Lucian, it is to prevent the teaching of exactly the kind of evidence and narrative you present in this column that the Republicans – unfortunately, especially so in my state, Florida – are so against teaching the true history of the United States. For the good of us all, keep beating this drum! Racism and white supremacy in all their forms are execrable, and must be stamped out forever.
Minor edit: "Jefferson wrote the book in 1781, five years after he wrote the Declaration, two years before the end of the Revolutionary War, and six years before the founding of the country with the signing of the Declaration of Independence." - perhaps you meant to say eight years before the ratification of the Constitution in 1789?
Thanks for starkly illuminating a side of Jefferson I had not known before. Such a contradiction to the ideals he espoused. Such a blind eye turned to the truths his scientific mind should have revealed to him.
" - the war against the Tucker Carlson’s of this world and their not yet dead ideology of race is still to be fought." Exactly. The fight is never over. It may be temporarily papered over for fleeting moments here and there, but it never stays underground for long. Vigilance and truth-telling are two of the best day-to-day tools we have. Thank you for this excellent critical perspective.
We should study this founding father’s words--all of them--from elementary school and never stop studying them. For it is these words that define us. Not some declaration of absurd independence. It has taken Lucian, one of his descendants, to put them before us plain and clear.
I am, at this moment, so burned up about that bum, Clarence Thomas, that reading about Jefferson's bigotry makes me think he had someone like Clarence Thomas in mind when he went public with his opinion of Blacks. (And who has Justice Roberts' balls, anyway?)
There are always those willing to turn on their own group for personal advantage, power, and money. Anti-Abortion women come to mind. Clarence and Ginny have done well for themselves sucking up to billionaire right wingers. People who think they are "dear friends" with powerful oligarchs are pathetic and weak. I don't know if they are fooling themselves, but they aren't fooling anyone else.
Funny, even Harlan Crow I'm betting wishes he could return the Justice (ha!) and his wife. You are quite right that Crow and the Thomases are not what you'd call organic friends. I'm also betting that Clarence has been so much trouble (of the reputational variety) that Crow wishes he had selected, say, Kavanaugh. We know *he* could've used a rw sugar daddy because he had a biiiig credit card bill that had to be cleared before he could be appointed.
I think Kavanaugh's rw sugar daddy was a very wealthy anonymous member of and big money donor to the Federalist Society and I'm willing to bet that the necessary funds were funneled through Lennie Leo.
And, I have to bark out a sardonic laugh every time I hear some bobble-headed media host speak of the "long family friendship" that Clarence Thomas claims is between him and Harlan Crow. Does Clarence truly believe that Harlan would have anything to do with him at all were he not a Associate Justice on the Supreme Court--if so, he is not a very smart or discerning person. How can he overlook the fact that Crow approached him and they became "friends" AFTER Thomas was appointed to the Court? It boggles the mind. The members of the Court are far too isolated from normal everyday concerns and public opinion; their atmosphere is too rarified. They do not need more security--they need LESS. They need to live in THIS world, not one of their own.
Yes, Clarence Thomas is a bum. But so is Ginny, at least as much so. To isolate Clarence in your comment is concerning. And to conflate a Black man, who is highly educated, with slaves, who were denied the opportunity to learn how to read or write, is to erase a good portion of history. His failings lie not in the color of his skin, but in his moral compass.
In the mid 50's being somewhat adventurous at age 22 I left England for South Africa to work in the gold mines outside Johannesburg. We were being trained as shift bosses to head black crews, so had to do all the jobs they would have to do such as drilling into the rock to set dynamite charges. Then shovel that broken up rock into skips on rail tracks to be taken to elevators and brought to the surface. I never saw any gold as it was basically not visible in the ore which was a seam from about two inches to about two feet thick embedded in rock. The ore was black with white pebbles in it and apparently the gold was around the white pebbles. Apparently a ton of this mixture of rock and ore yielded one ounce of gold. I mention all this to show it was the white man's savvy and money that enabled them to go in to the country among a very primitive people and literally rob them of their valuable resources. The Kimberly diamond mines another good example. Needless to say I didn't stay all that long there before getting a much better job in Johannesburg and from there transferring up to Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) where I lived for about 5 years. Of course while life was much more pleasant there, the same class distinction existed, seperate lines in the post office for blacks and whites, a black policemen could not stop a white motorist in traffic, or for any other reason, I confess I was as caught up in the same sense of superiority, nothing to do with the black skin but what it represented - a whole different group of people we had nothing in common with socially. Of course they were not allowed in white establishments such as restaurants of bars, nightclubs, etc. so we had no contact with them except at work where they were employed in menial tasks. In our office we had 5 or 6 native (as we called them) employees and I was on very friendly terms with them as was my boss and the secretary and the other other two sales/service people. One day I was out in the bush at a remote location servicing the duplicating machine at a sort of a shack/office of sorts run by native Rhodesian blacks. I quickly caught on that they were some kind of anti colonial group, the beginnings I suppose of a later rebel army. There was a loud bang on the door and two of them entered yelling freedom now as they punched the air with their fists ,"throw the white man into the sea", etc. (Rhodesia is nowhere near the sea :) I just kept my head down and said nothing. Later I got to know them and would argue with them and say, when you guys take over which I'm sure you will one day. you'll exploit your own people just as much if not more that you are being exploited now. Oh no they said, we'd never do that. But of course they did, Look at Mugabe for starters. When I came to this country in 1961 I wrote to Sir Roy Welensky, the prime minister who I had met once. I said I thought that the white man's days were numbered in Rhodesia and South Africa. But he definitely did not agree, I still have that letter signed by him.
.The black people in this country had a pretty rocky start as slaves for over two hundred years so their descendents were behind from the start but they are catching up now in all walks of life and many very successful in education, in business, and the news media, entertainment, sports etc., but many still in poverty and of course where there is poverty there is crime.
