jaminjim
Veteran Expediter
Something else from a different interview?
Phil Robertson - Duck Dynasty
- Thread starter Brisco
- Start date
He said that, but look at his comments a little deeper.
"I never, with my eyes, saw the mistreatment of any black person. The blacks worked for the farmers. I hoed cotton with them. I'm with the blacks, because we're white trash. We're going across the field.... They're singing and happy."
Sounds like a Disney movie.
He then continued: "I never heard one of them, one black person, say, 'I tell you what: These doggone white people' — not a word!.... Pre-entitlement, pre-welfare, you say: Were they happy? They were godly; they were happy; no one was singing the blues."
So, as far as he knew, African-Americans had nothing to complain about under Jim Crow, and insofar that they were angry, it was because of agitators and liberals.
The problem is, that all but parrots the rhetoric of segregationist politicians in the 1950s and '60s, who denounced activists and civil rights workers as communists and outside agitators who made blacks discontent with their rhetoric and stirrin' up of things.
The truth is that blacks were nit at all happy by their situation: A life of second-class citizenship, economic deprivation, and state-sanctioned terrorism. In fact, Louisiana was ground zero for some of the most outrageous acts of violence directed at African-Americans. Violence against blacks was a regular feature of African-American life throughout the Jim Crow South, and especially in Louisiana.
Robertson's recollection is a tremendous whitewash that would be stunning if not for the sad reality of our own national memory. For as much as Americans celebrate the lives of men like Martin Luther King Jr. and women like Rosa Parks, there's little awareness of what Jim Crow looked like for ordinary blacks. The violence that defined the era - from forced labor camps to attacks on entire black communities - has vanished from our collective national consciousness, if it was ever there to begin with.
I suppose.
No, same GC interview.
RLENT
Veteran Expediter
You don't have the ability to prevent her from airing her opinion ... at least not on this board ...
paullud
Veteran Expediter
I saw some morons are trying to say it is racist that Robertson said he worked the same jobs as blacks in the fields and that everyone was happy even without welfare or entitlements.
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Brisco
Expert Expediter
MSNBC was the first....and so far only entity I've seen....throw Race into the mix over this issue so far..........
And so far.....ONE.....maybe 2 people here have throw the "Race" into this thread so far..........
Brisco
Expert Expediter
Are you people really that Ignorant to have taken what I said earlier in THIS Context??????
Funny.........Same people........over and over and over and over and over and over...................
Hey.....It Rained in Texas today............You Guys wanna Argue with me over that????? You guys wanna dispute this comment?????? Have at it.................
WanderngFool
Active Expediter
I understood how you meant it. And I'm not known for being the sharpest sawzall blade in the toolbox.
RLENT
Veteran Expediter
I took it in the context of paternalistic pomposity with an accompanying lack of self-awareness ...
Was there another, different context that it should have been taken in ?
Nah ... I'm in Texas so I know it did ...
Phil Robertson was relating what he saw with his own eyes as a youngster in the South. This is his anecdotal account, coming from the eyes of a destitute kid who was so poor he had probably never travelled very widely until he became a football sensation.
Phil states in the GQ interview that the blacks he knew from those long ago days were godly and content. Those who are predisposed to ascribe racism will do so. Never mind that Phil's businesses employ minorities and Phil has a black grandson by adoption who often appears in the television show.
Bringing insinuations of racism into a discussion pretty much ends thoughtful dialogue. It is a Hail Mary tossed when nothing else works.
Phil states in the GQ interview that the blacks he knew from those long ago days were godly and content. Those who are predisposed to ascribe racism will do so. Never mind that Phil's businesses employ minorities and Phil has a black grandson by adoption who often appears in the television show.
Bringing insinuations of racism into a discussion pretty much ends thoughtful dialogue. It is a Hail Mary tossed when nothing else works.
jaminjim
Veteran Expediter
Sorry but I was having dinner and then read the article. I also did a little reading on the Jim Crow stuff, and a little bit in Wikipedia about Phil.
Based on what I read. I don't see what he said that you can make into racist statements. It sounds to me like he was as dirt poor as you can be.
Based on what I read. I don't see what he said that you can make into racist statements. It sounds to me like he was as dirt poor as you can be.
Phil's humble beginnings: Duck Dynasty's Phil Robertson on Fame, His Humble Origins, and Growing Up with Si
Interesting article regarding this situation and another perspective.
Why Did BuzzFeed & Co. Target Justine Sacco for Online Assassination
letzrockexpress
Veteran Expediter
You Guys wanna Argue with me over that????? You guys wanna dispute this comment?????? Have at it.................
No, that's alright, thanks. I am in need of a lateral file though. What kind of price am I looking at?
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Another viewpoint expressed by Jerome Hudson at Breitbart along the same lines:
One final thought: I wonder if Robertson even read the profanity-laced GQ article that reads like a paper written by a college freshman instead of a professional journalist. I doubt he's very concerned with this kid's opinion, no matter what it is. But considering the way these writers sometimes edit and construct their work, it makes one wonder if the article accurately reflects what Robertson really said.
WanderngFool
Active Expediter
I don't really have an opinion here. Stories like this rarely stoke my interest. But then, I've only seen his show once.
You might find a possible political tie-in interesting:
When You Defend Phil Robertson, Here's What You're Really Defending - Business Insider
One line jumps out at me. "They were godly; they were happy; no one was singing the blues."
I'm thinking Phil Robertson might not understand the origins of the blues:
You might find a possible political tie-in interesting:
When You Defend Phil Robertson, Here's What You're Really Defending - Business Insider
One line jumps out at me. "They were godly; they were happy; no one was singing the blues."
I'm thinking Phil Robertson might not understand the origins of the blues:
When the phrase "singing the blues" is used by people of Robertson's generation or older, they're referring to complaining, feeling sorry for themselves or engaging in self-pity. Keep in mind Robertson was referring to the black individuals he was personally acquainted with - not blacks as a whole.
On a more upbeat note - it didn't take Cracker Barrel long to change its tune.
On a more upbeat note - it didn't take Cracker Barrel long to change its tune.