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00:00:00
Today in the Matt Wall show, as we head
00:00:01
into Thanksgiving, we're going to take a
00:00:02
closer look at a piece of sophisticated
00:00:04
anti-American propaganda just released
00:00:06
by PBS and the documentary filmmaker Ken
00:00:09
Burns. There is a never-ending effort to
00:00:11
make Americans embarrassed of their
00:00:13
history to give credit for its
00:00:15
achievements to people who don't deserve
00:00:16
it. American history has been rewritten
00:00:18
for this purpose. Well, today we will
00:00:20
debunk the lies. Also, Pennsylvania just
00:00:22
passed a law against hair
00:00:24
discrimination, which sounds absurd, and
00:00:26
it is, but it's even worse and more
00:00:27
nefarious than you think. We'll talk
00:00:29
about all that today on the Matt Wall
00:00:30
Show.
00:00:37
[music]
00:00:43
>> [music]
00:00:47
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00:00:55
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00:00:56
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ends December 7th, 2025.
00:01:55
Ken Burns is one of the most famous
00:01:57
documentary filmmakers in the entire
00:01:59
world. You might know him as the creator
00:02:00
of a very well done documentary on the
00:02:02
US Civil War, which came out back in
00:02:04
1990. And over the years, Burns has
00:02:06
released several other successful
00:02:08
documentaries covering topics from
00:02:10
Prohibition to the Vietnam War to
00:02:12
baseball. His calling card, other than
00:02:14
his undying commitment to historical
00:02:16
accuracy, allegedly, is that his
00:02:19
documentaries take a very long time to
00:02:20
produce. And in turn, they also take a
00:02:22
very long time to watch. Several of his
00:02:24
films are more than 11 hours in length.
00:02:27
And thanks to his deal with PBS, they're
00:02:28
often available for free to anyone who
00:02:30
wants to watch them. A Ken Burns
00:02:32
documentary, in other words, is
00:02:34
something of an event in the world of
00:02:36
non-fiction filmm. When Ken Burns comes
00:02:38
out with something new, a lot of people
00:02:40
pay attention. And your tax dollars,
00:02:42
which are distributed to Burns via PBS,
00:02:44
a public broadcaster, give his films the
00:02:47
impromature of a of a legitimate
00:02:50
important historical record. But his
00:02:53
most recent project, a six episode
00:02:55
12-hour marathon called the American
00:02:57
Revolution, is not in fact a legitimate
00:03:00
or important historical record. It is in
00:03:02
many respects a very well prodduced
00:03:05
piece of propaganda. Now, online you may
00:03:07
have seen some commentators dismiss the
00:03:09
production as woke for one reason or
00:03:12
another, but it's actually far more
00:03:14
insidious than than that. If it was just
00:03:16
another woke production, it'd be very
00:03:19
easy to dismiss. You know, when you
00:03:21
think of a woke production, you think of
00:03:22
a, you know, of rampant DEI casting,
00:03:27
equity focused writing, making the whole
00:03:29
thing unwatchable. You think of a show
00:03:31
that you can just write off and forget
00:03:33
about entirely. When you when you think
00:03:34
of a woke film about the American
00:03:36
Revolution in particular, you imagine
00:03:39
something where George Washington is
00:03:41
portrayed as like a green-haired black
00:03:44
bisexual. You know, something over the
00:03:45
top and egregious, something that nobody
00:03:47
would take seriously. Well, that's not
00:03:50
the case with the American Revolution.
00:03:51
Most of this documentary, I'd say around
00:03:53
70 to 80% of it is actually quite good.
00:03:57
Even if you've read a lot of books about
00:03:59
the Revolutionary War, you'll probably
00:04:00
pick up a thing or two. You get a bird's
00:04:03
eyee tactical view of major battles in
00:04:06
the war, complete with graphics showing
00:04:08
troop movements. You get a lot of
00:04:10
primary sources, including quotes from
00:04:12
key figures, as well as a few
00:04:14
interesting segments on the logistical
00:04:15
challenges facing the combatants. You
00:04:17
learn about uh battles in the American
00:04:19
South during the war, which most people
00:04:20
don't know anything about. The visuals
00:04:22
and audio are are pleasing enough. So,
00:04:25
it's a very solid effort 80% of the
00:04:28
time. And that makes the remaining 20%
00:04:31
of this film worth talking about. You
00:04:35
know, the American Revolution by Ken
00:04:36
Burns is a is a masterclass in
00:04:38
propaganda because it weaves complete
00:04:40
nonsense and I mean total garbage
00:04:43
gibberish
00:04:45
into a very compelling and factually
00:04:47
accurate narrative of the Revolutionary
00:04:49
War. So, as best as I can, I'm going to
00:04:52
go in order here through some of the
00:04:54
more objectionable moments in the
00:04:55
series. And we'll start, of course, at
00:04:57
the beginning during the introduction of
00:04:59
the very first episode. This is the
00:05:02
moment that sets the tone and makes it
00:05:05
clear what Burns is going to attempt to
00:05:08
do with this documentary. Watch. Long
00:05:11
before 13 British colonies made
00:05:14
themselves into the United States, the
00:05:17
six nations of the Irakquay Confederacy,
00:05:20
Senica, Kauga, Anandaga, Tuscarora,
00:05:24
Onida, and Mohawk had created a union of
00:05:28
their own that they called the Hodonosi.
00:05:32
A democracy that had flourished for
00:05:34
centuries.
