Pro-Infanticide Governor Ralph Northam Calls African Slaves "Indentured Servants"

There were of course indentured servants in early American history. But they were different from slaves.

Don't get me wrong: Indentured servitude was practically slavery. But I'm pretty sure your children weren't part of the permanent indentured servant class.

It's just weird that Northam, who is already in hot water about racial matters, is euphemizing forcible slavery by capture.

As a lot of people speculate: they accuse others of what they know they believe themselves.

Update: Was he right, at least according to Virginia's own state educational guidelines?

Ben Triblett reports that the first Africans in Jamestown, at least according to the state of Virginia's own history curriculum, were indentured servants.

Hm, I admit, I did not think that Africans were indentured servants; I thought indentured servants were Irish and English people who were in debtors' prisons or who were sentenced to effective slavery as punishment for a crime. Maybe I'm jumping too fast myself.

I'm now remembering a practice Lindybiege talked about used to bring Pacific Islander natives to work Australian mines. It was called "blackbirding." A captain would bring a ship to an island and parley with the island's chief. He'd say "give me 60 men who will work for five years, and I'll pay them handsomely, and then I'll send them back with knives, axes, and rifles for the tribe."

In other words, he'd offer a decent trade, and men would willingly (or maybe pressured by the chief) get on the boat.

The trouble was, when they got to Australia, it was a lie; you were a slave. You'd been "blackbirded" -- tricked into slavery and then forced to remain in slavery through violence/coercion.

So who knows, maybe something like that was going on in the early colonies -- I'm trying to think of something that could be called "indentured servitude" or simple slavery depending on how you look at it.

...

Meanwhile, Virginia Democrats will, get this, not pursue impeachment against twice-accused credibly alleged rapist Justin Fairfax until they've had a good think about it and maybe done some more polling.

The Virginia lawmaker threatening to file an impeachment resolution against Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax said Monday that he will hold off on the plan for now and have more conversations with his colleagues.

Del. Patrick Hope, D-Arlington, who had said he would file his resolution today, appeared to be acting without wide support from his caucus or the Republican majority in the House of Delegates.

Hope circulated a draft resolution Sunday afternoon that called for the House Courts of Justice Committee to hold hearings on the two sexual assault allegations made against Fairfax and recommend whether the lieutenant governor should be impeached.

posted by Ace of Spades at 12:53 PM

| Access Comments