A side note regarding Lucian's detailed history of his ancestor and the mind set he held at that time; his good friend John Adams was of a different mindset and they had some heated arguments. Here is a letter from John Adams to a Robert J. Evans (same name as me but not related as far as I know).
Letter to Robert J. Evans
John Adams
Quincy, June 8, 1819
". . . The turpitude, the inhumanity, the cruelty, and the infamy of the African commerce in slaves have been so impressively represented to the public by the highest powers of eloquence that nothing that I can say would increase the just odium in which it is and ought to be held. Every measure of prudence, therefore, ought to be assumed for the eventual total extirpation of slavery from the United States. If, however, humanity dictates the duty of adopting the most prudent measures for accomplishing so excellent a purpose, the same humanity requires that we should not inflict severer calamities on the objects of our commiseration than those which they at present endure, by reducing them to despair, or the necessity of robbery, plunder, assassination, and massacre, to preserve their lives, some provision for furnishing them employment, or some means of supplying them with the necessary comforts of life. The same humanity requires that we should not by any rash or violent measures expose the lives and property of those of our fellow-citizens who are so unfortunate as to be surrounded with these fellow-creatures by hereditary descent, or by any other means without their own fault. I have, through my whole life, held the practice of slavery in such abhorrence that I have never owned a Negro or any other slave, though I have lived for many years in times when the practice was not disgraceful, when the best men in my vicinity thought it not inconsistent with their character, and when it has cost me thousands of dollars for the labor and subsistence of free men, which I might have saved by the purchase of Negroes at times when they were very cheap. . . ."
Thank you Marlene, I hadn't meant to write so much but once I started memories came rushing back, It was an interesting time jn Africa, a lot of bug changes about to happen, A friend owned a tobacco farm. I often wondered what happened to him and his farm, but I lost touch. I know later all the white owned farms were confiscated by the black government and apparently many failed. Some of my friends were remittance men, paid a monthly allowance to stay out of England by their wealthy families as they were an embarrassment :) I even wrote a story about them, all fiction of course but based on their colorful characters, one was an heir to Colman's mustard dynasty, although he actually became a policeman. Another from a jam and jellies dynasty. Another friend, who like me was not of rich heritage was a soldier of fortune and told me many stories of his exploits. I found out not too long ago someone had written a book about him, His name was Hugh Van Oppen. I actually haven't read the book but now that I am reminded of it I will. The book may tell a different story of his death, but I remember the day well when his widow, Jenny called me to say he'd crashed his car while drunk and had choked in his own vomit. I was vet fond of him as I was his wife Jenny. He had a little business at the time named Rhodesian tracing Agency, He had a partner. They were private detectives. I see in a review of the book it talks of him killing a bunch of people in an uprising. He had told me that story and had said he didn't know if he was going to get a court martial or a medal from the queen. He later said he got the medal. Will have to see if that is in the book. https://indexarticles.com/reference/african-studies-review/the-life-and-death-of-hugh-van-oppen/ My story isn't published anywhere although I have some kid's Oz stories on Amazon Kindle. This is the beginning of my story :)
"The Remittance Men, By Robert Evans (Beginning section only)
" The scene opens with frontal view of a very large stately English mansion, with immaculate lawns, then cuts to a wide view of a large wood paneled book-lined room with a plush carpet, various paintings and photographs on the walls and a large desk by French-windows that looked out on a beautiful flower garden. Seated at the desk was a very distinguished older gentleman looking at some papers.
A young man of slight build is seated in front of the desk nervously twitching his thumbs. The room is filled with cigar smoke and a large lighted cigar is resting on the edge of an ashtray. Lord Morley looks up. “Your mother and I have discussed this thoroughly, Robert, and it is useless to argue against our decision. Here is an envelope with a one way ticket to Rhodesia. You’ll find enough money to make the trip and a check will be sent to you monthly.”
“But father, I—“
“Don’t interrupt me, Robert.”
“Sorry father.”
“Your last caper with the barmaid at Murphy’s tavern really took the cake; do you know how much it cost me to fix that? You have embarrassed this family enough and it’s not going to happen again. We sent you to Oxford, gave you every advantage in life, and you have repaid us with one scandal after another. You are my only son, and you were meant to take over the reigns of Morley’s Jams and Jellies - just as I took over from your grandfather, and he his father before him. Your present moral state prohibits that ever happening. But maybe five years in Rhodesia will make a man out of you and a responsible citizen.”
The scene fades as Robert picks up his small suitcase and heads for the door. No hugs or handshakes take place.
The scene now opens at the bar at Meikles hotel, Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia. The hotel name is seen backwards on the glass door entrance to the bar. Two people are at the bar, both young men, quite good looking. They are seated about ten feet apart.
No one speaks for several minutes, each nursing a drink and staring into space. Finally, man on left turns towards the other chap and says, “Been in Rhodesia long?”
“No, just got here a week ago.”
“Where are you staying?”
“Oh, at my Uncle’s tobacco farm just outside Bulawayo. I wanted to see Salisbury so I’m staying at the hotel over the weekend. Name’s John by the way,” holding out his hand as he approaches Robert.
Robert Stands. “Robert Morley, pleasure to meet you.”
“Oh, Lord Morley’s son? Yes, I’ve heard about you.”
“Really! I suppose my reputation has preceded me?”
“No more than mine, I’m sure. Name is John Calman - Calman’s Mustard don’t you know. Except I’ve been practically disinherited.”
“So we’re both remittance men?”“Remittance men?”
“Yes, you know? Paid a monthly remittance by our family to stay out of England. ”
“Yes. Yes. I suppose so.”
“I say, would you like to come to a party tonight?”
“Love to, old chap”.
