I am no Ralph Northam fan, but I hate ignorance. His answers today on CBS news regarding indentured servants were muddled, but not totally inaccurate. All of history is much more nuanced than the black and white (pardon the pun) versions the simpletons in the media and the professional agitators promote. Everyone wants to politicize history for their own selfish purposes, but no one is interested in the truth. The study of history is a worthless enterprise, unless it is grounded in truth and can be discussed in a rational manner. We are doomed to repeat the troubles of the past unless we learn the lessons of history. Slavery in Virginia was not automatic in 1619, it evolved into a permanent condition. Anthony Johnson’s court case established the concept of lifetime servitude, i.e., slavery. Based on this legal ruling, in 1661 African slavery was codified by the General Assembly.

So instead of total ignoramuses ( like Gayle King) getting her panties in a wad,   and everyone being offended by the past, isn’t it better to dig down and learn about the past and discuss it rationally such that we can learn why things happened and hopefully prevent certain things from happening again?

Human nature never changes. Man is self-interested and avaricious. This is why African slave owners sold their African slaves to white slave traders, who sold these people to white planters in the new world. Talking about what terrible people both the African and white slave holders were is of no value and is counter productive. Moreover “bondage” comes in many different forms, as the millions who suffered and died under communism can attest. The real issue to understand is what were the set of circumstances that led men ( or governments) to own other men and what were the set of circumstances that made human bondage no longer viable or acceptable?

I know the answers to these questions, and if y’all would listen to me instead of a bunch of blow hard, corrupt politicians, everybody would get along.

The fascinating story of Anthony Johnson, the black man who was the first to own a slave in the U.S.