Equal Footing Quotes
A Capuchin monk and his Muslim servant had disappeared from the streets of Damascus just before the Jewish Passover. A rumor got started that Jews had kidnapped and murdered them so that they could use their blood in making the traditional Passover matzoh. This was an old disproven canard from the Middle Ages. This absurd lie, which persists in some Islamic nations, was referred to as the “Blood Libel”. However many Jews were rounded up and jailed with calls for their execution. Protests were made by countries the world over. Van Buren mobilized the American diplomatic machinery in one of America’s first coordinated diplomatic campaigns in defense of human rights. Instructions were sent to American diplomats in Turkey and Egypt to strongly send the American message and position. It was successful. See {613362}.
Wilkes was a strong advocate for the American cause—so much so that some in Parliament tried to deny him his seat in Parliament for his disloyal point of view.
The Boers were generally furious because the British emancipated the Blacks that the Boers were holding as slaves. This hurt their economic interests. But according to this woman in the middle of it all, the worst of it was the insult of giving the Blacks political and functional equality. This was really very similar to most American Southern racist feeling during Reconstruction. Racism is very pernicious, in that the remedies always bring about insult and anger because the belief structure of slavery and discrimination must be based in a theory of inferiority.