“There will be five of us including you, and we have the Derby girls coming. Their father owns a quarry outside of town. They have three gorgeous friends, and the Derby girls are a knockout. We’ll have a blast. My friend, Tony, That‘s Anthony Lawsly-Williams (We call him Lousy Bill), has converted the family garage into a pretty good imitation of a nightclub.”
“His family is here then?”
“Well, briefly. They will be turning the house over to him in about a week and returning to England. The day after we’re all heading for Mozambique in Portuguese East Africa to see the bull fights. We’ll be totally drunk for four days. I hope you’ll join us. After that we’re heading down to Beira to tour the night clubs, indulge ourselves generously in Portuguese wine and bask in the always warm Indian Ocean. When you’re paid by your family to stay out of England, what else is there to do but have fun, eh, what?”
Not: the story goes on from there but not long enough for a book, but what do you think so far? At 90 it's a bit late to learn screenwriting but have been dabbling with it and have actually witten it in basic script format but of course even though I worked as an extra and a little acting fro age 78 to 89 I don't have real contacts in the industry. But I think it could make an interesting film as there are a few dramatic scenes later on, same with my kids stories
Robert, please excuse my very late reply as my emails seemed to triple overnight. I am just catching up! Well, I want to say that I am very impressed with your writing skills and your subjects! I absolutely do think you should not put this aside but continue as I would certainly like to know of any twists and turns these characters take. You have an amazing talent and no matter your age, you should put yourself out there. 👍🏼👏🏼👏🏼
Wow, Marlene, that is so nice of you ro say, I have never thought of myself as a writer and even though I wrote a few kids stories based on stories I'd make up at bedtime when my kids were little but nothing ever officially published. I suppose as I say at 90 I'm lucky to be able to write at all :) But again that is so sweet of you. It gives me inspiration to continue and maybe get back to writing stories. My email address is ozauthor (at yahoo.com) based on the fact that as I mentioned before I think, some of my stories are based on the Wizard of Oz because my oldest boy was an Oz fan. He once knocked on Ray Bolger's door at his house in Beverly Hills, and it's a bit of a long story but the next day he posed with him for a picture and got his autograph in an OZ biography he had. I can relay the whole story if you send me your email address. To me though the real writers are people like Lucian and Robert Hubbell at least on political matters although as you know Lucian writes some great accounts of past and current experiences. .
This is so depressing. It almost seems unsolvable. Yet, last year, my niece married a Black man from Jamaica. They are both teachers. Maybe the next generation can fix it. The problem is what to do with those terrible writings. Jefferson was not alone.
I wrote about 500 word about Jefferson and the children he had with Sally and how he educated all of them as well as Sally and her brothers Peter and John. Then I realized I was writing not about Jefferson’s hypocrisy but about his horrid ideas of white supremacy. As I said above, I didn't want the column to turn into a kitchen sink. And I assumed that my readers are well aware of the story of his relationship with Sally Hemings and their children as well as the role I have played in getting that story accepted by historians and known by the American people.
That's what I was thinking when I read the column. Jefferson is a hypocrite. He's writing that Black people are inferior in every trait, but he doesn't include the exception that it's just fine for White men to rape Black women.
he might have argued that it was just such activity that might have "improved" the "inferior race." if that sounds too facile, I apologize. but reading the excerpts from "Notes," and knowing about Jefferson's personal life, I found myself thinking that it was a case of someone "protesting too much," although he wrote the "Notes" some years before commencing his "affair" in Paris, where both Sally Hemings (who was, let's remember, his wife's half-sister) and her brother were NOT legally enslaved and could have refused to return to Virginia, especially since both of them had become fluent in French and possessed highly marketable skills.
I still revere Jefferson (a habit from childhood, in which I read the same Landmark biography that Annette Gordon-Reed credits with first awakening her own continuing fascination with him. so I find it very difficult to just "dismiss" him, as many people seem to have done.
I remember watching an encounter between Henry Louis Gates and a college student planning to major in history at a Washington book fair (possibly twenty years or so ago) during which the student said he planned to ignore anything about Jefferson for the rest of his life and Gates replying that if the kid did so, he would be missing out on a great deal.
And then there's the situation of Sally Hemmings. I'd be curious to hear Jefferson's defense of his extended relationship with her, and the children he sired by her. The embarrassed silence we have noted over the past two centuries need to be answered.
actually, he promised (and fulfilled the promise) that all of their children and their immediate relations were going to be freed at his death and were granted extraordinary privileges during their lives at Monticello. historians suggest that this was the reason they chose to return there when they could have easily stayed free in Paris.
I'm not insistently defending Jefferson (although I know it sounds like it). I'm just suggesting that human relationships can be very complicated, and this relationship was one of them.
You're giving Jefferson too much credit. During his lifetime, Jefferson fathered several sons, either with Hemmings or other mixed race slaves. Lucia would be more familiar with the details. The point I want to make is that Jefferson treated those house servants with no affection whatsoever, as distinct from his white-born nephews. Jefferson might have been a genius-level polymath, but his humanity was purely white supremacist. During his lifetime, Jefferson exhibited paraxisims of rage to the extent of threatening law suits against those who passed along whispered rumors of his relationships with enslaved women. Again, Lucian would know the details. That rage permeated the white Jefferson family association until recently. The power of denial blinded them to the realities of their patriarch's dishonesty an refusal to acknowledge the consequences of his own behavior.
Strom Thurman fathered a child with a black woman, to the same effect.
In fact, it still permeates the Monticello Association, the white family group that has refused to recognize Hemings descendants as our cousins since I first invited them to the family reunion at Monticello in 1999. The point of contention, if anyone is interested, isn't the "paperwork" they demand of the Hemings to prove their lineage. It's the fact that acceptance into the family would entitle them to burial in the family graveyard at Monticello. If you want to talk about racism past and present, there it is folks, alive and well in most, but not all, of the Jefferson Progeny. The six people who voted to accept our Hemings cousins into the family in 2002, by the way, were my brother, three sisters, me, and our white cousin, Marla Stevens.
