A Reckoning with the History of Slavery in the U.S.: Author Clint Smith | Amanpour and Company

[@midnite22767]

Powerful interview, incredibly moving. My great-grandmother who helped raise me as a young boy was born in 1910, a mere 45 years after Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox. Its only now that I realize how recent all of these events, we read in history books actually took place. Thank you.

[@AmanpourandCompany]

Thank you for watching and sharing your thoughts.

[@chuckdeuces911]

Bot, either you're a bot or you think exactly the same as everyone else who watches this poisonous channel..

[@bsweat9230]

I remember the stories and the fear of my Grandmother when I told her I was going tocan NCAA Tournament in NC with my white boyfriend in 1970's. I was a modern black afro wearing NYC college student. I didn't think the Jim Crowe south was still alive. She wanted me to drive straight through, stop only at unmanned rest stops, do not go to a hotel on my boyfriend's arm, hide if we stopped for gas, pack our own food, etc. SURPRISE! She was right. Jim Crowe and associated minds were alive and living in NC. I survived the insults and returned unharmed. Praise God!

[@AmanpourandCompany]

Thank you for sharing your story!

[@kimwalter8753]

Wow, that's why I don't want to go down south, especially Mississippi.

[@luv2charlie]

I remember hearing stories of people from Hawaii invited to Alabama in the 1970s who were treated like 2nd class citizens and they never viewed tourists visiting Hawaii the same because they treated visitors as welcome, but when they took their dark skin to Alabama they were not welcome to eat or sleep as welcome guests! I became involved in Hawaiian land rights protests because of the stories of these I equities of rich tourists treated kindly in Hawaii and spitting metaphorically in the face of Hawaiians who would return a visit! My earliest memories were influenced by these stories.

[@dawnthierry9838]

I was born in 1960 and raised by a black woman born in 1911. She told me never to go south of the Mason-Dixon Line, there wasn’t anything down there for me she said. Imagine my horror when I had to move south in 1990. Many believe the lie of the lost cause and call the civil war the war of northern aggression.

[@LuEmanuel]

Clint Smith uses words beautifully, with nuanced mastery of the language. I am deeply impressed by his intellect and the use he has put it to in service to the United States and the global community. Thank you!

[@kimwalter8753]

Yes, nicely put.

[@harrywebb6022]

There's a lot of innocent being locked up that or original aboriginals of this land that are important to the original tribes of this land that must be released thats illegally strong arming the 2018-19 treaty that has to be recognized so there's a demand to free Larry Hoover,its Natural Law, Nature's Law,and not a fictitious maritime private corporate law...

[@aggedyran]

Another excellent interview. This is the kind of quality content that brings me back to Amanpour and Co again and again!

[@Merrypotter473]

Thank you for blessing us with the honestly, profundity, and quality of your words, Dr Smith. I am grateful to have had the privilege of listening to this interview.

[@kimwalter8753]

Agreed.

[@ekenny3425]

Dr Smith also presents an excellent series on the 'Crash Course' KZbin channel. Well worth watching.

[@bucketofbarnacles]

Knowledge of this sort needs to be shared across society.

[@rajshah9494]

What a great interview. All Americans should see this.

[@marktaylor3489]

Excellent interview and insights. This lost nation has so much to learn, admit and atone for.

[@favvids3779]

This was a powerful interview! One of your best. The Angola piece- quite sobering and exposes the pathology of white supremacy and those who seek to sustain and maintain it. Thank you. Another book to add to my reading list!

[@kimwalter8753]

Yes, that's a good way to put it. Pathology and PSYCHOPATHY.!

[@isabt4]

Thank you for this interview! I read the book (highly recommendable!) It is heartbreaking and so important that all Americans understand the pain and suffering of the terribly cruel consequences of slavery. I so agree, it really was only yesterday. Thank you Mr. Clint Smith for writing this very important book! 🙏❤️

[@elainegoad9777]

It's still only 151 years since the end of Civil War 1865. I was born 85 years after end of war and well remember how things were when I was growing up and so on. I remember my mother taking me and my sister and our black maid to the Piggly Wiggly to have lunch in the car. I remember the car waitress saying "We'll bring you the food but you can't have a tray for your food because you have a "colored person" in your car." This was about 1952 in Maryland. As a kid I never thought of our maid Gloria but as a person who helped my mother, babysat and sometimes did her High School Homework at the dining room table. I guess I have a lot of stories I could tell.

[@junkman8882]

This guy is very articulate and educated. Very little was taught about this subject in HS...

[@kimwalter8753]

That's the problem !

[@shawnsimmons1308]

This is one of the most sobering, inspiring, and informative interviews that I have ever watched.

[@AmanpourandCompany]

Thank you for watching.

[@kimwalter8753]

Yes, he's brilliant, reminds me of Dr Khalil Gibran Muhammed and Irami O Frimpong. The three of them would make a fantastic terrific round table.

[@kesart8378]

That was inarguably a truly brilliant, thoughtful, insightful discussion.

[@christophersmith3005]

If you pay attention, Angola prison is mentioned in lots of old blues songs.

