CATLETT — 4 June 2017 — Nathan Larson, independent candidate in Virginia's 31st House of Delegates district election, 2017, announced today that he is designating the week of 11-17 June 2017 as Slavery Appreciation Week, in observance of the institution that, from 1619 to 1865, helped America develop into the successful first world country it is today.
"Slavery Appreciation Week celebrates the many benefits that slavery had on our Commonwealth, creating a booming cotton industry that worked to the advantage of both blacks and whites," Larson noted. "Africans were able to leave behind their old life as peasants living in mud huts, and migrate to America to help build the greatest civilization the world has ever known. Films such as Amistad and Beloved commemorate and dramatize the exciting adventures of that era, which blacks would have missed out on had it not been for slavery.
"While some Africans did not survive the journey to America's shores, as a whole, they did better than if they had stayed in the primitive squalor from which they came. The claim some blacks make that their ancestors 'wuz kingz' suggests that, unless these were anarchist societies in which every man was a sovereign, there must have been some Africans who served under the rulers, rather than being monarchs themselves. The ultimate result of their voyage across the Atlantic is that their descendants now are happier than they would be if they had stayed in Africa, as evidenced by the fact that few American blacks today feel any need to move back to Africa. They are wealthier, freer, and safer than they would be in the impoverished and war-torn countries of the continent from which their ancestors came.
"America has always required that immigrants pay their dues. Many white colonists had to enter into indentured servitude in return for the costly passage. Today, immigrants arriving on our shores still have to live here for years before they are eligible to have all the rights afforded full citizens. Africans were just another category of people who had to earn their freedom. Even before the Civil War, it was common for slaves to be emancipated as a reward for faithful service, as in the case of the slaves of George Washington Parke Custis, who were set free by his executor, Robert E. Lee.
"Some demagogues want to take down Confederate monuments and discourage the waving of the Confederate flag. But the Confederates stood for decentralized government, in which the states would serve as a bulwark against federal tyranny. Today, the federal government in many ways harms and discriminates against blacks, for example, through the 18:1 disparity in the Controlled Substances Act between how crack cocaine and powder cocaine offenses are punished.
"A tendency toward racist policies arises, not so much as an ugly legacy of slavery, as from the fact that in a democratic republic, whatever group is in the majority will tend to dominate because they have more votes. They will tend to rig the election system, the criminal justice system, etc. against minority groups that disagree with their political stances. If you are in a minority demographic, you have to either accept the state of affairs as part of the cost of living together with the majority group in one country; separate and form your own country where you will be in the majority; increase your numbers to become the new majority; or use some form of pressure to force your will upon the majority.
"The Union victory over the Confederacy gave rise to the extremely divisive politics of our era. Imagine what America would be like if the south had split away. The south would probably have a relatively conservative President, while the north would have a relatively leftist President. There would be no need for half the country to suffer under the leadership of the other half's preferred candidate. They could each have their own way.
"Secession and racial separatism should always remain on the table as options in case it should ever become evident that the costs of integration have exceeded the benefits. Our country was founded by secessionists who dissolved their political connection with the U.K., and the U.K. has recently declared its own secession from the European Union. West Virginia also seceded from Virginia over the issue of slavery. Certain parts of Virginia, such as many of the communities in Virginia's 3rd congressional district, consist mostly of blacks, and they should be allowed to split off and form their own state if they ever decide that would be their best interests. The same goes for other ethnic groups as well. Secession serves as a final safety valve by which a people which feels itself oppressed can throw off a despotic government and provide new guards for its future security.
"It is amazing that some blacks call for slavery reparations, when the life they get to live in America is already the greatest reparation they could ever have. Virginia in particular has the highest rate of black-white marriages in the country. Isn't getting sexual access to some of the most beautiful women in the world enough of a reward for the black man's ancestor's agricultural services? Why does he also need 40 acres and a mule?
"When we compare African blacks and American blacks along almost any measure you can think of, such as infant mortality, HIV/AID prevalence, median educational level, median income, and so on, we see the true legacy of slavery. In the long run, it turned out to be a force for lifting up the black race, while at the same time, building up the country as a whole, producing benefits that they were eventually able to share more fully in. That is something for which we all should be thankful."