spell, don't worry, we will give you a nice ride home in our carriage."

Yeah, sure. Because we must never be taught to believe anything bad about the southern white plantation "aristocracy."

[SallyHemmings]

8. The founding fathers knew slavery was problem

In order to get the southern states to join the United States, the FREEDOM of the enslaved were negotiated out of the constitution. Also NOT included was full citizenship for women.

The whole notion of Sally Hemings being in love with Jefferson is a dumb narrative to make stupid people feel better about the ugliness of the founding of our nation.

[bronxiteforever]

11. Tommy Lee Jones in Lincoln movie responds to Huckabay for me

Thaddeus Stevens : Slavery is the only insult to the natural law, you fatuous nincompoop.

[raging moderate]

28. Thaddeus Stevens was one of our greatest Americans.

Even back in the sixties, our high school history book described Thaddeus Stevens as a rigid antisocial extremist. Oh, really? Everything we now know about Thaddeus Stevens says otherwise. He hired a Black lady to be his housekeeper in his DC home, a widow with two small boys. Eventually they fell in love, but it was totally illegal for them to marry. They managed to have a common-law marriage instead. Somehow, Stevens conferred enough authority on her that she was known as "Mrs. Stevens" in their neighborhood. After they raised her two little boys together, Stevens's brother and his wife were suddenly killed in a carriage accident. Mr. and Mrs. Stevens then took in his two orphaned nephews and raised those two little boys together. Stevens also made legal provision for his common-law wife, so that Mrs. Stevens was financially secure after his death. How awful it must have been for these people to be trapped in that time and place. I think of another "rigid antisocial extremist" of that era: William Lloyd Garrison. I remember the anguish in the words he wrote in his antislavery newspaper, The Liberator: POSTERITY WILL SAY I WAS RIGHT.

[bronxiteforever]

35. +1 I so agree. a great American. He even chose his burial

to illustrate his belief in equality. He did not want to be buried in an all white cemetery.
On his tomb in Lancaster Pa is this inscription

I repose in this quiet and secluded spot,
Not from any natural preference for solitude
But, finding other Cemeteries limited as to Race
by Charter Rules,
I have chosen this that I might illustrate in my death
The Principles which I advocated through a long life:
EQUALITY OF MAN BEFORE HIS CREATOR.

[raging moderate]

42. Yes, Yes! True!

I read about this, too.

[johnthewoodworker]

12. Republican/Nazis LOVE to abuse others. Republican equals hatred.

[tanyev]

14. If the Israelites had stayed in Egypt with the masters they 'loved', there wouldn't be a Bible.

[mdbl]

26. good point.

unfortunately, repugs are stupid as they are evil so they won't get it.

[marie999]

15. Maybe we would have been better of with just 8 or 9 states.

Don't know how that would have worked out.

[Kid Berwyn]

16. No wonder they don't like $15 minimum wage.

0 per hour is in their DNA.

[Historic NY]

17. I don't think Peter aka Gordon would agree

[link:https://allthatsinteresting.com/gordon-the-slave-whipped-peter|]

[left-of-center2012]

18. more comments here ...

Mon May 3, 2021, 07:44 PM

'Slaves loved their masters': GOP women's club president defends lawmaker's pro-slavery comments

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100215397852

[keithbvadu2]

20. Using the Bible to support slavery?

https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=rewritten+bible+for+slaves slave bible

Heavily Abridged ‘Slave Bible’ Removed Passages That Might Encourage Uprisings

Why Bibles Given to Slaves Omitted Most of the Old Testament

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100215158393#post17

Rep. Al Green: "You used god to segregate me in schools. You used god to put me in the back of the..