[@jennifergreco1403]

Such an excellent interview. So informative, powerful, graceful and enlightening. Thank you.

[@jericheatum9474]

Excellent report, Thank You.

[@pattirockgarden4423]

Excellent, thank you!

[@RobinHerzig]

Clint Smith has a way of communicating that puts you right there in somebody's shoes. The Jefferson story + the reality of Angola's legacy / current status, becomes so real as I listen, I can almost taste it.

[@Aubrey_Harris]

All the more reason that ‘originalism’ at SCOTUS will take one down a terrible path.

[@John-cg1ex]

If schools don’t teach critical race theory, they should!

[@tammystockley-loughlin7680]

We should face our history...including the down-right evil practices of slavery and genocide of the native Americans. This white lady saw through the whitewashed of history and I stand with all of my fellow human beings in the hope of making the world better. Positive vibes from New Hampshire, remember to be kind to each other and yourself during this pandemic and social crisis

[@benhaith9056]

This Is A Time For African Americans to Address Their Identity That Was Lost When Their Ancestors Where Brought To These Shores.

[@jeangardensinIllinois]

Great content! I’m having trouble getting past the gift shop at a prison that sells “gifts” mocking the incarcerated.

[@zinaj9437]

He's wonderful on Crash Course, available on KZbin. He does a course on black history in America.

[@bonnierobinson8684]

I have heard of this project. It's a great idea!

[@sumernoel1553]

Wow, there’s just so much here. Well said & I look forward to reading this book. I’ll also look forward to visiting that museum myself & with my children. We must learn more. To think, people still visit Monticello with nary a word about its full history. We can & must do better.

[@siriuslyspeaking9720]

I don't know how much reckoning can happen, with so many people believing U.S slavery was not a bad thing, because slavery has been practice in many places historically.

[@ireneswackyjournals8810]

We live in a society that wants you to hate or love someone. The thing is that everyone has different shades of personalities. We are not just one thing. We also are a construct of our society and time period. Jefferson was a great politician, one of our best ones. He was also against church meddling in state affairs. However, like most individuals of his time, he was also a racist and had slaves. Since he founded the country, I don’t see the issue of fhe statue being in government buildings or parks. Anyone in the Confederates, was not just racist but against the very country itself. And so willing to back their ideology that they seceded.

[@bonnierobinson8684]

The true needs to be taught in America!

[@ireneswackyjournals8810]

@@bonnierobinson8684 unfortunately some people find that patriotism is hiding your past and only showing the good things done in the past. I call that false patriotism however. To love your country you have to know all of its history and failures and you want to make it an even better place to live. That is what true patriotism and loving your country means.

[@zinaj9437]

@@bonnierobinson8684 - For that reason, many of the statues that show a person with mixed reputations should be in *museums* where a more complete and accurate explanation of the person can be presented. It would give context.

[@starcrib]

Excellent commentary and reporting: this is the exact dialog and Historical context that we all need to understand DEEPLY- you would imagine that this information would be inherently understood- but it isn't on the most basic level. AMERICA WILL GROW AND EVOLVE PAST THE HALF TOLD STORY- YOU CAN SEE IT ALREADY. 🎬🌿🌎🌿🎬

[@joycesvarvar]

Simply Stated, Profound, informative and needed to help people understand this duality of the American political and social history, which continues to this day. If anything thing is going to "save America, it's TRUTHFUL acknowledgement of it's past. Without it, no matter how much window dressing is used, the past will keep rearing it's head.

[@campeau29]

Well said! and very sad. An eye-opening, if not nauseating, analogy of the comparison of a prison built upon a concentration camp with 75% of the population being of a particular demographic.

[@gtssage]

Powerful interview

[@Bholaday44]

thank you! terrific information! wonderful interview and author!

[@joycesvarvar]

Amanpour & Company, some of the best presentations available. This in my view is the real role of Television, bring the information that will allow people to be more informed about the social structures of American society. Failure to acknowledge the duplicity of the American story, failure to acknowledge America's profoundly conflicting history, caused it to struggle with reconing it past. The unwillingness to acknowledge the free labour enslaved people provided to the development of the Country as a whole, which by any moral construct, would require reparations in a multitude of ways. Denying it's true history, only defers solutions and reconciliation.

[@joanpascal7745]

Well done! Thankyou for your information 😊☺🙂

[@bettyh1100]

An important interview, I need to read his book.

[@TennesseeJed]

Angola is awful and just plain wrong.

[@benchavis1624]

So what should the state do with the murders and other criminals at Angola prison?

[@TennesseeJed]

@@benchavis1624 I don't think prison in general is wrong. I think making it a capitalist enterprise and slave labor camp on a former antebellum plantation is very wrong.

[@melbamartinez2183]

Ms Smith represent,go on .

[@ConstantGardener-q9q]

The analogy between the holocaust and Angola is heartbreaking.

[@virginia9071]

Excellent story telling for USALL - We need to learn about America's foundation not a white-washed version.

