Even if you're someone like me who has never seen the movie or read the book Gone With The Wind, you still know that it is considered one of the greatest movie/books of all time. I would never have guessed that this book was filled with so much racism and obvious white-supremacy. When I read the passage from the book describing African-Americans as "creatures of small intelligence" and "monkeys" who had been "elevated to the seats of the mighty" I was shocked. I can't even imagine describing another human being with such words or even thinking one class so superior to another.
After reading this chapter, a lot of things about the history of race-relations in America came into light. I couldn't believe the things I read about the Democratic party. They labeled themselves "The White-Man's Party" and at rallies turned the song "Yankee Doodle" into possibly the most racist and cruel song I've heard.
Although I knew Thomas Jefferson was a slave-owner I never really took into account the things he was saying and his actions. Does his statement about every person's right to "Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness" mean that black people aren't even people at all? The actions and statements by politicians like Jefferson, Douglas, and even Lincoln involving race and white supremacy should not allow these men to be glorified as they are.
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