Happy Independence Day to all patriotic Americans! And even to those of you who want to kneel during the National Anthem, or feel like the American Flag is a political symbol of division instead of unity, as the NYT described this weekend in the article: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/03/nyregion/american-flag-politics-polarization.html You may not appreciate the blessings of the United States and the liberty for which our flag stands, but it does protect your right to be foolish.
Having visited several homes of the founding fathers recently, I was feeling both buoyed by the manifestly wild success that is the United States, as well as a bit depressed by the many America-haters and revisionist historians that seem to be ascendant. When Ibrahim X. Kendi’s “Anti-racist Baby” is a book for sale in the children’s section of both James Madison’s Montpelier and Jefferson’s Monticello, it feels like the “hate America” critical race theorist side is winning the culture war by indoctrinating the youngest among us.
And then there is the ugly little problem of goods made in China. This attractive cotton flour sack towel was for sale in Monticello’s gift shop. Sadly, it was made in China – maybe by Uighur slave labor in forced labor camps, maybe by poor Chinese sweatshop workers…. but either way, I do try not to purchase things made in China whenever I can avoid it, as it is impossible to know. There are too many times when there is NO choice (e.g. try to find a cell phone from any company that isn’t made in China or from parts made in China!) So when there is a choice, I make a real effort to avoid sending any of my hard-earned dollars to support totalitarian states.
Now here’s the rub. All over Monticello and the other early presidential historic homes, you might be forgiven for thinking that the main fact you are there to learn about the geniuses who crafted our Declaration of Independence and Constitution and shaped our nation is that they were slave owners. And, you might also learn that the word “slave” may not be uttered – the new locution is “enslaved person” and woe to you, you racist, if you happen to think that, while it shameful, it isn’t the main reason people want to tour these founding fathers’ homes.
However, let’s go with the narrative that the curators push at places like Monticello, and let’s beat our breast about the evils of slavery, and the shame of it, the dehumanization, the permanent stain on our nation’s escutcheon, and the horrible brutality and complicity of so many people in that evil endeavor!!! And now, let’s ask the shop manager about that tea towel, made of cotton, in China.
Cotton in produced in China in the Xinjiang region. In fact, about 20% of the world’s cotton is produced there – and yes, that’s where the Uyghurs live (and are oppressed) and even “enslaved” by the Chinese Communist Party and forced to pick cotton. A recent LA Times article discusses this at length: https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2021-05-28/china-uighurs-cotton-forced-labor
So, isn’t it fair to think that there is a 1 in 5 chance that this cotton tea towel sold at Monticello was made by slave labor?
The shop manager was unavailable to discuss this, not surprisingly. But the lovely Brooklyn-born man behind the register told me that no one has ever asked about that before….
If the people running these places were doing more than just virtue-signaling, they would immediately stop selling anything from places with human rights abuses such as China is well known for. Of course, they actually don’t care one whit. It’s just too easy to wail about the oppression of the past – no need to fight it now.
“Take heart” is the message Bret Stephens encouraged us with – he has a mixed record as the token conservative at the NYT, in my opinion, but this column is worth a read – China Won’t Bury Us, Either: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/05/opinion/us-china-covid-lies.html
I pray he is correct. And may God Bless America.