// Miller-McCune Online
The media frenzy has (mostly) died down and the reporters have left the ranch, but Cliven Bundy's brief time in the spotlight forced many to take a closer look at certain realities of American belief. The rancher, who initially drew attention through his refusal to obey federal grazing laws, used his 15 minutes to air his view that perhaps African Americans were better off when they were enslaved.
Horrifying though Bundy's remarks were (and he did receive a fast rebuke from some of those who had initially sided with him), he's not the only one who has shared this opinion publicly in recent years. In March, Arizona congressional candidate Jim Brown wrote on his Facebook page that "Basically slave owners took pretty good care of their slaves and livestock and this kept business rolling along." Last year, Walter Block, who holds an endowed chair at Loyola University, wrote the following in an article on lewrockwell.com: "Otherwise, slavery wasn't so bad. You could pick cotton, sing songs, be fed nice gruel, etc. The only real problem was that this relationship was compulsory."
What this kind of commentary tells us is deeply disturbing: That we as a nation have failed to educate ourselves about the institution of slavery, and what's more, that there are Americans who refuse to accept it as the United States' original sin. To begin to address this ignorance, we need a national museum dedicated to slavery in America—its reality, its history, and its long-lasting effects. . . . (More at link)
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