A Virginia city official argued with a local NAACP head by claiming that God, not government, ended slavery and racial injustice in the United States. [Thomas] Dunn, a Town Council member in Leesburg, strongly disputed claims made by Phillip Thompson, president of the Loudon County chapter of the NAACP, during a public hearing over setting up a diversity commission in the city, reported the Washington Post. Thompson had said that “if the government hadn’t intervened, I would still be a slave in the field picking cotton,” dismissing claims by an earlier speaker who said the government should not be involved in civil rights matters…. “Shame on you, Mr. Thompson, for throwing slavery into this discussion,” Dunn said.
It’s been said that we all have a role to play…and sometimes that role is to serve as a cautionary tale to others, which seems to be the role of one Thomas Dunn. The living illustration of John Cleese’s theory that the truly stupid are too intellectually deficient to recognize that they’re stupid, Dunn appears to have embraced his role in life with gusto.
Sure, I could point out the historical record, which indicates that government did in fact end slavery and that racial injustice has yet to be defeated, but why would I deny Dunn his 15 minutes of infamy and epic self-delusion?
Dunn’s intellectual and moral deficiencies aside, it seems that he’s Exhibit A for why a diversity commission might just be a good thing in Leesburg. His outrage at slavery being brought into the conversation only serves to demonstrates how little he understands or cares about the plight of those not fortunate enough to be born with white skin. He’s inhabited his hermetically sealed bubble of White privilege for so long that he appears immune to the idea that his experience as part of the White majority might not be universal.
“There are people who feel that … government is supposed to be the answer to everything, and Mr. Thompson, I don’t believe that government freed our slaves we had in this country,” he continued. “That was an evil that this country had. It was the hand of God touching the hearts of man that freed those slaves.”
Dunn said only God had the ability to end racism.
Think about that for a moment, because it would seem to stand as an indictment of the God Dunn professes to revere. What sort of humane Supreme Being would allows generations to be oppressed by slavery…just so He/She could take credit for ending it?
And who in their right mind would even think to entertain the possibility that racism has been ended- by God or anyone else? The only thing missing here is Dunn offering the “Some of my best friends are Black” argument. Given enough time, I suspect he would have served it up posthaste.
“Any shortfalls that we have in how we handle different cultures and races, that’s holding yourself up too high, because that has to come from God,” Dunn said.
“Jesus said, ‘I give you one commandment, and that is to love one another,’” he continued. “He could have said, ‘Go out and create a diversity commission’ - but he didn’t.”
Thompson said later that Dunn’s comments were both offensive and inaccurate.
“I’m an attorney, and this is basic constitutional law: The 13th Amendment ended slavery,” Thompson said. “I thought it was just a callous, dismissive remark on his part.”
Callous and dismissive is only the beginning of Dunn’s demonstrating his stunning ignorance of American history. Never mind his religious bigotry and self-righteousness.
Thomas Dunn is a perfect example of why a diversity commission in Leesburg might just be a very good thing. When you’re so deeply ensconced in your bubble of White privilege that you willfully ignore historical reality and the plight of those who’ve suffered from that reality, you have much to learn. You might start with a modicum of compassion and the willingness to listen to the viewpoints of others instead of proceeding from a place of colossal ignorance and stunning hyper-religiosity.
You might also try getting your news from sources other than Rush Limbaugh and Fox News Channel. Just a suggestion.
