Everyone is still talking about the amazing DNC speech Michelle Obama delivered on Monday. One of the hot topics was when she stated, “I wake up every morning in a house that was built by slaves, and I watch my daughters — two beautiful, intelligent, black young women — playing with their dogs on the White House lawn.” While her statement was met with mixed reviews, it was Fox News host Bill O’Reilly’s response that really had social media going crazy.
For some reason Bill felt the need to add on to what Michelle said as if what she said was a misrepresentation on what actually happened.
“Slaves did participate in the construction of the White House,” O’Reilly said on his show last night adding that “free blacks, whites and immigrants also worked on the massive building.”
He goes on to say the slaves who did build The White House we’re fed a good diet and had “decent lodging.”
“Slaves that worked there were well fed and had decent lodgings provided by the government, which stopped hiring slave labor in 1802,” he said. “However, the feds did not forbid subcontractors from using slave labor. So, Michelle Obama is essentially correct in citing slaves as builders of the White House, but there were others working, as well.”
Even though he indirectly agreed with FLOTUS on her statement, Twitter still ate him up for his poor understanding of Michelle’s words.
Bill did clap back on Twitter at the backlash
While many historical journalists do agree for both sides, one has to wonder how do you measure how well someone is being treated when they are a slaves and you have never been in their shoes to begin with. Welp, tell us what you think and let’s chat below.
Check out the rest of his segment below
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