Duck Dynasty's Phil Robertson Thinks Black People Were Happy Before the Civil Rights Movement

[highplainsdem]

Last edited Thu Dec 19, 2013, 01:22 PM - Edit history (1)

Source: E! Online

When it comes to expressing his thoughts, Phil Robertson clearly isn't limited to just sharing his views on homosexuality.

In the January issue of GQ, the Duck Dynasty star also comments on growing up in a pre-civil-rights-era Louisiana.

"I never, with my eyes, saw the mistreatment of any black person," Robertson claims. "Not once. Where we lived was all farmers. The blacks worked for the farmers. I hoed cotten with them. I'm with the blacks, because we're white trash."

He adds, "They're singing and happy. 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."

-snip-


Read more: http://www.eonline.com/news/492121/duck-dynasty-s-phil-robertson-thinks-black-people-were-happier-before-the-civil-rights-movement

---

From another article on that statement of Robertson's, this one from a Hollywood Life article whose link was tweeted earlier today by Piers Morgan:

http://hollywoodlife.com/2013/12/19/duck-dynasty-star-phil-robertson-racist-interview/

Wow, so is he saying there was no point for the Civil Rights Movement to even happen? Does he not remember separate schools, bathrooms, horrible mistreatment and more? It’s unfortunate he isn’t more sensitive with his words.

Editing to add that Robertson was born and raised in Caddo Parish, Louisiana. Two articles on Caddo Parish's history of violent racism here, the first from the Huffington Post in 2011:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bidish-sarma/caddo-parish-courthouse-_b_860497.html

In Shreveport, the Third National flag of the Confederacy flies directly in front of the district courthouse. The flag is symbolic of the widespread disenfranchisement of African-American jurors, and the second-class justice afforded African-American defendants throughout the deep South. Worse still, the flag discourages African-American involvement in the justice system and diminishes the actual quality of justice provided.

-snip-

This week, attorneys representing death-row inmate Felton Dorsey, joined by the ACLU, voiced concerns with how the "blood-stained banner" influenced the jury selection and capital trial of an African-American man accused of killing a white firefighter. The ACLU filed a friend-of-the-court brief at the Louisiana Supreme Court on behalf of 26 Caddo Parish and other Louisiana clergy leaders, 28 law and history professors and scholars, the ACLU, the NAACP Shreveport Chapter, the Equal Justice Initiative, and the Southern Center for Human Rights, among others.

The brief delves into Caddo Parish's sordid post-Reconstruction and Jim Crow history, which extended Shreveport's legacy as the site of the Confederacy's last stand. That legacy is explicitly and inextricably about white supremacy and the disenfranchisement and marginalization of African-Americans. As Rachel Maddow explained earlier in the week,

&quot i)n the Reconstruction era just after the Civil War, Caddo Parish earned the nickname the 'bloody Caddo' for its high proportion of black citizens who were murdered." Moreover, &quot i)n 1951, they added to (the Confederate monument), they added a flagpole and the Confederate flag. And there it stands. Still. Outside the Caddo Parish courthouse today, in 2011."

-snip-

The second is from the Shreveport Times, about a database listing lynchings in the parish:

http://www.shreveporttimes.com/article/20050614/NEWS01/506140328/Database-lists-lynchings-Caddo-Bossier

[MADem]

1. That asshole needs to go have a seat next to Paula Deen.

I have never seen his show, just heard about it, but I'll be sure to "give it a miss" if I happen to come across it while flipping down the dial.

[yeoman6987]

53. I have never seen his show,

That is precisely the problem. The people most upset over this do not watch the show. The people who support Robertson are the one who watch. We need to convince the ones who are liberal watching to stop supporting. I am so afraid that this is not going to result in a "Dixie Chick" or "Paula Deen" situation. I don't believe either of those situation had the overwhelming support for them. Plus I don't see any sponsors dropping Duck Dynasty like they did Paula Deen. What can we do to combat this. If we don't do something soon, Duck Dynasty will continue on with a little blemish which should be more then a blemish.

