Democrats love photo ops. That can be said about all politicians, but Democrats in particular are keen to get involved in symbolism and fanfare whenever possible. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is a master of producing photogenic moments for the press to fawn over, but her latest attempt to virtue signal in response to George Floyd’s murder appears to include a major misstep that would be comical if it weren’t so sad.
The Kente cloth stoles she and her fellow Democrats wore during their eight-minute kneeling ceremony (socially distanced, of course) have an ironic history as it pertains to this moment. In modern times, they are considered to be a sign of affluence as the colorful woven scarves are often more expensive than their normal counterparts. Most are prints which are more affordable, but the woven scarves the Democrats chose to wore weren’t cheap. But it’s in their historical significance that we see the real faux pas manifest
These scarves were traditionally worn by the wealthy land-owners and dignitaries of the Ashanti (or Asante) tribes of what is now known as Ghana. They were made of silk, making them not only rare but also symbolic of wealth. More importantly, they were adorned by those who were involved in the pervasive slave trade the wealthy of the Ashanti tribe embraced.
You read that right. The elite in the Ashanti tribe who wore these stoles throughout history were slave owners and even slave traders. They were a scourge throughout the reason, taking people from tribes they would conquer and selling them as slaves. According to Wikipedia:
The Ashanti live in Ashanti specifically in Ashanti capital Kumasi metropolis and due to the Trans Atlantic Slave Trade, a known diaspora of Ashanti exists in the Caribbean, particularly in Jamaica. Slaves captured by the Ashantis and sold to the British and the Dutch along the coasts were sent to the West Indies, particularly Jamaica, Barbados, Netherlands Antilles, British Virgin Islands. the Bahamas etc. Ashanti are known to be very opposed to both the Fante and the British people, as the Ashanti only traded with the Dutch in times of their ascension to becoming a hegemony of most of the area of present-day Ghana.
Democrats went to war for the sake of preserving slavery. Opposition to the Civil Rights Movement was mostly from Democrats. Their history of embracing domination over Black people is well document and apparently continues today.
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