Jefferson's Pillow

[MalignD at aol.com]

In a message dated 7/18/02 6:28:46 AM, alfredjprufrock at club-internet.fr 
writes:

<< so africans did create wealth in america. walker wasn't so wrong after
all, was she...  he he.


<<During the interview, Lopate asked Wilkins, a history professor who happens 
to be black, if the revolution would have occurred without the institution of 
slavery. Without a moment's hesitation Wilkins responded that it would not 
have been possible for Washington, Jefferson, Mason and Madison to have 
 accumulated the wealth, inluence, intellectual prowess, etc., which allowed 
them the freedom from, well, Time, to have led the colonies to independence. 
Alternative histories loomed... >>

A couple of things.  "Wealth creation" is generally used to mean the creation 
of economic wealth, i.e., production, investment, stimulus, growth -- none of 
which can be correctly attributed to slave labor chopping cotton -- and it's 
often no more than terminological sleight of hand that makes the claims of 
Afrocentrists sound weightier than they are.   

Second, Wilkins comments are entirely speculative -- what might have been if 
-- an approach to history that, taken too far or too seriously, leads to such 
schlock as "What If the South Had Won the War?" Or "What If Hitler Is Still 
Alive and Living in Bermuda?"  Or "What if the South Had Been in the North?"