[raging moderate]

37. The Bible does condemn cruelty to slaves, in several passages.

Last edited Sat May 8, 2021, 09:06 AM - Edit history (1)

There is a passage, I think in Deuteronomy, with this commandment: "Thou shalt not forget that THY people were slaves in Egypt!" with some directions about the fair treatment of slaves. There is another passage somewhere which says something about letting people glean enough food from your fields so they have enough to eat. Jesus once said that anybody pretending to be a Christian who beats people will face his wrath in the afterlife. And there is the book of Philemon, a letter written by Paul for a runaway slave to carry as (for some reason) he returned to his master; the letter says, pretty much, "As your spiritual director, I expect you to pardon Onesimus very kindly, remembering how kindly you hope God will pardon you for anything you may have done wrong." Simon Northup, in his book "Twelve Years a Slave," mentioned a few slave-owners he met who at least tried to be kind and honest. But he also described others who were just horrible monsters, including one guy who quoted half of the words of Jesus about beatings and twisted them into an excuse to mete out severe beatings to the people he had enslaved. This is like the guy in a movie I saw who quoted the Old Testament commandment not to take vengeance against people, in which God says, "Remember, vengeance is Mine to decide, not yours!" Angry at somebody, this guy shouted "Vengeance is mine!" as he stabbed the guy who had offended him. Most of our U.S. slave-owners seemed to skip through the Bible looking for excuses to do whatever they wanted, to whoever they wanted to mistreat. Also, as keithbvadu2 illustrates, they skipped through looking for passages to terrify the poor people they had enslaved.

[keithbvadu2]

39. Yes. Overall, the Bible/God OKs slavery.

Yes. Overall, the Bible/God OKs slavery.

Nowhere does it condemn slavery in total.

[raging moderate]

40. Yes, but "In Christ, there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female..."

Last edited Sat May 22, 2021, 07:22 PM - Edit history (1)

The Jewish/Christian Apostle Paul(born Saul but went by the nickname given him by his new family in Christ, Paul, which means Shorty) is not given enough credit for his efforts to increase equality among Christians. Paul was evidently pretty much a snobbish prig in his youth, but he showed a capacity to learn, change, and grow. Paul wrote, in his letter to the Galatians, Chapter 3, Verses 25 - 28: "But now that faith has come...There is no longer Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus." And in Chapter 4, Verse 7: "So you are no longer a slave but a child, and if a child then also an heir, through God."

[keithbvadu2]

41. Then there are no longer males nor females in Christianity.

Then there are no longer males nor females in Christianity.

"Yes, but" explains it all.

Your passages are minor statements that the vast majority of Christians do not believe nor practice.

The Bible (God) approves of slavery.

[keithbvadu2]

21. And if her husband sells their daughters into slavery?

Exodus 21: 7-11 ESV
“When a man sells his daughter as a slave, she shall not go out as the male slaves do. If she does not please her master, who has designated her for himself, then he shall let her be redeemed. He shall have no right to sell her to a foreign people, since he has broken faith with her. If he designates her for his son, he shall deal with her as with a daughter. If he takes another wife to himself, he shall not diminish her food, her clothing, or her marital rights. And if he does not do these three things for her, she shall go out for nothing, without payment of money.

https://www.openbible.info/topics/daughters_sold_to_slavery

[pressbox69]

22. Do we need

any more reasons to despise the GOP and hope to see them collapse and go the way of the dinosaur?

[struggle4progress]

23. "I'd be a happy slave if you would just beat me enough"

[misanthrope]

25. There's nothing new about this mindset and speech

It's simply Lost Cause rationale. It's been around since the end of the Civil War and those who grew up in the South have been exposed to it all their lives.

[Judi Lynn]

30. This song is really old.It doesn't sound as if people adored their earthly "master."

You'd have to be completely unhinged to try to get anyone to believe they loved what happened to them.

It's helpful to view this on "full screen."

[SoonerPride]

33. Is she volunteering to be a happy slave?

If not then she should shut the fuck up.

[bronxiteforever]

36. Kick and recommend.

[ShazzieB]

38. Sounds like Martha Huckabay learned everything she knows about slavery

from reading Gone with the Wind. The way she describes it is exactly the way it's portrayed in that book.

It's really sad to know that Southerners are still telling themselves these quaint little fables, more than 150 years after the Civil War. I'd be shocked, except I seem to have lost that capacity a few months into the Trump presiDUNCEy. Desensitization and all that.