It is very Southern also. My parents and a few others had to go to a notoriously Christian cemetery to ask for a section of plots to be designated to them. This was in Hickory, NC. Both of my parents, Holocaust victims, are buried there now. Across the highway is a motorsports speedway. During my mother’s funeral, we could hear the roar of engines. The mortuary had to call them to be silenced.
Arthur, I respect your thinking process. I doubt that Jefferson ever felt the need to defend his "extended relationship" with Sally Hemmings. He was, in fact, the Master of the Plantation and owned every one of his slaves, including Sally Hemmings, body and soul. Sally was just one of the slaves whom he appropriated for his own self-serving bodily pleasures.
Excellent writing Lucian. This brought to mind the the medical disparity that African Americans have suffered over the years. It was only in the last several years that the way kidney function is measured was identified as being biased against African Americans. There is a formula for calculating the glomerular filtration rate (GFR) using creatinine level, age and gender. The gender related to muscle mass which is a factor in the calculation. Up until the last several years there was a separate calculation for African Americans that resulted in a higher GFR than a Caucasian of the same age, gender and creatinine level. Ultimately giving a false value of better renal function in African Americans limiting them from qualifying for kidney transplants that a Caucasian would qualify for with the same factors of the GFR equation, except for race. I have been a Radiology nurse for a long time and it was just in the last year or 2 that they removed the race factor. This is just one of many disparities in our history. If you haven’t read “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” by Rebecca Skloot, I recommend it.
Another reader in this thread wants us to find another word for racism, as if by changing the letters spelling out the idea would wipe it away...or something, anyway...which completely ignores your excellent point, which you put to us so eloquently, that racism has serious consequences. Imagine being a person dying of kidney disease and discovering one is available, but you can't have it because it comes from an African American. Such a person would not be around to discover that the bar to Black kidneys was wrong all along, as strong a piece of evidence of the rank evil of racism as I can think of.
Thank you Lucian. I do just want to clarify as I may not have articulated this well. The GFR calculation that was being used for African Americans gave a false value that indicated their kidney function was better than it was. This prevented many from getting the needed treatment and/or qualifying to be a transplant recipient, leading to a higher incidence of end stage renal disease and death in this population compared to Caucasians. I hope that makes sense.
(tongue-in-cheek) Suppose any number of dog whistle and bullhorn euphemisms might satisfy "Another reader", no?
One of my all-time favs terms Rs/cons luv saying is they don't see color coming from the group who adheres to binary choices. Not sure wat came first, they don't see color or W's I saw Putin's soul. If any group lacks insight, then it is Rs/cons.
Karen, I am glad you brought this up as it hit a nerve with me. In 2010, I had a mastectomy after having breast cancer a second time. I enrolled in two case studies: one from Columbia University and the other, Kaiser Permanente. Columbia would call me periodically and ask questions. One time they called and asked me things like had I ever been discriminated against or had I been denied to be seen. I remember that I burst into tears knowing that Black women were being treated very differently, if at all, than I was. This experience has never left me and never will.
I’m sorry you went through that Marlene and hope you are well now. I have a lot of breast cancer in my family. Two sisters, aunts, grandmother, niece but somehow I have dodged the bullet so far. On our discussion about the intrinsic racial disparity in healthcare I am really hoping that is changing. In the last several years there has been a lot written about it in medical journals and is also being incorporated into Medical School curriculum from what I’ve read. So I am hopeful for change.
Thank goodness you haven’t reached that “milestone”, Karen! It took me awhile to recover as I had developed MRSA but recover I did. It took baby steps and I try to walk at least 2 + miles a day. I also stop and smell the literal roses. Makes my day so much more tolerable. 💞
Indeed. And when the subject is an ultimate cesspool, there is a need to focus on individual turds so we can see the entire range of his evil, sub-human efforts.
Jesus, am I dumbass. I thought Jefferson was smarter and more rational than that. I know he lived in a different time, but these ideas require blinders, wilful blinders. How could this square with his relationship with Sally? I don't mean to insult or cast aspersions, I'm just looking at his views as I think I would in his place.
Mark, Jefferson's relationship with Sally Hemings was nothing more than an opportunity to satisfy his own bodily pleasures. Anything he may have done to make her life easier than his other slaves was merely to ensure her continued attention to his bodily pleasures.
(1) You're not a dumbass. Proffer: "...these ideas require blinders, willful blinders."
(2) Relativism, including historical relativism is the unsupported term western civilization came up with to excuse away behavior unbecoming a hooman(s) while simultaneously supporting the myth and/or legend of an individual or a group.
(3) Q: How could this square with his (Thomas Jefferson's) relationship with Sally? A: No person can square a circle. Not even a the man whose likeness is carved OUT (rather than IN to) of 6Grandfather aka Mt. Rushmore. Will not live long enuff to see his or the others separate and fall to the floor but ~cray horse~ will.
Note: Q: Who in their right mind carves outward from a granite facia rather than in to? A: The same guy who honored the North Carolina traitorous CSA, that's who!
Lucian, it is to prevent the teaching of exactly the kind of evidence and narrative you present in this column that the Republicans – unfortunately, especially so in my state, Florida – are so against teaching the true history of the United States. For the good of us all, keep beating this drum! Racism and white supremacy in all their forms are execrable, and must be stamped out forever.
Minor edit: "Jefferson wrote the book in 1781, five years after he wrote the Declaration, two years before the end of the Revolutionary War, and six years before the founding of the country with the signing of the Declaration of Independence." - perhaps you meant to say eight years before the ratification of the Constitution in 1789?
Thanks for starkly illuminating a side of Jefferson I had not known before. Such a contradiction to the ideals he espoused. Such a blind eye turned to the truths his scientific mind should have revealed to him.
