Quotes about turner Quotes
8 quotes
"Several things are interesting about Nat Turner's doomed, gory rebellion. First, Turner was clearly delusional and yet his response to the madness of slavery was, from our vantage point today, the most sane and heroic of all... The fact that Nat Turner may have been schizophrenic or delusional does not disqualify the inherent political nature of his rebellion. Rather, it suggests that sometimes only someone not mentally healthy- not normal- is capable of rising up against objectively awful injustice. A normal, healthy person finds a way to accept his condition, no matter how wretched. The second most significant feature of Turner's rebellion was the white response. As always, the blame was assigned to unspeakable evil, savage Negroes, outside influences- anything but what was considered normal or inevitable at the time, namely, slavery. An account of the insurrection, "The Banditti," published in the Richmond Enquirer on August 30, 1831, reads, "What strikes us as the most remarkable thing in this matter is the horrible ferocity of these monsters. They remind one of a parcel of blood-thirsty wolves rushing down from the Alps... No black man ought to be permitted to turn a preacher in the country. The law must be enforced or the tragedy of Southampton appeals to us in vain." According to the Enquirer, Turner "was artful, impudent and vindictive, without any cause or provocation, that could be assigned.""
"Slave psychology and effective American slave management (which encourages a "cheerful disposition" and "initiative) combined to produce slaves which not only turned on their own liberators to protect their masters, but turned on them in "a fine spirit." Which helps explain why there were so few slave rebellions. Not only were they doomed, and not only were they without context, but so often fellow slaves either refused to participate or worse, exposed plots and defended their masters with arms. These actions further reinforce the notion that a rebellion was not only doomed, but even the idea of rebelling was somehow not normal and perhaps evil. You rally would have to be as crazy and schizophrenic as Nat Turner to not be affected; you'd have to have voices in your head louder than those around you to convince you that a slave rebellion was the right, sane response."
"Nat Turner and John Brown were political prisoners in their time. The acts for which they were charged and subsequently hanged, were the practical extensions of their profound commitment to the abolition of slavery."
"Although they confiscated horses, weapons, and brandy, they took only what was necessary to continue the struggle, and they committed no rapes. They even spared a few homesteads, one because Turner believed the poor white inhabitants "thought no better of themselves than they did of negroes.""
"What strikes us as the most remarkable thing in this matter is the horrible ferocity of these monsters."
"A fanatic preacher by the name of Nat Turner (Gen. Nat Turner) who had been taught to read and write, and permitted to go about preaching in the country, was at the bottom of this infernal brigandage. He was artful, impudent and vindicative, after having witnessed the atrocities committed against slaves and himself."
"Just because people get divorced doesn’t mean they stop loving each other … It may be hard for two people to live together, but I can’t ever forget the reasons that made me fall in love with him. … Given his childhood, he should’ve become a dictator. He should’ve become a not nice person. The miracle is that he became what he is. A man who will go to heaven, and there’ll be a lot of animals up there welcoming him, animals that have been brought back from the edge of extinction because of Ted. He’s turned out to be a good guy. And he says he’s not religious. But he, the whole time I was with him, every speech — and he likes to give speeches — he always ends his speech with "God bless." And he’ll get into heaven. He’s a miracle."
"Lana Turner used to come in every Tuesday and Thursday. That girl can really dance, and she did at Billy's. She always asked me for "" and "." She used to like to dance with young , who used to win all of Billy's lindy contests."