“I think it was great at the time when families were united — even though we had slavery — they cared for one another…. Our families were strong, our country had a direction.”
by Z. Byron Wolf
(CNN) - Most of the national coverage of Roy Moore‘s effort to upset the establishment in his bid for Senate in Alabama has been viewed through the lens of the sexual abuse allegations against him — but there are a slew of other reasons why Republicans were uneasy with his candidacy before those revelations were known.
For instance, his praise for the time during which slavery existed in the US.
Here’s the full passage, from the Los Angeles Times, back in September:
At Moore’s Florence rally, the former judge outlined all the wrongs he sees in Washington and “spiritual wickedness in high places.” He warned of “the awful calamity of abortion and sodomy and perverse behavior and murders and shootings and road rage” as “a punishment inflicted upon us for our presumptuous sins.”
In response to a question from one of the only African Americans in the audience — who asked when Moore thought America was last “great” — Moore acknowledged the nation’s history of racial divisions, but said: “I think it was great at the time when families were united — even though we had slavery — they cared for one another…. Our families were strong, our country had a direction.”
At the same event, Moore referred to Native Americans and Asian Americans as “reds and yellows,” and earlier this year he suggested the September 11 terrorist attacks were divine punishment.
The quote did not receive much attention at the time, but gained notice on social media Thursday night. A message left by CNN with Moore’s campaign Friday morning was not immediately returned.
Leave aside the biblical condemnation at the top and the ‘reds and yellows’ slur at the bottom and you’re left with the middle part, which seems to pine for an era of this country that included slavery, a stain on the country that will never be washed away.
But Moore can apparently get beyond the slavery part since, according to him, families were strong and people cared for one another.
It says something about Moore, who is known for saying insensitive and aggressive things aimed at racial and ethnic groups and gays and lesbians, that he could say something this incredible and not have it gain much notice. In the intervening months, he was accused of making advances against a number of teenagers when he was in his 30s. He denies the accusations, but that storyline of accused molestation has dominated national coverage of the Alabama race.
The slavery quote, which is stunning, was originally published in the midst of the report by Lisa Mascaro from September 21 — “In Alabama, the heart of Trump country, many think he’s backing the wrong candidate in Senate race” — before the Republican primary in the race, when President Donald Trump campaigned for Moore’s opponent, appointed Sen. Luther Strange.