[MADem]

61. Apparently the racist git has been booted off the show.

So there's been some reaction, and I'd say it's a sufficient reaction.

I don't watch the show and I don't care if it keeps running, or not. I think this jerk shouldn't be rewarded for his racism, and if he's off the program, well, good. His other idiot cohorts didn't say those things, so they should not be "punished" in group fashion.

We're not responsible for the dumb-ass things our stupid relatives say, so I will not suggest for a moment that the rest of that "cast" of smelly-looking characters be punished for the behavior of one.

[CFLDem]

2. He also fails a basic logic test

Why was there a movement if they were so happy?

[erpowers]

12. Northern White People

It appears that a number of Southern whites from that time and the present blame Northern white rabble rousers for the Civil Rights Movement. If you look at clips from the Civil Rights era you will see Southern whites claiming Southern blacks were happy with things in the South before Northern whites started coming to the South telling blacks they needed more things.

I am not saying Robertson is right. I am just pointing out that is his logic. I think Robertson is completely wrong. Southern blacks were not happy. I think if anyone were to talk to black historians they would be told blacks sang in the fields as an outlet to help them make it through the day.

[notadmblnd]

56. My husband told me stories about growing up near Shreveport

He was from a small town called Plain Dealing. He told me about the time he went to jail for 10 days for stealing a 10 cent ice cream sandwich. He told me about the time his boss' wife picked him up for work and he was arrested for riding in the front seat of the car with a white woman. He told me about the time that the town's only black cop shot his own nephew dead for asking a simple question and when my husband bent down to aid the man, he was told to walk away or be killed too.

Yeah, that particular incident made him so happy, he decided to leave for the north.

The one thing he did tell me that I did indeed find funny, is that the town required the African Americans to sit up in the balcony at the local movie theater. He told me, that they used to pee on the white people sitting below.

[TheDebbieDee]

60. That balcony was the Crow's Nest - Jim Crow's Nest.

[mountain grammy]

3. He's offensive in every way..

Considering that he's a successful businessman he must have some intelligence but speaks like an idiot. He knows exactly what he's saying. Next: African Americans better off as slaves!

[KurtNYC]

11. AND he misspelled "cotton" while SPEAKING -- that ain't easy to do. n/t

[mountain grammy]

13. hahaha!

[Major Nikon]

29. The idea that successful businessmen are smart is not a good one

I've know quite a number of them and most seem to be of average intelligence and some are dumb as a stump. Businesses at all levels go bankrupt and quite often it's due to complete stupidity. Being successful is more about being at the right place at the right time with the right skill set. It's also about being able to recognize genuine intelligence and talent. On the flip side of that some of the smartest people I've ever known died without a dime to their name and never made a significant amount of money their entire life. I think being intelligent helps your chances of being successful, but it's by no means required.

[mountain grammy]

57. Oh, I agree! Success has a whole lot to do with luck

especially success selling duck calls.. now that's luck! But I don't think this bunch is as dumb as they play for their audience, but, then again, maybe they just are.

[Major Nikon]

68. You may be right

My experience with living in the South nearly all my life is that ignorance and stupidity are considered virtuous. Many act dumb to gain social acceptance, but for some you realize they just aren't that great of an actor.

[Walk away]

4. I'm just happy he and his family live far far away from me!

Those folks look lice infested to me. I'm sure it affects the way they think and act.

[Botany]

5. those were the days of the them "happy darkies"

... and they wouldn't say shit even if they had a mouthful.

BTW the Mississippi Delta is where the blues was started by
poor African American farmers.

[warrant46]

41. I remember singing this song in Grade school 1956

To DUCK BOY it still reflects his view of Black people

The word DARKIE is now replaced by the word people



"My Old Kentucky Home" by Stephen Foster

Full Original Lyrics (1853) Modified in 1979

The sun shines bright in the old Kentucky home,
'Tis summer, the darkies are gay;
The corn-top's ripe and the meadow's in the bloom,
While the birds make music all the day.

The young folks roll on the little cabin floor,
All merry, all happy and bright;
By 'n' by Hard Times comes a-knocking at the door,
Then my old Kentucky home, goodnight.

