Slavery was a Necessary Evil…Has Senator Cotton Voiced the Opinion of White Supremacists?

This statement about slavery echoes the speech made by John C. Calhoun, the seventh Vice President of the United States

Tom Cotton, the Senator from Arkansas publicly stated that slavery was a necessary evil. In the middle of the Black Lives Matter movement, the Senator did not think that his shameful quip was highly offensive.

The Republican Senator introduced a bill named Saving American History as he feels that there is an unspoken attack on America.

He is fighting against project 1619. It is an uplifting initiative developed by Nikole Hannah-Jones which wants to reframe US history teaching around the first arrival of slave ships.

In this article, I want to first write about the origins of the project before analysing the statement made by the Senator and inspired by John C. Calhoun.

The latter became vice president in 1825 and was a staunch defender of slavery. Calhoun is a hero to White Supremacists around the world.

Cotton believes that America is in danger so he introduced a bill to stop funding for the 1619 project.

Donald Trump agrees with the Senator as he stated on Fox News:

“ I just look at schools, I watch, I read, I look at stuff…They want to make the 1619 project. Where did that come from? What does it represent? I don’t even know.”

The project is the brainchild of Nikole Hannah-Jones who is a journalist and civil right activist. She became a reporter for the New York Times in 2015 and won the Pulitzer price this year.

On August 14 2020, the Times published brilliant essays, poems and fictions to coincide with the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the first slave ships in 1619.

The response was so overwhelming that various educators started to question the way slavery is taught in schools.

The project wants to highlight the contribution of African Americans and make slavery an integral part of American history.

“Our democracy’s founding ideals were false when they were written. Black Americans have thought to make them true.”(Nikole Hannah-Jones)

Advocates of the initiative believe it is necessary to review the teaching of US history in schools. Sceptics think it as an attack on the system led by liberals.

The criticism of the 1619 project stems from the deep rooted belief that black people should remain silent subjects of the USA.

Tom Cotton was comfortable enough to state that slavery was a necessary evil because he knew many would agree with him.

Since Trump has become President, racist quips have been normalised so the Senator has in effect voiced the opinion of White Supremacists.

As we previously mentioned, John C. Calhoun, vice president under John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson, was a fierce defender of slavery.

In 1837, he made a speech on the Senate floor about how slavery was a necessary evil. He stated that the peculiar institution benefited both masters and slaves.

According to Calhoun, black people were savages but became civilised under the slave system. The institution was thus a positive good.

His speech became a reference to many White Supremacists who are now thriving under the current administration.

Conclusion

In this article, we explained what was the 1619 project and the inspiration behind the racist statement of Tom Cotton. He publicly stated what many racists really think of slavery.

It is now more important than ever to destroy White Supremacy which is represented by the current President.