Sen. Tom Cotton Calls Slavery Nation's 'Necessary Evil' In Shocking Interview

esquared

Forum Director & Omnipotent Overlord
Forum Director
Oct 8, 2000
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So when can this troglodyte be voted out?

Remember, he wants to cut off Federal funds for any school district that teaches the 1619 Project.

"Cotton delved into his twisted view of the history of slavery as he discussed his bill — the Saving American History Act of 2020 —
that would cut off federal professional development funds from any school district that teaches a curriculum linked to the 1619 Project. "

These guys are like cockroaches. They just won't die off.


Remember to register and to Vote Nov 3rd.
Our country and its democracy depends on your vote.
 
Last edited:

pcgeek11

Lifer
Jun 12, 2005
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The way the article reads is that he was describing the thoughts of the forefathers when the comment was made. It was not that he said it, he was talking about the mindset of the time.

“We have to study the history of slavery and its role and impact on the development of our country because otherwise we can’t understand our country,” Cotton said. “As the Founding Fathers said, it was the necessary evil upon which the union was built.”

And he quoted or paraphrased Lincoln: Cotton also noted that the “union was built in a way, as Lincoln said, to put slavery on the course to its ultimate extinction.
 
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shortylickens

No Lifer
Jul 15, 2003
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You can bullshit all you want, but America wouldnt be what it is today if it didnt have slavery at the start. Now that we know better we have to start treating black Americans MUCH better than we have been. Maybe stop gunning them down in the streets and glorifying cops.
 
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ch33zw1z

Lifer
Nov 4, 2004
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You can bullshit all you want, but America wouldnt be what it is today if it didnt have slavery at the start. Now that we know better we have to start treating black Americans MUCH better than we have been. Maybe stop gunning them down in the streets and glorifying cops.

Not bullshit. America wouldn't be what it IS today of cheap immigrant labor didn't make it so, and it's still going on right now. America had about 2 decades of "socialism", and corporate America said fine...were just moving your jobs overseas instead, and funneling the money up instead of down. Oh, btw, here's some social issues to fight about so you can feel better about it.
 

Grey_Beard

Golden Member
Sep 23, 2014
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The way the article reads is that he was describing the thoughts of the forefathers when the comment was made. It was not that he said it, he was talking about the mindset of the time.

“We have to study the history of slavery and its role and impact on the development of our country because otherwise we can’t understand our country,” Cotton said. “As the Founding Fathers said, it was the necessary evil upon which the union was built.”

And he quoted or paraphrased Lincoln: Cotton also noted that the “union was built in a way, as Lincoln said, to put slavery on the course to its ultimate extinction.

If, as you say, he was “describing” these thoughts, then why not see the project through and not attempt to cut funding? Why is it that he gets a break because he hides his distain for immigrants, people of color and anyone not of his thought sphere in a vail of thinking he knows what people thought 250 years ago? Most cannot think they know the person next them, but these guys who wrote the Constitution are being summoned by or through Tom Cotton to us. Boy are we lucky. Glad this guy is here for us. Oh wait, he wants to bring the military in to quell protests actually written into the Constitution. Why does he not know that this activity is protected by these same folks he “thinks he knows” in this price? Odd.

Hiding behind this “interpretation” of what was the original thought of people 250 years ago is a need to not learn. It’s like just because one person thinks this is the case, therefore, the rest of us do not need to know, as they have already settled it for us.

This nation’s people have been left behind by corporate greed. When the middle class had some movement and began to get more of the share, they sent jobs to “cheaper” locations. It seems it takes employees to make a company prosper, but it is not a good idea to spread the wealth to them. Seems odd to me that capitalism would treat the most valuable part of the organization like that. Eventually this thought process will lead to the destruction of the concept, as it cannot continue like this forever.
 
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HomerJS

Lifer
Feb 6, 2002
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The way the article reads is that he was describing the thoughts of the forefathers when the comment was made. It was not that he said it, he was talking about the mindset of the time.

“We have to study the history of slavery and its role and impact on the development of our country because otherwise we can’t understand our country,” Cotton said. “As the Founding Fathers said, it was the necessary evil upon which the union was built.”

