“Dave in Texas” gave a fiery opinion about Juneteenth when he called C-SPAN’s Greta Brawner, who took calls from viewers.
Taking calls on a live show where anyone may ring in and say anything is one of the most dangerous and risky moves you can do on television.
In 2021, Congress officially recognized Juneteenth as a federal holiday to honor the abolition of slavery in the United States. But a caller chose to celebrate the day by sharpening axes.
Brawner took the call and identified Dave in Texas as a Republican. (C-Span calls screeners to inquire about party affiliation to balance the number of calls and make viewers aware of the caller’s political perspective.)
Before getting to his “point,” Dave exchanged pleasantries saying, “Good morning,”
and noted he loved the show because it taught him much about the Democratic Party’s philosophy. He said that not a single White Democrat, to his ears, had ever expressed regret about slavery. He said that no Black person calling in had ever shown gratitude to the approximately 300,000 White males who sacrificed their lives to end the enslavement of Black people.
He said he was astonished by that observation. Dave was in the middle of explaining that his ancestors came to America from Scotland and Ireland and that his people never engaged in slavery.
Brawner ended the conversation abruptly.
Even though Juneteenth commemorates the liberation of the last American slaves in Texas, the Lone Star State has never formally apologized for slavery.
The Democratic Party’s history of supporting slavery in the South is an easy target. The left claims that a massive defection of Southern Democrats over civil rights legislation approved by the Democratic administrations of John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson in the 1960s put the Democrats in the clear on the issue of the support of slavery.
This is an easily refuted claim. Blacks had already switched party allegiance way before the civil rights movement of the 60s, having voted heavily for FDR in the 30s because of the allure of the New Deal.
