It was one of the first moments in the Washington spotlight for junior congressman Mike Johnson. In 2019, the Republican from Louisiana was the ranking member of a U.S. House subcommittee discussing the controversial subject of slavery reparations. The lawmaker and his wife, who are white, “took custody of Michael and made him part of our family 22 years ago when we were just newlyweds, and Michael was just 14 and out on the streets and nowhere to go and on a very dangerous path.”
  • GentlemanLoser@ttrpg.network
    1114·
    11 months ago

    Of all the reasons to drag this guy over a cheese grater, this one is low on the list. It doesn’t indicate anything other than unfortunate ancestry.

    Still hate this closeted fuck just for things he actually does

    • Kidplayer_666@lemm.ee
      82·
      11 months ago

      Exactly. Hating someone over their ancestry is equivalent to giving lands and the rule of a nation because of their ancestry

  • Jerb322@lemmy.world
    744·
    11 months ago

    I don’t think that this is something we should be looking at to determine whether or not we like someone. Saw a show that’s that said Mario Lopez’s family was into slavery way back when.

    • ilickfrogs@lemmy.world
      205·
      11 months ago

      Nawh bro, gotta blame the guy for the actions of others for something so far back he wasn’t even an itch on his father’s nutsack. Like there’s any shortage of bad things to say about the guy that he’s completely responsible for lmao

    • chrischryse@lemmy.world
      32·
      11 months ago

      Agreed I was thinking the same thing. There could be a liberal congress person with the same ties. You shouldn’t blame them though. That’s like being related to an infamous serial killer and people blaming you for the murders even though you had nothing to do with them.

    • DessertStorms@kbin.social
      59·
      11 months ago

      I don’t think that this is something we should be looking at to determine whether or not we like someone

      “liking” has nothing to do with it, acknowledging that someone in power has generations of privilege that enabled them to get there that others don’t and which exists on their backs (and very much did not end when slavery was abolished privatised), and how that impacts society is merely stating facts.

      The facts that these facts make you uncomfortable is the issue, not the reality, and that’s for you to work out for yourself.

  • IWantToFuckSpez@kbin.social
    26·
    11 months ago

    Ok so? Did he say otherwise? We should judge him for his own character and actions not for the sins of his forefathers

  • morphballganon@lemmy.world
    222·
    11 months ago

    As far as I know, I do too. So?

    Nothingburger.

    The problem is if you want to return to a slavery state now.

    • Fades@lemmy.world
      42·
      11 months ago

      And you think he doesn’t?

      The story isn’t just about having a relation to slave owners but in combination with the disgusting bigotry and marginalization, the christofascist hate rhetoric of control, etc. It adds yet another layer of context to this problematic person who holds a high office.

      I’m not saying it deserves its own article but it’s not completely irrelevant information either.

  • circuscritic
    205·
    11 months ago

    This has to be a planted story right from his media team, right…? Because this is perfect rage bait. Trying to blame the great great great great great grandson for the sins of his slave owning great great great great great grandfather.

    Aside a right wing PR team, only the most up their own ass liberal would write this shit, much less publish it.

    I hope it’s the former, but I’m betting it’s the latter. JFC Reuters.

    • HubertManne@kbin.social
      104·
      11 months ago

      was thinking along these lines as well. who the fuck cares. hes earned his right to be called an asshole. he didn’t inherit it.

    • yesman@lemmy.world
      36·
      11 months ago

      Trying to blame the great great great great great grandson for the sins of his slave owning great great great great great grandfather.

      I don’t understand this mentality. Is it OK to have pride in one’s ancestors and their accomplishments? Why does pride get passed down while shame washes away?

      People who say their ancestors didn’t immigrate until after slavery and therefore are innocent should sit the fuck down when the national anthem is played because your people weren’t here for the war of 1812 either.

      • circuscritic
        71·
        11 months ago

        You take pride in your great great great great great grandfather…? Cringy flex but whatever.

        Okay, let’s say you do. Why should any of his accomplishments 200 years ago matter in how I judge you?

        Speaker Johnson is a little weasel rat fucking religious zealot. Trying to shame him for something so far removed is dumb, bad politics, and worse, terrible journalism.

        As for your rant about immigration arrival dates, national anthem, and the war of 1812… are you well…?

        • DessertStorms@kbin.social
          25·
          11 months ago

          Why should any of his accomplishments 200 years ago matter in how I judge you?

          I love how for your argument to work you have to ignore all of history since then and the fact that the disparity created by those slave owners doesn’t only still exist today, but is still actively perpetuated and maintained by some of those same people who now have power to make laws or at least enough wealth to influence those who do, because of and under the influence of the wealth, privilege, and systemic racism they inherited directly from those ancestors.

          Pathetic deliberately ignorant racist.

  • Sanctus@lemmy.worldEnglish
    2·
    11 months ago

    We already know people with power and affluence receive most of it from their heritage. This guy is fucken butt either way. Has he even disclosed his finances yet? I don’t want to live in the circus anymore.

  • Jaysyn@kbin.social
    65·
    11 months ago

    All this tells me is if the end of the Civil War & the following Reconstruction had been handled correctly, Mike Johnson likely wouldn’t exist.

    • Aniki 🌱🌿@lemm.eeEnglish
      21·
      11 months ago

      I love that you’re being downvoted. Southern plantation owners became the oligarchical families we still put up with today.

  • eestileib@sh.itjust.works
    11·
    11 months ago

    I think everybody whose family was in the US in that time period had ties to it; it was foundational to the entire economy. Labor in the south, trade goods in the North.

    • USAONE@lemmy.worldOP
      4·
      11 months ago

      My family came over on the Mayflower and we have zero ties to slavery. They fought in the 7th New York IR (Steuben Guard) in the Civil War from 1861-1865. So not everyone in the US has ties to slavery.

      • optissima@lemmy.ml
        2·
        11 months ago

        While your family may not have been slave holders during Civil War, slavery existed in NYC till 1827, which (after a quick search) seemed to be where the 7th was based. How certain are you that they didn’t hold slaves before 1800? I’m not saying there’s a strong equivalence, but to say your family had absolutely no ties in an area that had slavery for 200 years might be a little too confident?