> Mathew Carey,[2] a prominent local publisher and bookseller, who had emigrated to America a decade earlier, wrote and published an account of the epidemic, A Short Account of the Malignant Fever. Despite praising Allen and Jones, Carey suggested that local African Americans had not only caused the outbreak, but that some had stolen from abandoned homes and otherwise profited from it. Carey’s pamphlet was published in three editions in as many weeks.
This sounds so much like what we might read on the Internet now. Of course today's propaganda pamphlets can get a much larger audience, much more quickly.
"Upon finishing his speech to the six hundred or so mostly white abolitionists, Douglas was met with “a universal burst of applause” and seven hundred copies of the above-featured pamphlet were subscribed to on the spot."
Please don't use HN for ideological battle or repetitive flamewar. It's tedious, predictable, and nasty. If you don't find this article interesting, there are plenty of others to look at.
Edit: we've had to warn you about this sort of thing before. We ban accounts that keep doing this, regardless of what they're warring for or against, so please stop doing it. We want curious conversation here.
> I've been steeped in the doctrine of not emphasizing things like skin colour over almost anything else
Regardless, much of the world does emphasize it; there is a lot of racism going on. I hear white people in the US express it with some regularity, especially in the last few years. In Internet forums (not HN) you can find it quite a bit. Should black and brown people pretend it's not happening? How should it be addressed if we can't talk about it?
> reignite conflict
Conflict seems obviously ignited for awhile, especially in the last few years.
> to improve their own and their groups perspectives to the detriment of the rest of society
I think that perspective is fundamental to racism: We are divided into groups based on skin color. Certainly some people divide us that way (see my first comment, above), but if we look at each other as humans, and that skin color means little (except for racism), then we see fellow humans seeking fairness and justice. That isn't a detriment to me - I want fairness and justice for all (of course) and those things are not competitions - in fact, less of it for you means less of it for me.
> Imagine my disillusion after finding out this was but another article fixated on skin colour instead of one dealing with a specific type of printing process.
I had a similar reaction — I thought it would be about printing on a black background or something like that. That being said, I find the actual post interesting even so.
What do you have to say to the people who were denied a career or a life to certain extent because of their skin colour?
> I can only see this as an extremely selfish attempt to reignite conflict so as to improve their own and their groups perspectives to the detriment of the rest of society
I agree, the word troll isn't that helpful here. But I think it deserves to survive in the phrase 'don't feed the trolls' since that is the wisest thing the internet ever said. It would be interesting to know the origin, actually—I wonder if anyone has traced it.
> these issues have been solved a long time ago where I live
I can't think of anywhere where that is true, but perhaps you can give us examples, even of places besides where you live.
Usually I hear similar claims from people who are not directly targeted by the discrimination. They don't see it and (IME) don't want to have to deal with it.
Racism must pass endless barriers to belief. No matter how great the evidence, people seem to demand more.
Please don't take HN threads further into flamewar, regardless of how wrong someone else is or you feel they are. It only makes everything worse. Crossing into personal attack is particularly not cool.
Thinking racism has been a "solved" problem for a "long time" is just incredibly naive. Have you considered historical injustice still effect the present day? Have you considered other people's experiences when they tell you racism still exists and has a major impact on their lives?
This sounds so much like what we might read on the Internet now. Of course today's propaganda pamphlets can get a much larger audience, much more quickly.