Chorus:

Weep no more my lady
Oh! weep no more today!
We will sing one song for the old Kentucky home,
For the Old Kentucky Home far away.

[boomersense]

6. I know what Robertson is

saying. You had to live in the early sixties to understand it. Blacks were mistreated badly by the system, but they had a real sense of community and taking care of one another. They had a sense of joy about them and knew that no matter how bad things were that "life was for the living". I envied that about them then, and still do today. Hard to explain. Even harder to do.

[mountain grammy]

14. Say whaaaat? I was born in 1947, you are delusional.

[boomersense]

49. I was born in 1946 and saw things differently

than you apparently. I am white but I was partially raised by a black woman named Aida. Her and her husband Al looked at things positively no matter what. I took basic training with a black dude who became my best friend even though we separated after AIT. I am delusional? I don't think so. I learned to find good in everything, and that's how I try to live now.

[erpowers]

16. Are You Being Sarcastic?

That is not what Robertson said. Robertson said black people were happy with the way things were before the Civil Rights Movement. He stated that blacks were not complaining about how the system treated them.

If you are being serious I would suggest you talk to a black person who lived during the pre-Civil Rights days. I think they would disagree with you and Robertson on some of your points. Yes life was for the living, but they wanted the system to change. They may have been specifically happy about their families, but they were generally unhappy about their treatment in the South.

[marshall]

65. He put it in the context of what he personally observed

Saying that he stated they were happy mischaracterizes what he said. Whether or not he believes they were all happy may or may not be true, but it isn't what he said. Or more accurately, it isn't in the interview and article written and sited by GQ.

[erpowers]

66. Did You Read What was Written?

Are you claiming that what was written did not come from the GQ article? In the quote from the OP he twice said black people were happy. He also said black people were not complaining about the situation in Louisiana before the civil rights movement. He also said black people were not signing the blues.

[marshall]

69. All of those articles go back to the GQ article

I'm just saying that what he is actually quoted as saying in the GQ article is being somewhat mischaracterized, and it doesn't make a strong argument for those of us who want to promote tolerance to set ourselves up for a straw man accusation. Why dilute our position with a fallacious restating of what is in print?

It may seem like a tedious difference , but he restricted his statements to what he says he observed. If someone wants to counter that, the most effective way would be to dig in his past and find some incident where he actually participated in or at least personally witnessed mistreatment of African Americans. A lesser effective strategy would be to find clear evidence of such mistreatment in his small community or among his circle of acquaintances, but even then he isn't stating that he wasn't aware that it was happening, or even that he wasn't aware there was talk that it was happening. He is being very narrow in his scope by saying he never observed it with his own eyes. It's a big leap to take that printed statement and rephrase it to suggest that he is saying it wasn't happening at all.

[boomersense]

70. I am claiming that which I perceive, and having

now read your responses trying to conflate that which I did not read with your fallacious interpretation of an article not fully shown in the header, I will stick to my own interpretation of Robertson's thoughts, which I believe is still allowed on this board and in this country. Thank you for your time.

[TBF]

25. Ah, the good old days when slaves were happy

and didn't complain (because they would be killed) - and then everyone else could be happy about subjugating them. How we long for those days again ...

[The_Boss89]

7. Strange Fruit

[mountain grammy]

17. Oh yes, a simpler time when "colored folks" were happy.

[arcane1]

54. Of course they were! After all, they didn't complain to their white bosses, so they MUST be happy!

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

63. ...and knew our place!

[iamthebandfanman]

33. +1 nt

[bigdarryl]

8. I'm sick of these RACIST telling us black people what are lives should be

All of a sudden there experts on black people most if not all of them never associated with blacks.

[treestar]

9. And he's claiming he had it just as bad, as he's 'white trash'

He's attempting to claim that no black person was any worse off than he.

[1StrongBlackMan]

10. Well ...

"Not once. Where we lived was all farmers. The blacks worked for the farmers. I hoed cotten with them. I'm with the blacks, because we're white trash."

See a problem with that?

[brush]

18. It's problematic because . . .

why would anyone believe that blacks would willingly share their unhappiness with being discriminated against by whites with a white person?