And he quoted or paraphrased Lincoln: Cotton also noted that the “union was built in a way, as Lincoln said, to put slavery on the course to its ultimate extinction.
Are you saying in order for the country to be successful it had to be built on the backs of free labor for which the former slaves were promised reparations that never happened? When slavery was ended slave owners were granted reparations but slaves were not.

Or was Tom Cotton just sending a not so subtle dog whistle to the Republican base? Tom Cotton is Ivy League educated, he knows how to construct a thought if he wanted to make clear he didn't excuse slavery.

IMO all of what I posted are true.
 

Jhhnn

IN MEMORIAM
Nov 11, 1999
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The way the article reads is that he was describing the thoughts of the forefathers when the comment was made. It was not that he said it, he was talking about the mindset of the time.

“We have to study the history of slavery and its role and impact on the development of our country because otherwise we can’t understand our country,” Cotton said. “As the Founding Fathers said, it was the necessary evil upon which the union was built.”

And he quoted or paraphrased Lincoln: Cotton also noted that the “union was built in a way, as Lincoln said, to put slavery on the course to its ultimate extinction.

He justified slavery as "necessary". It wasn't that. It's just what happened.
 

HomerJS

Lifer
Feb 6, 2002
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I remember a breakout session at CPAC where an upstanding conservative claimed slavery wasn't so bad. At least they had 3 hots and a cot. Slavery also kept families together.

Ahh only in the minds of conservatives.
 

fskimospy

Elite Member
Mar 10, 2006
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Tom Cotton is running for president in 2024 and therefore he needs to build credibility with the extremely racist base of the Republican Party.

Remember, these are the people who think it’s wrong to take down monuments to people who committed treason in order to ensure white people could own black people as property. That’s how racist they are.
 

shortylickens

No Lifer
Jul 15, 2003
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Not bullshit. America wouldn't be what it IS today of cheap immigrant labor didn't make it so, and it's still going on right now. America had about 2 decades of "socialism", and corporate America said fine...were just moving your jobs overseas instead, and funneling the money up instead of down. Oh, btw, here's some social issues to fight about so you can feel better about it.
Damn, you just opened up the conversation there didnt ya?
 

HomerJS

Lifer
Feb 6, 2002
36,671
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Not bullshit. America wouldn't be what it IS today of cheap immigrant labor didn't make it so, and it's still going on right now. America had about 2 decades of "socialism", and corporate America said fine...were just moving your jobs overseas instead, and funneling the money up instead of down. Oh, btw, here's some social issues to fight about so you can feel better about it.
Only a right wing American will demonize brown people from Mexico but don't want to pay $10 for a head of lettuce.
 

trenchfoot

Lifer
Aug 5, 2000
14,898
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Here's where racist conservatives like Cotton, his name itself a reminder of those long gone days of slavery, gets to show off how they want to keep their racist beliefs relevant in these changing times that renders people like him to be on the outside of our evolving demographics and attitudes where they are looking in, hoping to drag us back to a time where their racism was not only much more acceptable, but an actual way of life that gave them powers our Constitution forbade them to have.

It seems to me this conservative racist is also a proponent of keeping the people of the nation uneducated and unrefined so as to make them gullible and controllable and susceptible to believing the lies they need to propagate in order to stay in power, perpetuating their racist beliefs when those beliefs belong in history books and by all means not practiced in the present where there is absolutely no need for it.
 
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Mar 11, 2004
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Well hopefully he doesn't protest too much if someone were to force him into slavery, seems like it might be the next "necessary evil" needed for American "greatness". Or perhaps just turn him into toilet paper, at least then he'd be fit to wipe our asses with.
 
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interchange

Diamond Member
Oct 10, 1999
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The way the article reads is that he was describing the thoughts of the forefathers when the comment was made. It was not that he said it, he was talking about the mindset of the time.

“We have to study the history of slavery and its role and impact on the development of our country because otherwise we can’t understand our country,” Cotton said. “As the Founding Fathers said, it was the necessary evil upon which the union was built.”