In a word: MYOPIA.
And TJ didn’t sign the Constitution. He was in France as the Ambassador. Madison wrote the basic draft of the Constitution.
" - the war against the Tucker Carlson’s of this world and their not yet dead ideology of race is still to be fought." Exactly. The fight is never over. It may be temporarily papered over for fleeting moments here and there, but it never stays underground for long. Vigilance and truth-telling are two of the best day-to-day tools we have. Thank you for this excellent critical perspective.
We should study this founding father’s words--all of them--from elementary school and never stop studying them. For it is these words that define us. Not some declaration of absurd independence. It has taken Lucian, one of his descendants, to put them before us plain and clear.
Heartbreakingly eloquent and honest. You and your ancestor would have had some fascinating debates.
I have debated him since I was old enough to understand the difference between right and wrong.
What this writing elucidates leaves me sick to my stomach. And yet it tis imperative to keep this in our vision every day.
Grief on multiple fronts.
I am, at this moment, so burned up about that bum, Clarence Thomas, that reading about Jefferson's bigotry makes me think he had someone like Clarence Thomas in mind when he went public with his opinion of Blacks. (And who has Justice Roberts' balls, anyway?)
There are always those willing to turn on their own group for personal advantage, power, and money. Anti-Abortion women come to mind. Clarence and Ginny have done well for themselves sucking up to billionaire right wingers. People who think they are "dear friends" with powerful oligarchs are pathetic and weak. I don't know if they are fooling themselves, but they aren't fooling anyone else.
Funny, even Harlan Crow I'm betting wishes he could return the Justice (ha!) and his wife. You are quite right that Crow and the Thomases are not what you'd call organic friends. I'm also betting that Clarence has been so much trouble (of the reputational variety) that Crow wishes he had selected, say, Kavanaugh. We know *he* could've used a rw sugar daddy because he had a biiiig credit card bill that had to be cleared before he could be appointed.
I think Kavanaugh's rw sugar daddy was a very wealthy anonymous member of and big money donor to the Federalist Society and I'm willing to bet that the necessary funds were funneled through Lennie Leo.
And, I have to bark out a sardonic laugh every time I hear some bobble-headed media host speak of the "long family friendship" that Clarence Thomas claims is between him and Harlan Crow. Does Clarence truly believe that Harlan would have anything to do with him at all were he not a Associate Justice on the Supreme Court--if so, he is not a very smart or discerning person. How can he overlook the fact that Crow approached him and they became "friends" AFTER Thomas was appointed to the Court? It boggles the mind. The members of the Court are far too isolated from normal everyday concerns and public opinion; their atmosphere is too rarified. They do not need more security--they need LESS. They need to live in THIS world, not one of their own.
Well said!
Yes, Clarence Thomas is a bum. But so is Ginny, at least as much so. To isolate Clarence in your comment is concerning. And to conflate a Black man, who is highly educated, with slaves, who were denied the opportunity to learn how to read or write, is to erase a good portion of history. His failings lie not in the color of his skin, but in his moral compass.
In the mid 50's being somewhat adventurous at age 22 I left England for South Africa to work in the gold mines outside Johannesburg. We were being trained as shift bosses to head black crews, so had to do all the jobs they would have to do such as drilling into the rock to set dynamite charges. Then shovel that broken up rock into skips on rail tracks to be taken to elevators and brought to the surface. I never saw any gold as it was basically not visible in the ore which was a seam from about two inches to about two feet thick embedded in rock. The ore was black with white pebbles in it and apparently the gold was around the white pebbles. Apparently a ton of this mixture of rock and ore yielded one ounce of gold. I mention all this to show it was the white man's savvy and money that enabled them to go in to the country among a very primitive people and literally rob them of their valuable resources. The Kimberly diamond mines another good example. Needless to say I didn't stay all that long there before getting a much better job in Johannesburg and from there transferring up to Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) where I lived for about 5 years. Of course while life was much more pleasant there, the same class distinction existed, seperate lines in the post office for blacks and whites, a black policemen could not stop a white motorist in traffic, or for any other reason, I confess I was as caught up in the same sense of superiority, nothing to do with the black skin but what it represented - a whole different group of people we had nothing in common with socially. Of course they were not allowed in white establishments such as restaurants of bars, nightclubs, etc. so we had no contact with them except at work where they were employed in menial tasks. In our office we had 5 or 6 native (as we called them) employees and I was on very friendly terms with them as was my boss and the secretary and the other other two sales/service people. One day I was out in the bush at a remote location servicing the duplicating machine at a sort of a shack/office of sorts run by native Rhodesian blacks. I quickly caught on that they were some kind of anti colonial group, the beginnings I suppose of a later rebel army. There was a loud bang on the door and two of them entered yelling freedom now as they punched the air with their fists ,"throw the white man into the sea", etc. (Rhodesia is nowhere near the sea :) I just kept my head down and said nothing. Later I got to know them and would argue with them and say, when you guys take over which I'm sure you will one day. you'll exploit your own people just as much if not more that you are being exploited now. Oh no they said, we'd never do that. But of course they did, Look at Mugabe for starters. When I came to this country in 1961 I wrote to Sir Roy Welensky, the prime minister who I had met once. I said I thought that the white man's days were numbered in Rhodesia and South Africa. But he definitely did not agree, I still have that letter signed by him.
.The black people in this country had a pretty rocky start as slaves for over two hundred years so their descendents were behind from the start but they are catching up now in all walks of life and many very successful in education, in business, and the news media, entertainment, sports etc., but many still in poverty and of course where there is poverty there is crime.
A side note regarding Lucian's detailed history of his ancestor and the mind set he held at that time; his good friend John Adams was of a different mindset and they had some heated arguments. Here is a letter from John Adams to a Robert J. Evans (same name as me but not related as far as I know).
