Michael Harriot: This thread is contraband

[Nevilledog]

https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1598441500651974657.html

A lot of people in this thread are saying: “Yeah, it’s cringeworthy, but what’s specifically wrong with this?”

@franklinleonard laid it out perfectly but there’s another question that needs to be asked.

Why are you reading this thread?

A thread.

Link to tweet

First of all, this picture is of the actual person from the movie “Emancipation”

The reason this photo exists is interesting. See, a lot of people, including a Senate candidate named Herschel Walker, falsely believe Civil War soldiers “freed the slaves.”

Yes, the Confederacy fought to KEEP SLAVES but the Union didn’t fight to end slavery.

Saying the Union fought to end slavery is like saying we fought WWII to end the Great Depression. This is not an opinion. In fact, let’s ask a guy named Abraham Lincoln



And when the Civil War started the troops were under direct orders not to free enslaved Africans. But, just as the American Revolution could be considered the largest slave rebellion, enslaved Black people noticed all those white people fighting and said:

“This is our time”

A month after the War Between the Whites began, on May 23, 1861 Frank Baker, Shepard Mallory and James Townsend were working in a spot not far from where this ship called the “White Lion” landed in 1619 with “20 & odd” African captives

They were working for the Confederate Army. But as soon as they got the chance, they stole a skiff TOOK OFF.

When Confederate Major John B Cary asked for his property back, Union Major Gen Benjamin Butler refused (He was not the guy who aged backwards, he was a lawyer.)

Citing the rules of war, Butler said he had the right to seize the property of the enemy.

Following Butler’s announcement, congress passed the Confiscation Act of 1861. They were NOT allowed to free the enslaved; they were allowed to seize Confederate “property.”

In fact, They could only confiscate this human “property” if the property reached Union lines. Why is this important?

Well, here is my point and the point of Black historians for CENTURIES:

The slaves freed themselves.

Of course, wypipo do get some credit… Kinda

See, there was this one Gen who was aight but he was from NY and stationed in SC, the “slave capital of the world.” He had no idea what was going on until this Black nurse came to help him out. She talked to enslaved ppl, gathered intel and found paths for raids.

Now, everyone knew she was good at what she did but she kept telling Hunter that they would have a lot more help if they just set all these Black people free. He tried to explain the law but she didn’t wanna hear all that. Plus, she was essentially working for free!

Hunter liked her so much that on April 25, 1862, he went rogue and issued Gen Order No. 11.

Lincoln was FURIOUS! He didn’t play this! He knew it would make the South mad.

This MF was out there freeing slaves.

To be fair, he should’ve blamed Hunter’s volunteer Black, female spy



Some woman named Harriet Tubman.

Lincoln actually rescinded the order. Then he noticed something:

Gen Order #11 worked!

Not only did it impoverish Confederates & erase their labor advantage, the freedmen wanted to join the fight & free others!

The slaves freed themselves

So Congress passed ANOTHER confiscation act. This time, it explicitly allowed the Army to seize Confederate property said once the human “property” was seized, they were free.

It also allowed the Union Army to recruit self-emancipated freedmen.


http://www.freedmen.umd.edu/conact2.htm
Not only did the 1st and 2nd Confiscation Acts help turn the tide of the war, they served as the prequel for another maneuver

See, Lincoln rescinded Gen. Order #11 bc legal scholars back then (& now) say a president can’t take ppl’s property. Others say he can do it during war

But when CONGRESS passed the 1st & 2nd Confiscation Acts, they gave Lincoln the legal & political standing to cross a line and go all in with…

The Emancipation Proclamation

What does this have to do with a movie premiere?

Well, despite what ol boy with the pocket slave pic would have you believe, this history hasn’t been destroyed. It’s not taught because WHITE PEOPLE CONTROL IT.

This muhfucker is walking around with that pic because he honestly thinks keeping a valuable piece of Black history IN HIS POCKET is somehow applause worthy. He thinks he is doing is a favor by trotting out this photo when it’s time for him to make millions off of it.

This history isn’t destroyed. WHITE PEOPLE OWN IT.

Now here’s another story.

I first saw this picture in a book called “The Black Book”

It is filled with songs, slave narratives and a LOT of history.

More than any book that ever existed, it sparked my love for history.



For years, it was out of print and a hard copy might cost you HUNDREDS of dollars on the secondary market. I am fortunate enough to have the resources to own multiple copies. Sometimes I will buy one as a present for people.

It is back in print now.

The story is interesting because it was created by a Black Woman who initially worked in Random House’s textbook division & say how Black history was taught. She eventually became a Sr editor & fought to create this book. But she worked in FICTION

She KNEW it was needed but everyone said she didn’t know what she was talking about..
The editor found a city employee named Middleton Harris who had a HUGE collection of Black memorabilia SPECIFICALLY to keep it out of the hands of dudes like this.

Turns out, she was pretty good at her job; The Black Book was a NY Times bestseller.

My point is this

People would love to believe that Black history has been destroyed or that people don’t care about it.

It is alive. Black people WANT IT. We will BUY IT. It is obscured by gatekeepering profiteers and people who think they’re doing something by keeping it in a glass jar

We know this. That editor knew it. And she knows a little something about gatekeepers and what people want. You may have heard of her

Her name is Toni Morrison.

Anyway, the photo in the white man’s pocket is not a photo of a slave.

This is a photo of a man who FREED HIMSELF.

And after he freed himself, he signed up to FIGHT to free others. Where did he go?

Well, when Frank Baker, Shepard Mallory and James Townsend hauled ass in that skiff, to free themselves, they were considered stolen property.

Basically, they stole themselves

And so when thousand of slaves began stealing themselves, the Union set up camps for this stolen property.

But they were not called “emancipation camps” or “freedom camps.” They wouldn’t be free until the 2nd confiscation act. They wouldn’t be citizens until the 14th amemndment

Until then, they were essentially a separate class of people, somewhere between stolen property and freedom, like an inanimate object America tucked in its back pocket and now pulls out for pats on the back.

Their actual LEGAL status was:

Contraband.

And 160 years later, Black History has the same status

But you don’t have to wait until the Pocket slave producer dies and donates his property to another white man.

Or maybe you do. If you live in Fla, TX, Ga, TN and other states…

This thread is contraband

[W_HAMILTON]

1. To me, Michael Harriot will always be the guy that called Biden a liar...

...for his "Corn Pop" story, which actually ended up being true.

Harriot has no credibility with me. Maybe he still makes some salient points, but I'm sure those same points can (and have) been made by other commentators that haven't debased themselves like Harriot has.