In his 2010 book Letters to the Editor: Confessions of a Frustrated Conservative, Arkansas State Rep. Jon Hubbard (R-Jonesboro) revealed that he believes slavery was a blessing in disguise and that African Americans do not value education.
The Arkansas Times reports that Hubbard writes in his book:
Slavery was good for black people:
“… the institution of slavery that the black race has long believed to be an abomination upon its people may actually have been a blessing in disguise. The blacks who could endure those conditions and circumstances would someday be rewarded with citizenship in the greatest nation ever established upon the face of the Earth.” (Pages 183-89)
If you think slavery was bad, you should have seen Africa:
African Americans must “understand that even while in the throes of slavery, their lives as Americans are likely much better than they ever would have enjoyed living in sub-Saharan Africa.” “Knowing what we know today about life on the African continent, would an existence spent in slavery have been any crueler than a life spent in sub-Saharan Africa?” (Pages 93 and 189)
Black people are ignorant:
“Wouldn’t life for blacks in America today be more enjoyable and successful if they would only learn to appreciate the value of a good education?” (Page 184)
Other opinions revealed in his book include his beliefs that integrated schools have hurt white students and that “the immigration issue, both legal and illegal… will lead to planned wars or extermination.”
Hubbard, who is up for re-election this November, responded to the revelations, telling a local TV station: “They attacked me because I’m a conservative, and they’ve taken small portions of my book out of context, and distorted what was said to make it appear that I am racist, which is totally and completely false.”
Apparently, Hubbard may not be alone in this thinking. His fellow Arkansas State Rep. Loy Mauch (R-Bismarck) wrote a series of letters to the editor defending slavery, writing in 2009 “If slavery were so God-awful, why didn’t Jesus or Paul condemn it, why was it in the Constitution and why wasn’t there a war before 1861?” And while not advocating slavery, Arkansas state House candidate and former State Rep. Charlie Fuqua’s (R) book God’s Law: The Only Political Solution proposes that all Muslim-Americans should be expelled from the United States and that “rebellious children” should be subject to capital punishment. Both are also on the ballot this November.
The Arkansas Times notes that these candidates have all received significant party support.