And he quoted or paraphrased Lincoln: Cotton also noted that the “union was built in a way, as Lincoln said, to put slavery on the course to its ultimate extinction.

I don't believe that excuse. When someone uses the words "As XYZ said", they are implying that what was said agrees with the point they are making. Cotton has a long history of controversial statements on race seeking to promote the idea that racism is a thing of the past. On the one hand he is a staunch protector of confederate symbols arguing for preservation of history. On the other hand he repeatedly attempts to thwart the telling of history when it comes to America disadvantaging blacks.
 
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UNCjigga

Lifer
Dec 12, 2000
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Cotton can’t be voted out. He is essentially running unopposed (I think 1 independent and 1 libertarian but Cotton is a shoe-in.)

Why? Because the Arkansas GOP dug up some dirt on Democrat Josh Mahony and waited until 2 hours AFTER the candidate filing deadline to blackmail him and force him out of the race. So within 3 hours of deadline, Mahony drops out citing “an illness”. When state Democrats point out that Arkansas law will still allow them to name a new candidate after the deadline in event of an illness, Mahony clarifies that he isn’t the one actually sick. LOL. Shame on the Arkansas Democrat Party for not properly vetting Mahony, as these are the dirty tricks they need to anticipate.
 

Starbuck1975

Lifer
Jan 6, 2005
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America, like most empires before it, was built on cheap labor. The original sins of America were slavery and manifest destiny.

Poor immigrants from Europe filled the void of slavery, south and central Americans filled the void once the poor European immigrants clawed their way into the middle class, and globalization opened new horizons to labor exploitation.

We need to acknowledge that past, but should also evaluate historical figures within the context of societal shifts.
 

DisarmedDespot

Senior member
Jun 2, 2016
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I don't buy that slavery was a necessity economically. Slavery retarded the south's growth while the north industrialized. By the time of the civil war, the north's agricultural production drastically overshadowed the south's because surprise surprise, an organized farm does better than one relying on forced labor.

Why people insist on defending the institution at all baffles me.
 

fskimospy

Elite Member
Mar 10, 2006
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I don't buy that slavery was a necessity economically. Slavery retarded the south's growth while the north industrialized. By the time of the civil war, the north's agricultural production drastically overshadowed the south's because surprise surprise, an organized farm does better than one relying on forced labor.

Why people insist on defending the institution at all baffles me.
Yes, I’m not aware of much of any evidence that slavery represented a net economic positive for America over free labor.

Slavery represented a very large net positive for a very small group of people. Everyone else, not so much.
 

Jaskalas

Lifer
Jun 23, 2004
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Sen. Tom Cotton Calls Slavery Nation's 'Necessary Evil' In Shocking Interview

Do not fall for propaganda @esquared

The man was talking about this nation's founding. You cannot change what it was. Or how it happened. That is settled, and the history books make it VERY CLEAR that slavery was part of America in the beginning. Do not belie that. Do not run from it. It is the truth. Virginia and the Southern States saw to it. Despite our national creed, one of the compromises to form this Union was that slavery was not abolished.

You saw what happened when it was. It took a Civil War to make a correction that was necessarily avoided at our fragile founding.

Nothing shocking in saying how it was.
 

HomerJS

Lifer
Feb 6, 2002
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Do not fall for propaganda @esquared

The man was talking about this nation's founding. You cannot change what it was. Or how it happened. That is settled, and the history books make it VERY CLEAR that slavery was part of America in the beginning. Do not belie that. Do not run from it. It is the truth. Virginia and the Southern States saw to it. Despite our national creed, one of the compromises to form this Union was that slavery was not abolished.

You saw what happened when it was. It took a Civil War to make a correction that was necessarily avoided at our fragile founding.

Nothing shocking in saying how it was.
Any though to "it was an evil" vs it was a necessary evil"

Unless that's what you believe
 
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ch33zw1z

Lifer
Nov 4, 2004
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I can see his campaign poster now—a strapping, young black man with an ear to ear smile and the headline “I’m picking Cotton!”

I mean, I wanna say this is over the top hyperbole, but the intentional tone deafness of the right and what they tend to say and do means this could actually be a slogan and it would not be shocking at all.