Letter to Robert J. Evans
John Adams
Quincy, June 8, 1819
". . . The turpitude, the inhumanity, the cruelty, and the infamy of the African commerce in slaves have been so impressively represented to the public by the highest powers of eloquence that nothing that I can say would increase the just odium in which it is and ought to be held. Every measure of prudence, therefore, ought to be assumed for the eventual total extirpation of slavery from the United States. If, however, humanity dictates the duty of adopting the most prudent measures for accomplishing so excellent a purpose, the same humanity requires that we should not inflict severer calamities on the objects of our commiseration than those which they at present endure, by reducing them to despair, or the necessity of robbery, plunder, assassination, and massacre, to preserve their lives, some provision for furnishing them employment, or some means of supplying them with the necessary comforts of life. The same humanity requires that we should not by any rash or violent measures expose the lives and property of those of our fellow-citizens who are so unfortunate as to be surrounded with these fellow-creatures by hereditary descent, or by any other means without their own fault. I have, through my whole life, held the practice of slavery in such abhorrence that I have never owned a Negro or any other slave, though I have lived for many years in times when the practice was not disgraceful, when the best men in my vicinity thought it not inconsistent with their character, and when it has cost me thousands of dollars for the labor and subsistence of free men, which I might have saved by the purchase of Negroes at times when they were very cheap. . . ."
Thank you, Robert. I found this fascinating.
Thank you Marlene, I hadn't meant to write so much but once I started memories came rushing back, It was an interesting time jn Africa, a lot of bug changes about to happen, A friend owned a tobacco farm. I often wondered what happened to him and his farm, but I lost touch. I know later all the white owned farms were confiscated by the black government and apparently many failed. Some of my friends were remittance men, paid a monthly allowance to stay out of England by their wealthy families as they were an embarrassment :) I even wrote a story about them, all fiction of course but based on their colorful characters, one was an heir to Colman's mustard dynasty, although he actually became a policeman. Another from a jam and jellies dynasty. Another friend, who like me was not of rich heritage was a soldier of fortune and told me many stories of his exploits. I found out not too long ago someone had written a book about him, His name was Hugh Van Oppen. I actually haven't read the book but now that I am reminded of it I will. The book may tell a different story of his death, but I remember the day well when his widow, Jenny called me to say he'd crashed his car while drunk and had choked in his own vomit. I was vet fond of him as I was his wife Jenny. He had a little business at the time named Rhodesian tracing Agency, He had a partner. They were private detectives. I see in a review of the book it talks of him killing a bunch of people in an uprising. He had told me that story and had said he didn't know if he was going to get a court martial or a medal from the queen. He later said he got the medal. Will have to see if that is in the book. https://indexarticles.com/reference/african-studies-review/the-life-and-death-of-hugh-van-oppen/ My story isn't published anywhere although I have some kid's Oz stories on Amazon Kindle. This is the beginning of my story :)
"The Remittance Men, By Robert Evans (Beginning section only)
" The scene opens with frontal view of a very large stately English mansion, with immaculate lawns, then cuts to a wide view of a large wood paneled book-lined room with a plush carpet, various paintings and photographs on the walls and a large desk by French-windows that looked out on a beautiful flower garden. Seated at the desk was a very distinguished older gentleman looking at some papers.
A young man of slight build is seated in front of the desk nervously twitching his thumbs. The room is filled with cigar smoke and a large lighted cigar is resting on the edge of an ashtray. Lord Morley looks up. “Your mother and I have discussed this thoroughly, Robert, and it is useless to argue against our decision. Here is an envelope with a one way ticket to Rhodesia. You’ll find enough money to make the trip and a check will be sent to you monthly.”
“But father, I—“
“Don’t interrupt me, Robert.”
“Sorry father.”
“Your last caper with the barmaid at Murphy’s tavern really took the cake; do you know how much it cost me to fix that? You have embarrassed this family enough and it’s not going to happen again. We sent you to Oxford, gave you every advantage in life, and you have repaid us with one scandal after another. You are my only son, and you were meant to take over the reigns of Morley’s Jams and Jellies - just as I took over from your grandfather, and he his father before him. Your present moral state prohibits that ever happening. But maybe five years in Rhodesia will make a man out of you and a responsible citizen.”
The scene fades as Robert picks up his small suitcase and heads for the door. No hugs or handshakes take place.
The scene now opens at the bar at Meikles hotel, Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia. The hotel name is seen backwards on the glass door entrance to the bar. Two people are at the bar, both young men, quite good looking. They are seated about ten feet apart.
No one speaks for several minutes, each nursing a drink and staring into space. Finally, man on left turns towards the other chap and says, “Been in Rhodesia long?”
“No, just got here a week ago.”
“Where are you staying?”
“Oh, at my Uncle’s tobacco farm just outside Bulawayo. I wanted to see Salisbury so I’m staying at the hotel over the weekend. Name’s John by the way,” holding out his hand as he approaches Robert.
Robert Stands. “Robert Morley, pleasure to meet you.”
“Oh, Lord Morley’s son? Yes, I’ve heard about you.”
“Really! I suppose my reputation has preceded me?”
“No more than mine, I’m sure. Name is John Calman - Calman’s Mustard don’t you know. Except I’ve been practically disinherited.”
“So we’re both remittance men?”“Remittance men?”
“Yes, you know? Paid a monthly remittance by our family to stay out of England. ”
“Yes. Yes. I suppose so.”
“I say, would you like to come to a party tonight?”
“Love to, old chap”.
“There will be five of us including you, and we have the Derby girls coming. Their father owns a quarry outside of town. They have three gorgeous friends, and the Derby girls are a knockout. We’ll have a blast. My friend, Tony, That‘s Anthony Lawsly-Williams (We call him Lousy Bill), has converted the family garage into a pretty good imitation of a nightclub.”
“His family is here then?”
