Today, American Bridge released unreported videos of Mark Robinson, on numerous occasions, downplaying the horrificness of slavery. This follows the bombshell CNN report that the North Carolina GOP gubernatorial nominee expressed support for reinstating slavery and said, “Slavery is not bad. Some people need to be slaves. I wish they would bring it (slavery) back. I would certainly buy a few.” One of the new videos includes Robinson saying:
“Freedom is a state of mind. It’s a state of mind. If you free your mind, your behind will follow. Folks who are free in their mind, it doesn’t matter whether they’re locked up in prison. It doesn’t matter whether they’re working in some slave plantation. Doesn’t matter where they are, they are free. Freedom is a state of mind.”
“Mark Robinson consistently excusing, downplaying, and talking about slavery in terms you’d expect to find on a racist messaging board is just another reason he is so unqualified to be governor,” said American Bridge spokesperson Philip Shulman. “Mark Robinson’s rhetoric is once again not only disqualifying but also dangerous.”
In addition, Robinson criticized government assistance programs because on “slave plantations” there “were no social programs, weren’t no welfare checks.” More recently, he said “instead of giving slave shacks, slave shacks and shackles they decided they were going to give them welfare checks and the ghetto.”
Robinson also claimed “there is no such thing in the U.S. as systematic racism.” He even went so far as to say he was not ashamed of America’s history of slavery because Black people “thrived after it.”
See below for numerous examples of Robinson excusing and downplaying slavery:
Robinson Said Even If You Are In A Slave Plantation You Can Be Free If Your Mind Is: “Freedom is a state of mind. It’s a state of mind. If you free your mind, you’re behind will follow. Folks who are free in their mind, it doesn’t matter whether they’re locked up in prison. It doesn’t matter whether they’re working in some slave plantation. Doesn’t matter where they are, they are free. Freedom is a state of mind.”
Robinson Called Welfare Slavery: “They are the ones that made the laws and they are the ones that fought like hell to keep them until they found out a different way to enslave people. Instead of giving them welfare, instead of giving slave shacks, slave shacks and shackles they decided they were going to give them welfare checks and the ghetto.”
Robinson Criticizes Welfare System And Says Slaves Didn’t Have Them And Survived: “Once we got to this nation, what we had in store for us wasn’t much better. We ended up on plantations after that Cotton Gin was invented, slavery became mechanized. We ended up on those slave plantations, those cotton plantations working in those fields, working in those homes. And again. Who was it that we relied on, on the slave plantations? Were no social programs, weren’t no welfare checks. There was mama, there was daddy, there was children, and even in the midst of the storm, we relied on one another and we relied on God Almighty and we survived the slave plantations because we understood what was important.”
Robinson Said There Is No Such Thing As Systemic Racism: “There is no such thing in the United States. as systematic racism. Let me say that again, there is no such thing as systematic racism in the United States of America. The United States of America system is not racist and I don’t even need a college degree to prove this.”
Robinson Said He Was Not Ashamed Of The History Of Slavery and Slaves Thrived After It: “And there were many folks that came that travel those trips, some 12 million, some 12 million folks in 400 years traveled across the ocean to come here for the purposes of being slaves. Our leftist friends would tell us we should be ashamed of that. But [I’ll] stand right here on this stage and tell you I’m not ashamed of that, because if there’s ever been a story of victory in this world, it’s the story of Black folks in this country. Of people who not only survived slavery. We not only survived slavery, we thrived after it.”
Published: Sep 25, 2024