[1StrongBlackMan]

23. How about ...

his associating with black people BECAUSE he was white trash?

[brush]

36. That's possible

But most black people of that time and place knew that white trash or not, he was still white and could cause you a whole world of trouble if you got on his wrong side.

[1StrongBlackMan]

39. True ...

No doubt more of a world of trouble because that white trash guy would look around and see his own sorry state and get angry at the Black guy for having so much.

[PM Martin]

15. He is a racist redneck. No suprise.

There is NO way around this. There is no way explaining this. Robertson is in the same league as holocaust deniers.

[jsr]

19. Duck Dynasty is for dummies.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

20. This is the result of self segregating.

[Glaisne]

21. typical

If I don't or didn't see it then it doesn't exist!

My drinking water is fine! So ground water contamination from fracking doesn't exist!
No trees in my neighborhood a being cut down. So deforestation is not a problem!
We had snow today! So global warming is a hoax!
I worked on a farm with some black folk and we had grand old time! So discrimination and racism didn't happen!

Yep I'm an ignorant white trash racist, sexist, homophobe with a T.V. show! So you know everything I say is true and matters!

[damnedifIknow]

22. Open mouth insert foot

If this guy is smart I never want to be as smart as him.

[highplainsdem]

24. Just edited the OP to add historical info on the Louisiana parish where Robertson grew up.

He would have had to have been completely ignorant of Caddo parish's history -- which as Rachel Maddow said in 2011 had earned the parish the nickname "bloody Caddo" during the Reconstruction era -- to be able to claim honestly that he thought blacks were "happy" there before the civil rights era.

[Vashta Nerada]

26. I hope he chokes on a duck call.

What a bigot.

[JimboBillyBubbaBob]

27. Phil Robertason...

[SansACause]

28. Who is this person?

The only time I've ever seen this "Duck Dynasty" business was when I wandered into a Walmart a couple of months ago. Now it's all over the internet. Is there some reason I should care about this dope and what he says?

[hollowdweller]

30. I don't get why his views are even a suprise to anybody.

I live in redneck territory, not even as far South as that guy, and in between my house and the main highway I could probably stop and 60% of the people would have those same views of gay people and black people.

I can't tell you how many times over my lifetime I've heard the whole thing "They were happier as slaves" thing. Of course NEVER said by a black person but said by a white person who basically knew no black people who somehow thought they were qualified to represent the attitude of black people.

If the stuff this guy is saying comes as a suprise to some people? Well you need to get out more.

[MyNameGoesHere]

31. Yes I see how happy they were Phil.Go on....

Racist willfully wear blinders so they can with conviction believe they are righteous. We still have a job to do and that is rip off every blinder they are wearing.

[PassingFair]

71. That's why this "scandal" is a good thing.

Dragging this stuff out into the sunlight destroys it.

Its like turning over a rock.

[Kablooie]

32. They were happy.

Back before they were removed from Africa.

[myrna minx]

34. Just awful. Shame on A&E for peddling this offensive teabaggery.

[sakabatou]

38. A&E and TLC have a lot of shit on them

[FiveGoodMen]

35. "no one was singing the blues"

Where does he think the blues came from?

[arcane1]

55. Dammit, you beat me to it!

By 8 hours! I'm slow

[FiveGoodMen]

59. !

[geardaddy]

37. Here's D.L. Hughley's response

https://www.facebook.com/#!/RealDLHughley/posts/642113942497613
"Duck Dynastys Phil Roberston says blk ppl were happier b4 civil rights! He says growing up in Louisiana he never heard em complain about white ppl! Cuz it was hard 2 hear em from the other bathroom."

[warrant46]

42. LOL-- NT

[2banon]

40. who is this jerk, and why should we care what ignorant/racists comments he expresses?

why is band-width given to him? Is he a lawmaker or a judge?

[warrant46]

43. I agree its a waste of time

Although Corporate amerika has invested almost a billion dollars in merchandise this creep and his family are promoting

There is a larger elephant about to enter the room

In the past 18 hours almost 700,000 facebook owners are demanding that these Redneck Homophobic Bigots be brought back on TV to continue to spout their mindless drivel so the corporations can sell even more garbage to the great unwashed.

