Florida is at it Again

Florida is at it again. They published new African American History standards which included teaching that "slaves developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit.” 

Obviously people jumped all over that. I sort of scratched my head and thought well imagine what they could have learned if they were free?

However, Florida's African American History Standard's Workgroup put out a response defending the claim. In it they included 16 names of blacks who, as slaves, had learned skills that they used to benefit themselves in later life.

I decided to check those names because, hey, Google is my friend.

Ned Cobb - Cobb was born in 1885 so he was never a slave.

Henry Blair - Blair was born in Maryland in 1807 but there is no record of him ever being a slave.

Lewis Latimer - Latimer was born in Massachusetts. He was the son of escaped slaves but he himself was apparently never a slave.

John Henry - Henry is an American folk hero who may, or may not, have actually existed. According to historian Scott Reynolds Nelson, the actual John Henry was born in New Jersey in 1848 so, again, if that's true he was never a slave.

James Forten - Forten was born in Philadelphia in 1766 and was never a slave.

Paul Cuffe - Cuffe was born in Massachusetts in 1759. He was the son of an emancipated slave but was himself never a slave.

Betty Washington Lewis - The only Betty Washington Lewis I can find is George Washington's sister so I don't know. 

Jupiter Hammon - Hammon was a slave in New York. He was allowed a rudimentary education and was the first black man in North American to be published. He was also an Anglican preacher that preached against the evils of slavery. Many of his poems were about slavery as well. He passed away in 1806. He appears to have remained a slave his entire life.

John Chavis - Chavis was born in North Carolina in 1763 and was an educator and Presbyterian minister. He fought in the Continental Army during the revolution but was never a slave.

William Whipper - Whipper was born in 1804 in Pennsylvania. He was the son of his enslaved mother and her white owner. He supported the Underground Railroad but does not appear to have ever been a slave.

Crispus Attucks - Attucks was born in 1723 in Massachusetts and was killed during the Boston Massacre in 1770. He had been a sailor and was either a freeman or an escaped slave. At least one report identified him as a Nantucket Indian so who knows?

Elizabeth Keckley - Keckley was born into slavery into Virginia. She learned to be a seamstress while enslaved and eventually earned enough money to buy her freedom in 1855. She opened a business in Washington DC and became the dressmaker for Mary Todd Lincoln in 1861. 

James Thomas - There are way too many people named James Thomas so I'm not sure who this was.

Marietta Carter - I could not find any reference to a Marietta Carter.

Betsey Stockton - Stockton was born into slavery in Princeton, New Jersey in 1798. She became a member of the First Presbyterian Church in Princeton in 1817 and may have been freed the same year. She was commissioned as a missionary and sailed for Hawaii in 1822. She returned in 1835 and taught at a school for Native Americans in Canada and a school for blacks in Princeton. I'm going to say that she learned most of what she learned after she was freed.

Booker T. Washington - Washington was born in slavery in Virginia in 1856. He was nine when he gained his freedom under the Emancipation Proclamation when Union Troops occupied the area where he lived.

So, of the sixteen names presented to defend the Florida Workgroup's claim, eight appear to have never been slaves. Hell, one wasn't born until 1885. 

Two, Washington and Stockton, appear to have been freed before they learned any useful skills. 

One, Attucks, learned his sailing skill either after he escaped slavery or was never a slave. He might not even have been black.

Three I just couldn't find any information on in my Google searches.

That leaves two, Keckley and Hammon that learned useful skills as a slave. So, if you include the three that I couldn't locate assuming that the Workgroup had better sources than I did, that would be five out of sixteen.

That's pretty pathetic.

More on the Affirmative Action Decision

Wow, progressives commentators, black and white, are not thrilled with this decision. They are all over the map with their criticisms and this is a bit of a problem. Not only are they contradicting each other but occasionally they contradict themselves.

They all seem to have a special ire for Justice Clarence Thomas not only because he voted to end Affirmative Action but apparently because he took a nasty swipe at Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson which was really uncalled for.

The main point of contradiction is over whether students accepted as a result of Affirmative Action were qualified applicants.

On the one hand Affirmative Action supporters claim that every student accepted under Affirmative Action was qualified and on the other hand they claim that these students would no longer qualify. Which is it? If they're qualified then why do they need Affirmative Action? If they're not qualified then they shouldn't be taking the place of someone who is qualified just because of their race. 

 If the issue is actually that not enough minority students qualify then that is an entirely different problem that needs to be addressed starting in Kindergarten or perhaps even earlier. 

Criticizing Justice Thomas, while it may be justified, doesn't change anything. Affirmative Action has been in place for a long time yet the gap between races in median income hasn't improved. In fact one could argue it has gotten worse. What exactly is the end game here? Affirmative Action was never intended to be permanent. It may help a few individuals, which proponents claim were qualified anyway, but it doesn't seem to be helping communities as a whole.

ABC/Ipsos Poll on Court Decisions

ABC/Ipsos did a poll on the three recent Supreme Court decisions and the American people sort of agree with the court.

On the web designer refusing to do an LGBTQ+ wedding sites it was almost an even split with 43% approving the decision and 42% opposing it. An interesting thing that came out on this case was that there may not have been a real case. Apparently no one asked the web designed to do a gay web page but she just applied for an exemption anyway.

Only 15% of Democrats approved of the decision compared to 68% of Republicans and 49% of Independents.

On striking down Biden's loan forgiveness program 45% were in favor and 40% were opposed. Unsurprisingly older Americans were more likely to be in favor of the decision with 61% of those over 65 approving but only 31% of those under 30.

71% of Republicans and 49% of Independents supported the decision but only 17% of Democrats.

The most support was for the designing ending Affirmative Action based upon race with 52% approving and only 32% disapproving. Whites and Asians approved the decision by 60% and 58% respectively. Latinos and Hispanics split 40%-40% and only blacks disapproved 52%-25%.

A majority of Republicans (75%) and Independents (58%) approved but only 26% of Democrats approved.