The "straw man" argument is an often used debate tactic. It's used by people who have no argument to make or can't defend against an argument made against them. The tactic is simple; you defend against an argument your opponent never made.
source: YouTube
Here's an example; if I say "white Americans have enslaved black people from Africa for centuries, and their descendants still feel the the negative effects today," a straw man argument against that undeniable truth could be something like "so you say slavery is invented by whites, white Americans even, but let me inform you that blacks had slavery as well, and many black slaves were purchased from black slave traders..." See the straw man there? No one asserted that slavery was invented by whites or white Americans, or that white Americans were the only ones to use slaves. No one in their right mind would make such a brain-dead assertion. Humans have done ugly things throughout history and slavery is no exception; all societies have used slave labor. Whites have enslaved white, blacks have enslaved blacks, Asians have enslaved Asians, Christians have enslaved Muslims, Muslims have enslaved Christians... World history is a jolly merry-go-round of enslavement, and we're not done yet, as slavery still exists; there's wage slavery and we have prisoners who are made to work for almost no income at all. And we all know that, in America at least, black men make up a disproportionate majority of the prison population. Then there's "human trafficking," which is just a nicer sounding expression for something that amounts to... slavery. And there's "sweat shops"...
This particular straw man is used to divert attention from the very real systemic racism that puts black Americans to a disadvantage to this day. It's used by right wingers whose love for their country simply won't allow anything bad to be said about it. To them racism is a thing of the past, or at least that's what they say in public; I doubt many of them really believe it. The folks at PragerU certainly want us to believe it though, as does their favorite black narrator, Candace Owens. I know she doesn't believe it, as she once won a Connecticut lawsuit as a victim of racism; her parents received s $37,500 settlement from the Stamford Board of Education after she accused a group of teens of leaving her threatening and racist messages while she was a high school student in 2007. Racist threats case filed by Stamford High student settled for $37,500.
PragerU and Candace Owens BLATANTLY Lie About Slavery
She grifts so hard... I really don't know how she sleeps at night. Anyhow, Candace and PragerU released a new misinformation video titled "A Short History of Slavery." And it opens with the white straw man that is the topic of this post. I'm going to link it below, but not before I apologize for the brain-cells that are surely going to perish if you dare watch it. I'm so sorry. The video even suggests blacks should kneel down and thank whites, because they were the first ones to formally put an end to slavery. Even if that were true, which it isn't, that's not something to be proud of. It's a really sickeningly stupid and insulting video. Again, I'm so sorry. To make it up to you, I've linked an excellent debunking of this brain-dead right wing propaganda by Vaush above.
A Short History of Slavery
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