The so called Tea Party is using this mirage to increase its power and influence on the sheep and divert them back to being the foot soldiers of the next election outrage.

[2banon]

48. i see. totally off of my radar screen..

Interesting... have to pay closer attention to this too!

[warrant46]

50. Lets do that

Hold their feet to the fire

[illachick]

44. I might be being a bit too sensitive

but it felt like to me, he was equating blacks to white trash in a negative way or did I misinterpret it? Perhaps I'm reading too much into things. Well he could have just meant that blacks and low income Southern whites are brothers of the same struggle or whatnot. I don't even want to say too much on this subject, because I can't, all I know is what I have read in text and seen on TV, and from what I read and watched I would have to say the Duck Dynasty guy is coming from the wrong place, he seems to be implying that the blacks were totally cool with being treated as second class citizens (or worse) in a country that promised that no one would be treated differently, and I can't see that. Sure blacks were jovial and had good times just as everyone else but I have to believe that in the back of their minds, they knew they deserved better, and probably went home every night and prayed for better. In other news, I knew there was a reason I rolled my eyes at this show from the first promo I saw for this garbage.

[mysuzuki2]

45. The kindest thing I can say about this guy

is that putting someone on TV does not give them a brain.

[KansDem]

46. You know, I NEVER HEARD of these Duck folks!...

...until a couple of months ago when a co-worker begin ranting and raving about them. I work with her one evening a week and every week since then she has some story to tell about "Duck Dynasty."

I want to tell her, I DON'T GIVE A F*CK!!! but refrain from doing so in order to maintain a somewhat-positive work environment.

But really, I don't...

[fujiyama]

47. It's the old myth of the cheerful black sharecropper

or happy slave. It's the housekeeper in "Gone with the Wind" or Uncle Remus singin' Zipp-a-Dee-Doo-Dah.

These patronizing attitudes still do exist in the South, especially in rural areas. It's changing among many younger folks but some defensiveness over the past still exists, even among the more educated.

[Incitatus]

51. He finally got something right.

He called himself white trash. He's a racist and bigot.

[jonjensen]

52. Mighty white of you!

It's hard to be heard when your being lynched! You was a happy negro or you was swinging from a rope! I remember back then what really happened in the "good old days!" Maybe phil saw ann coulter on fox and thought that was bestiallity with an elephant?

[truthisfreedom]

58. Reminder: IQ is defined in this way:

100 is average. 50% of the population, as sad as that may seem, must have a IQ below 100. For every person with an IQ of 130, there's someone functioning (if you can call it that) at 70. Sigh.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

62. Black people being happy during slavery is a claim that I've heard from various white people

all my life, and not just in the American South, either. Sadly his views reflect what a lot of people believe.

I find it interesting that he was suspended, not for his racial insensitivity as well as his homophobia--but just his homophobia.

Few are discussing his ridiculous and offensive comments about blacks, but we're used to it, I guess. People have become so numb to it, especially since the black man entered the White House. It's amazing how blatantly candid people have become in their racism.

[bobGandolf]

64. What a stupid statement to make!

Am I being judgmental? Damn right!

[workinclasszero]

67. Videos of happy blacks, pre-civil rights movement says Phil Robertson, duck dynasty racist

Freedom riders

Bloody Sunday on the Edmund Pettus bridge in Selma, Ala.

James Chaney..Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner

Thats just a small part of what black americans had to deal with in the "happy" pre-civil rights era that Phil Robertson so longly wishes America would return to. This is what teabaggers mean when the say they want to take back our country!!

People like Sarah Palin and Phil Robertson are like the Holocaust deniers. People in this era cannot believe that in the USA people were beaten and murdered by the KKK with the help of law enforcement officers because they wanted to vote or use the same waiting rooms, restrooms and lunch counters as white people.

So the deniers lie about it because...American exceptionalism. Oh and Thomas Jefferson was a great Christian too!? LOLZ!