“Well, briefly. They will be turning the house over to him in about a week and returning to England. The day after we’re all heading for Mozambique in Portuguese East Africa to see the bull fights. We’ll be totally drunk for four days. I hope you’ll join us. After that we’re heading down to Beira to tour the night clubs, indulge ourselves generously in Portuguese wine and bask in the always warm Indian Ocean. When you’re paid by your family to stay out of England, what else is there to do but have fun, eh, what?”
Not: the story goes on from there but not long enough for a book, but what do you think so far? At 90 it's a bit late to learn screenwriting but have been dabbling with it and have actually witten it in basic script format but of course even though I worked as an extra and a little acting fro age 78 to 89 I don't have real contacts in the industry. But I think it could make an interesting film as there are a few dramatic scenes later on, same with my kids stories
Wonderful. A bit like one of Graham Greene’s "entertainments," his largely humorous oeuvre.
Robert, please excuse my very late reply as my emails seemed to triple overnight. I am just catching up! Well, I want to say that I am very impressed with your writing skills and your subjects! I absolutely do think you should not put this aside but continue as I would certainly like to know of any twists and turns these characters take. You have an amazing talent and no matter your age, you should put yourself out there. 👍🏼👏🏼👏🏼
Wow, Marlene, that is so nice of you ro say, I have never thought of myself as a writer and even though I wrote a few kids stories based on stories I'd make up at bedtime when my kids were little but nothing ever officially published. I suppose as I say at 90 I'm lucky to be able to write at all :) But again that is so sweet of you. It gives me inspiration to continue and maybe get back to writing stories. My email address is ozauthor (at yahoo.com) based on the fact that as I mentioned before I think, some of my stories are based on the Wizard of Oz because my oldest boy was an Oz fan. He once knocked on Ray Bolger's door at his house in Beverly Hills, and it's a bit of a long story but the next day he posed with him for a picture and got his autograph in an OZ biography he had. I can relay the whole story if you send me your email address. To me though the real writers are people like Lucian and Robert Hubbell at least on political matters although as you know Lucian writes some great accounts of past and current experiences. .
Jefferson had a mistress who was the child of his father in law and half sister to his deceased wife.
He never acknowledged his children.
Yet he is the star of the supposed family party. You don’t need grooming when you can just own them.
I have great admiration of your position towards your kinfolk Sir.
This is so depressing. It almost seems unsolvable. Yet, last year, my niece married a Black man from Jamaica. They are both teachers. Maybe the next generation can fix it. The problem is what to do with those terrible writings. Jefferson was not alone.
Great article, Lucian. Why didn't you add that he had at least one child with his black, slave lover of many years?
I wrote about 500 word about Jefferson and the children he had with Sally and how he educated all of them as well as Sally and her brothers Peter and John. Then I realized I was writing not about Jefferson’s hypocrisy but about his horrid ideas of white supremacy. As I said above, I didn't want the column to turn into a kitchen sink. And I assumed that my readers are well aware of the story of his relationship with Sally Hemings and their children as well as the role I have played in getting that story accepted by historians and known by the American people.
That's what I was thinking when I read the column. Jefferson is a hypocrite. He's writing that Black people are inferior in every trait, but he doesn't include the exception that it's just fine for White men to rape Black women.
he might have argued that it was just such activity that might have "improved" the "inferior race." if that sounds too facile, I apologize. but reading the excerpts from "Notes," and knowing about Jefferson's personal life, I found myself thinking that it was a case of someone "protesting too much," although he wrote the "Notes" some years before commencing his "affair" in Paris, where both Sally Hemings (who was, let's remember, his wife's half-sister) and her brother were NOT legally enslaved and could have refused to return to Virginia, especially since both of them had become fluent in French and possessed highly marketable skills.
I still revere Jefferson (a habit from childhood, in which I read the same Landmark biography that Annette Gordon-Reed credits with first awakening her own continuing fascination with him. so I find it very difficult to just "dismiss" him, as many people seem to have done.
I remember watching an encounter between Henry Louis Gates and a college student planning to major in history at a Washington book fair (possibly twenty years or so ago) during which the student said he planned to ignore anything about Jefferson for the rest of his life and Gates replying that if the kid did so, he would be missing out on a great deal.
I love your new avatar picture David
I'm sure they raped them. He had a hidden place in his home with his wife for her and had a love affair for years.
And then there's the situation of Sally Hemmings. I'd be curious to hear Jefferson's defense of his extended relationship with her, and the children he sired by her. The embarrassed silence we have noted over the past two centuries need to be answered.
actually, he promised (and fulfilled the promise) that all of their children and their immediate relations were going to be freed at his death and were granted extraordinary privileges during their lives at Monticello. historians suggest that this was the reason they chose to return there when they could have easily stayed free in Paris.
I'm not insistently defending Jefferson (although I know it sounds like it). I'm just suggesting that human relationships can be very complicated, and this relationship was one of them.
You're giving Jefferson too much credit. During his lifetime, Jefferson fathered several sons, either with Hemmings or other mixed race slaves. Lucia would be more familiar with the details. The point I want to make is that Jefferson treated those house servants with no affection whatsoever, as distinct from his white-born nephews. Jefferson might have been a genius-level polymath, but his humanity was purely white supremacist. During his lifetime, Jefferson exhibited paraxisims of rage to the extent of threatening law suits against those who passed along whispered rumors of his relationships with enslaved women. Again, Lucian would know the details. That rage permeated the white Jefferson family association until recently. The power of denial blinded them to the realities of their patriarch's dishonesty an refusal to acknowledge the consequences of his own behavior.
Strom Thurman fathered a child with a black woman, to the same effect.