[@NBWITNESSIAM2006]

Oh. It is coming to pass as we speak 💜🎺👑 I love God. Their (man) time has ran out. History will no longer be able to repeat itself. Lol

[@msann5707]

Nor will the colonizers be able to hide it as they are trying to do with this CRT crap that isn't even taught in schools K-12. It's taught in Law schools. But I think this is in retaliation of Nicole Hannah Jones book --The 1619 Project. They are using CRT to keep the next generation from learning the truth about this countries past transgressions against a group of innocent people, bc they know the old racist inbred group is dying out and some of their children, seeing what's really going on & thanks to the internet, have changed their minds and behavior of what they have been indoctrinated to believe -- they need a new crop of misinformed, low IQ haters. But "Times Up"! Asé

[@thosethatcan]

FL so called state gov" many in there, heads just melted..from racist rage.

[@kenhunt5153]

Yes, teach the full story.

[@Kimmemore70]

People of Color, Once you accept what he is telling you; let it be the motivation to excel. Don't fall for the negative rhetoric. Yes, it's systematic. Yes, it's unfair, no it won't be changed by the people who profit from your demise. Asking people who are stuck in their prehistoric mindset, for "Your Sake won't work. Love yourselves. Once educated move back to your communities. It's going to take a combined effort to rescue those who have been tricked into " government aid" It's not going to be easy. We may never see the system, reformed, but people of color in the U.S. unite. Also, I give so much respect to those in the majority, who chose to live in the minority world. You all feel what people of color feel. I believe on a grass routes level, we can begin to make advances within ourselves.

[@dianadeane9233]

What a wonderful and eloquent presentation- and yet quite chilling. Wow, Jefferson “We are all born equal” Jefferson? Owned 600 slaves? This statement does distinguish birthright of freedom from a social construction of enslavement unacceptably imposed upon some people and not others. and yet he owned slaves… my oh my.. And the woman who opened the museum in 2016 was the daughter of someone born into enslavement? And still alive in 2016. So it’s not long ago at all is it?… Thank you for your presentation and for educating me ❤️

[@terrancel1786]

The believes of liars is definition of foolishness.

[@tomjohn8733]

I believe that it’s important that those who are descendants of enslaved people, themselves must learn not to become bitter and vindictive, because nothing hurts the healing process as modern day racism, monsters create monsters, those who believe a eye for a eye, for only forgiveness can heal a divided nation, in my experience…

[@dr.debbiewilliams]

They call them gated communities?

[@John-cg1ex]

Monticello is the American equivalent of Dachau and Buchenwald

[@TestTest-ft9xh]

Made all the worse that it still operates in Angola prison.

[@williethomas2628]

Still slaves!

[@raybod1775]

Yes, there is bad racial history in the U.S. that still lingers. Yes, the founding fathers were flawed. But we live in today’s world. In today’s world the biggest problems for those left behind in most poor Black communities are self-inflicted… violence, drugs, disrespect of authority and an unwillingness to go through the slow process of building up oneself through education and hard work to move up the social/economic ladder. Skin color has nothing to do with how well one succeeds or fails in the modern world. Anyone can watch television for a few weeks and list thousands of successful people of multiple backgrounds.

[@JimastaJ]

Completely untrue. I am an African-American myself. I come from an upper-middle class family but most of my extended family doesn’t. They didn’t choose to be born in the ghetto. They were subjected there through racist laws. They didn’t choose to be left with no inheritance, slavery and Jim Crow assisted with that. They didn’t choose to be uneducated, the funding for public schools is racist and is only funneled to predominantly white neighborhoods. And don’t get me started with how crooked the cops are. I pray to god you never know what it feels like to be racially profiled in a country your ancestors suffered in. The cop is like a plantation overseer, completely denying you human rights.

[@ikeanyanwu-ebo8973]

I think you missed the point of the entire interview. Of course there are Blacks who's situations are self inflicted but that doesn't entirely explain the ongoing economic, health and educational gaps Blacks still face. The past is never dead, it's not even past. Go back and watch again with an open mind and no biases or preconceptions. As the interviewee said, changing long held beliefs are difficult and gut-wretching but please try. The fact that you at least watched this shows that you are capable and open to change, empathy and compassion.

[@amystock4101]

Ray, you don't know what you are talking about. Do you know American Black History, specifically policies designed to oppress Blacks like redlining, educational and health disparities and now gerrymandering and the eroding of voting rights. White people have duty to work dismantle racism. Your comment is ignorant.

[@raybod1775]

@@JimastaJ My mother was a seamstress and my father was a window washer, my brother and I grew up in a poor neighborhood and inherited nothing. We got ahead by working hard, educating ourselves and not wasting money… like everybody else who gets ahead in life. Blaming history is such BS. Blaming others is BS. Most people in the U.S. who are poor are White and they lack the same necessary drive, ability to recover from failure and self-reflection necessary to figure out what they’re doing wrong.

[@WLNS4Life]

And what is the root cause of all of the aforementioned challenges? Generational Trauma. Research it and you'll see clearly just how ignorant your statement is. ugh