Quanell X vs. Matt Patrick on Racial Progress

Another televised Fox News Face Off “debate” between Houston activist Quanell X and radio host Matt Patrick had its funny moments, like when Quannell X told Patrick that whenever he talks to him, he thoroughly understands the United Negro College slogan: a mind is a terrible thing to waste.

This was a rejoinder to Patrick’s remark that Barack Obama uses race and the division of race to advance his agenda. He also accused Al Sharpton and the Rev. Jesse Jackson of wanting to see the races at odds with each other. “It helps keep them in business,” he claimed.

The passing of police brutality victim Rodney King brought the two together to take a look at progress made, if any, since the April 1992 Los Angeles riots, and Quannell tried to get the conversation back on track by pointing out that what the communities need to do is pay police officers more to attract a better quality police force, but Patrick insisted that there are people who deliberately instigate turmoil. He said Quannell has been known to do it on occasion himself.

“We’ve been at odds with each other since we came over on the slave ships,” Quannell said, pointing out the many racial injustices his people have been subjected to.

Patrick told Quannell not to blame him for the slave ships. He had nothing to do with that and said it’s time to let that resentment go. Quannell said that he does not blame Matt Patrick or the current generation of Caucasians but “at the end of the day, slavery gave a great leg up to Caucasian Americans so you did inherit that awful legacy and you also inherited the great benefits of slavery.” This apparently shut Patrick down because that’s where it ended.

But wait a minute there, Quannell. How about the abolitionists and their descendants, the Union soldiers, President Lincoln? What about the people who are descendants of post-Civil war immigrants? People who came to this country after the Civil War with just the shirts on their backs? People of all races and nationalities — how did they inherit the awful legacy and benefits of slavery?

And let’s even look at a white southerner like, say, celebrity chef Paula Deen? Paula recently appeared on “Who Do You Think You Are,” where she found out her 5x great grandfather was a rich slaveowner who had to swear formal allegiance to the United States in order to obtain a pardon for the crime of treason after the Civil War. He also had to prove he had freed all his slaves. But Paula knew nothing about this. Her early life was no bed of roses, suffering from agoraphobia and never venturing out of the house. She started her cooking career out of that adversity. So even though her own ancestor owned slaves, what benefit could have possibly trickled down through the generations to Paula’s kitchen?