In fact, it still permeates the Monticello Association, the white family group that has refused to recognize Hemings descendants as our cousins since I first invited them to the family reunion at Monticello in 1999. The point of contention, if anyone is interested, isn't the "paperwork" they demand of the Hemings to prove their lineage. It's the fact that acceptance into the family would entitle them to burial in the family graveyard at Monticello. If you want to talk about racism past and present, there it is folks, alive and well in most, but not all, of the Jefferson Progeny. The six people who voted to accept our Hemings cousins into the family in 2002, by the way, were my brother, three sisters, me, and our white cousin, Marla Stevens.
The whole graveyard thing is so Virginia. Not the exclusionary part, the obsession with where and with whom one is buried.
It is very Southern also. My parents and a few others had to go to a notoriously Christian cemetery to ask for a section of plots to be designated to them. This was in Hickory, NC. Both of my parents, Holocaust victims, are buried there now. Across the highway is a motorsports speedway. During my mother’s funeral, we could hear the roar of engines. The mortuary had to call them to be silenced.
Tom could always claim, “She’s not my type.”
Arthur, I respect your thinking process. I doubt that Jefferson ever felt the need to defend his "extended relationship" with Sally Hemmings. He was, in fact, the Master of the Plantation and owned every one of his slaves, including Sally Hemmings, body and soul. Sally was just one of the slaves whom he appropriated for his own self-serving bodily pleasures.
Absolutely eye opening.
Excellent writing Lucian. This brought to mind the the medical disparity that African Americans have suffered over the years. It was only in the last several years that the way kidney function is measured was identified as being biased against African Americans. There is a formula for calculating the glomerular filtration rate (GFR) using creatinine level, age and gender. The gender related to muscle mass which is a factor in the calculation. Up until the last several years there was a separate calculation for African Americans that resulted in a higher GFR than a Caucasian of the same age, gender and creatinine level. Ultimately giving a false value of better renal function in African Americans limiting them from qualifying for kidney transplants that a Caucasian would qualify for with the same factors of the GFR equation, except for race. I have been a Radiology nurse for a long time and it was just in the last year or 2 that they removed the race factor. This is just one of many disparities in our history. If you haven’t read “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” by Rebecca Skloot, I recommend it.
Another reader in this thread wants us to find another word for racism, as if by changing the letters spelling out the idea would wipe it away...or something, anyway...which completely ignores your excellent point, which you put to us so eloquently, that racism has serious consequences. Imagine being a person dying of kidney disease and discovering one is available, but you can't have it because it comes from an African American. Such a person would not be around to discover that the bar to Black kidneys was wrong all along, as strong a piece of evidence of the rank evil of racism as I can think of.
This article explains this very well if you’re interested in reading it. And my link works.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9495470/
Thank you Lucian. I do just want to clarify as I may not have articulated this well. The GFR calculation that was being used for African Americans gave a false value that indicated their kidney function was better than it was. This prevented many from getting the needed treatment and/or qualifying to be a transplant recipient, leading to a higher incidence of end stage renal disease and death in this population compared to Caucasians. I hope that makes sense.
(tongue-in-cheek) Suppose any number of dog whistle and bullhorn euphemisms might satisfy "Another reader", no?
One of my all-time favs terms Rs/cons luv saying is they don't see color coming from the group who adheres to binary choices. Not sure wat came first, they don't see color or W's I saw Putin's soul. If any group lacks insight, then it is Rs/cons.
Karen, I am glad you brought this up as it hit a nerve with me. In 2010, I had a mastectomy after having breast cancer a second time. I enrolled in two case studies: one from Columbia University and the other, Kaiser Permanente. Columbia would call me periodically and ask questions. One time they called and asked me things like had I ever been discriminated against or had I been denied to be seen. I remember that I burst into tears knowing that Black women were being treated very differently, if at all, than I was. This experience has never left me and never will.
I’m sorry you went through that Marlene and hope you are well now. I have a lot of breast cancer in my family. Two sisters, aunts, grandmother, niece but somehow I have dodged the bullet so far. On our discussion about the intrinsic racial disparity in healthcare I am really hoping that is changing. In the last several years there has been a lot written about it in medical journals and is also being incorporated into Medical School curriculum from what I’ve read. So I am hopeful for change.
Thank goodness you haven’t reached that “milestone”, Karen! It took me awhile to recover as I had developed MRSA but recover I did. It took baby steps and I try to walk at least 2 + miles a day. I also stop and smell the literal roses. Makes my day so much more tolerable. 💞
I’m glad you are doing well now Marlene💖
You didn’t include misogyny…
That is because the subject of the column is racism. A column like this one is not a kitchen sink into which you throw everything that needs washing.
Indeed. And when the subject is an ultimate cesspool, there is a need to focus on individual turds so we can see the entire range of his evil, sub-human efforts.
Jesus, am I dumbass. I thought Jefferson was smarter and more rational than that. I know he lived in a different time, but these ideas require blinders, wilful blinders. How could this square with his relationship with Sally? I don't mean to insult or cast aspersions, I'm just looking at his views as I think I would in his place.
Mark, Jefferson's relationship with Sally Hemings was nothing more than an opportunity to satisfy his own bodily pleasures. Anything he may have done to make her life easier than his other slaves was merely to ensure her continued attention to his bodily pleasures.
(1) You're not a dumbass. Proffer: "...these ideas require blinders, willful blinders."
(2) Relativism, including historical relativism is the unsupported term western civilization came up with to excuse away behavior unbecoming a hooman(s) while simultaneously supporting the myth and/or legend of an individual or a group.
(3) Q: How could this square with his (Thomas Jefferson's) relationship with Sally? A: No person can square a circle. Not even a the man whose likeness is carved OUT (rather than IN to) of 6Grandfather aka Mt. Rushmore. Will not live long enuff to see his or the others separate and fall to the floor but ~cray horse~ will.
Note: Q: Who in their right mind carves outward from a granite facia rather than in to? A: The same guy who honored the North Carolina traitorous CSA, that's who!