Needless to say, article after article are being written proving the guy who likes to write "history" books, knows next to nothing about history.
Addressing Michelle Obama’s remarks about slaves having built the White House, Bill O’Reilly said Tuesday on his Fox News program that those slaves were “well fed and had decent lodgings provided by the government.”
His comments drew swift rebukes online. He fired back on his Wednesday program, saying that the nation’s first president provided slaves with “meat, bread and other staples” and “decent lodging.”
It all began in a 90-second segment near the end of “The O’Reilly Factor” on the Fox News Channel on Tuesday night, when Mr. O’Reilly delved into the history of the White House dating to George Washington’s selecting the site for it in 1791.
Mr. O’Reilly, a conservative pundit and the author of historical books like “Killing Kennedy,” appeared to be attempting to fact-check a statement the first lady made on Monday at the Democratic National Convention, calling her words “a positive comment” and adding that “the history behind her remark is fascinating.”
“Slaves that worked there were well fed and had decent lodgings provided by the government, which stopped hiring slave labor in 1802,” he said. “However, the feds did not forbid subcontractors from using slave labor. So, Michelle Obama is essentially correct in citing slaves as builders of the White House, but there were others working, as well.”
Twitter users seized on his comments, which were criticized as making light of the slaves’ treatment and regurgitating the antebellum view of the “happy” or “content” slave. Cont.
Story from - The New York Times
Image from - DonkeyHotey - Flickr
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