• ChonkyOwlbear@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    The senator is from Lake Forest, Illinois which somewhat ironically was an abolitionist town with several prominent members of the Underground Railroad living there. It has changed a lot since then and now is a wealthy conservative country club suburb of Chicago with barely 1% of its population being black.

    • Buddahriffic@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      Some abolitionists held their stance on slavery not so much because they believed everyone should be free but because they didn’t like minorities being present at all, slaves or not, and thought ending slavery would mean they’d get shipped back to Africa, despite many having no direct connection to Africa closer than they had a direct connection to Europe.

      Not all abolitionists thought this way, but it wasn’t always in opposition to racism. Hell, segregation lasted into the 1900s and there’s still a problem with police racism that isn’t being properly addressed to this day, despite the anti-slavery side winning over 150 years ago.