When I was a kid, there was a big, dark Victorian house on the corner where rumor had it a slave used to live. Years latter I found out that was true (although he lived in a smaller building in back of the property). His name was William Henry Singleton. He met Lincoln and fought in Civil War. His autobiography is online.
I find a great contrast between someone like Singleton who actually was a slave - and someone like Obama who has had it good but likes to talk about slavery as if he just emerged from it yesterday.
Obama says "We're the slaves who built the White House" when Obama is decendent from slave owners and not slaves. He has more in common with his friends on Martha's Vineyard than black people in Baltimore.
A former girlfriend said of Obama: “he felt like an imposter. Because he was so white. There was hardly a black bone in his body.”
http://www.vanityfair.com/news/politics/2012/06/young-barack-obama-in-love-david-maraniss
Its clear Obama has an identity issue. He grew up "vague" and angry about his parentage. He uses things like Islam and slavery as props to acquire a veneer of identity. He uses broad, cultural objects to transfer his personal resentments. He's a hater pretending to be against hate. The real slave I know of is a much better man than Obama.
Recollections of My Slavery Days by William Henry Singleton (1835- :
"I have been extremely fortunate in my employers. From all I have received kind and considerate treatment, vastly different front the rough, sometimes brutal treatment I received from my slave masters. It is as different, in fact, as freedom from slavery. It is impossible, I think, for those have always been free to realize the difference. Now I feel that I am a part of the country, that I have an interest in its welfare and a responsibility to it. As a slave I was only property, something belonging to somebody else. I had nothing I could call my own. Now I am treated as a man. I am a part of society...And I am a citizen of this great country and have a part in directing its affairs. When election day comes I go to the polls and vote, and my vote counts as much as the vote of the richest or best educated man in the land. Think of it! I, who was once bought and sold, and whipped simply because it was thought I had opened a book. And it is not only I who have this privilege, but millions of other men of my race. Ah, we can truly say, "Old things are passed away: behold, all things are become new."
I feel that I am greatly indebted to the government and to the American people for what they have done for me and for my race. I can not find words to express properly what I feel. But my heart is overflowing with gratitude, when I think of my situation and the situation of the people of my race now, and think of all the blessings we enjoy, compared with our former situation. I feel that as long as I live an honest life, do my work and conduct myself properly, I have the respect and the good wishes of the community. And this is true, I believe, not only of myself but of every man of my race. As long as we are honest and obey the law, seek to educate ourselves and to show ourselves worthy of freedom, we will have the respect of the American people and fair treatment from them.
It is a great thing to have lived to see this day come. It is great to feel that the people of my race understand something of the debt they owe this great country and are showing their appreciation by trying to be good citizens.
God has been very good to me. I have preached His Gospel. I can read His book. America has been very good to me. I am one of its citizens. There is no stain on the Flag now. I once fought under its banner. The Great Emancipator is loved by the world now. He once shook hands with me.
Truly I can say with the psalmist, "The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage."
http://docsouth.unc.edu/neh/singleton/singleton.html
I find a great contrast between someone like Singleton who actually was a slave - and someone like Obama who has had it good but likes to talk about slavery as if he just emerged from it yesterday.
Obama says "We're the slaves who built the White House" when Obama is decendent from slave owners and not slaves. He has more in common with his friends on Martha's Vineyard than black people in Baltimore.
A former girlfriend said of Obama: “he felt like an imposter. Because he was so white. There was hardly a black bone in his body.”
http://www.vanityfair.com/news/politics/2012/06/young-barack-obama-in-love-david-maraniss
Its clear Obama has an identity issue. He grew up "vague" and angry about his parentage. He uses things like Islam and slavery as props to acquire a veneer of identity. He uses broad, cultural objects to transfer his personal resentments. He's a hater pretending to be against hate. The real slave I know of is a much better man than Obama.
Recollections of My Slavery Days by William Henry Singleton (1835- :
"I have been extremely fortunate in my employers. From all I have received kind and considerate treatment, vastly different front the rough, sometimes brutal treatment I received from my slave masters. It is as different, in fact, as freedom from slavery. It is impossible, I think, for those have always been free to realize the difference. Now I feel that I am a part of the country, that I have an interest in its welfare and a responsibility to it. As a slave I was only property, something belonging to somebody else. I had nothing I could call my own. Now I am treated as a man. I am a part of society...And I am a citizen of this great country and have a part in directing its affairs. When election day comes I go to the polls and vote, and my vote counts as much as the vote of the richest or best educated man in the land. Think of it! I, who was once bought and sold, and whipped simply because it was thought I had opened a book. And it is not only I who have this privilege, but millions of other men of my race. Ah, we can truly say, "Old things are passed away: behold, all things are become new."
I feel that I am greatly indebted to the government and to the American people for what they have done for me and for my race. I can not find words to express properly what I feel. But my heart is overflowing with gratitude, when I think of my situation and the situation of the people of my race now, and think of all the blessings we enjoy, compared with our former situation. I feel that as long as I live an honest life, do my work and conduct myself properly, I have the respect and the good wishes of the community. And this is true, I believe, not only of myself but of every man of my race. As long as we are honest and obey the law, seek to educate ourselves and to show ourselves worthy of freedom, we will have the respect of the American people and fair treatment from them.
It is a great thing to have lived to see this day come. It is great to feel that the people of my race understand something of the debt they owe this great country and are showing their appreciation by trying to be good citizens.
God has been very good to me. I have preached His Gospel. I can read His book. America has been very good to me. I am one of its citizens. There is no stain on the Flag now. I once fought under its banner. The Great Emancipator is loved by the world now. He once shook hands with me.
Truly I can say with the psalmist, "The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage."
http://docsouth.unc.edu/neh/singleton/singleton.html