00:05:36
>> We heartily recommend union.
00:05:39
We are a powerful confederacy and by
00:05:43
your observing the same methods our wise
00:05:45
forefathers [music]
00:05:46
have taken, you will acquire fresh
00:05:48
strength and power. Therefore, whatever
00:05:52
befalls you, never fall out one with
00:05:56
another.
00:06:00
In the spring of 1754, [music]
00:06:03
the celebrated scientist and writer
00:06:05
Benjamin Franklin proposed that the
00:06:08
British colonies form a similar union.
00:06:11
>> So you heard that correctly. The six
00:06:13
Indian tribes of the Irakcoy
00:06:15
Confederacy, according to the narrator,
00:06:17
were a thriving democracy and the
00:06:20
founding fathers would go on to create a
00:06:23
similar union. So the implication is
00:06:25
that Ben Franklin saw what the Ukraoy
00:06:27
had achieved and like a typical white
00:06:30
colonialist demon he cribbed their work
00:06:33
for the Declaration of Independence and
00:06:34
the Constitution. Our system of
00:06:36
government is based on the appropriation
00:06:39
of marginalized people. That's the idea.
00:06:42
We owe our democracy to the Indians
00:06:44
basically. So this is the opening
00:06:47
argument of this documentary. Now never
00:06:50
mind the fact that the didn't even have
00:06:52
a written language. Never mind the fact
00:06:54
that they didn't hold any kind of
00:06:56
election at all to choose their leaders.
00:06:58
Never mind the fact that clanmothers,
00:07:00
the Indian elders who actually selected
00:07:01
the leaders, obtained their power
00:07:03
because of hereditary right, meaning
00:07:05
their bloodline. Never mind the fact
00:07:07
that there wasn't anything like a
00:07:09
western democracy in any Indian tribe
00:07:11
anywhere in the hemisphere. Despite all
00:07:14
this, we're supposed to conclude that
00:07:16
because a bunch of tribes were able to
00:07:17
band together and form a primitive
00:07:19
confederacy, Ben Franklin was was, you
00:07:21
know, sitting there taking notes and
00:07:23
ultimately created a similar union based
00:07:26
on theirs. Now, notably, Burns does not
00:07:29
tell you what he's basing this claim on,
00:07:31
which will become a running theme as we
00:07:33
go through here, because the claim is
00:07:35
obviously ridiculous. So, I'll tell you.
00:07:39
I'll give you the one piece of evidence,
00:07:41
the only piece of evidence that he's
00:07:43
relying on to make this uh absurd and
00:07:47
and remarkable argument. I mean, if this
00:07:49
was true that our democracy was based on
00:07:52
Indian tribes,
00:07:54
that's big news.
00:07:57
So, you know, extraordinary claim,
00:07:59
extraordinary evidence as we're told.
00:08:01
So, what's the extraordinary evidence to
00:08:03
uh support this claim? Well, it's this
00:08:06
letter which was sent by Ben Franklin to
00:08:08
a man named James Parker in 1751, more
00:08:10
than 24 years before the American
00:08:13
Revolution. And here's what the uh what
00:08:16
the letter says. quote, "It would be a
00:08:18
very strange thing if six nations of
00:08:20
ignorant savages should be capable of
00:08:22
forming a scheme for such a union and be
00:08:24
able to execute it in such a manner as
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that it has subsisted ages and appears
00:08:28
indecisable, and yet that a like union
00:08:31
should be impracticable for 10 or a
00:08:33
dozen English colonies to whom it is
00:08:35
more necessary and must be more
00:08:36
advantageous, and who cannot be supposed
00:08:38
to want an equal understanding of their
00:08:40
interests."
00:08:42
Okay, so Franklin is not talking about
00:08:45
war with Britain or establishing an
00:08:47
independent nation or anything like
00:08:48
that. Remember, this is decades before
00:08:49
the American Revolution. And Franklin
00:08:51
certainly isn't praising any thriving
00:08:53
democracy in the Iriccoy Confederacy
00:08:55
because there is not one. Instead, he's
00:08:58
talking about a straightforward plan to
00:09:00
unite the colonies so that they function
00:09:02
more like a political unit rather than
00:09:03
13 completely separate entities. and
00:09:05
he's saying, you know, if these savages
00:09:08
can form a confederacy to function as a
00:09:10
unit, then obviously we can too. So,
00:09:13
it's a bit like coming across a pack of
00:09:15
dogs on the street and seeing how
00:09:16
they're all very quiet and, you know,
00:09:18
well behaved and then you turn to your
00:09:21
children and say, "Well, if those dogs
00:09:22
can behave, then uh then you can too."
00:09:25
And when you say that, you're not
00:09:27
telling your children that the dogs
00:09:28
invented the concept of good behavior or
00:09:31
made you realize what good behavior
00:09:32
looks like. You're not modeling your
00:09:34
parenting off of the dogs. You're not
00:09:36
saying that your that your kids uh, you
00:09:38
know, should should model their entire
00:09:40
lives after the dogs. You're saying that
00:09:42
if extremely primitive creatures can do
00:09:44
something right, then we as much more
00:09:47
advanced creatures have no excuse for
00:09:50
failing in that regard. That that's what
00:09:52
he's saying. As Rich Lowry writes in the
00:09:55
New York Post, there are other major
00:09:56
problems with the logic here as well.
00:09:58
Quote, the have no role in our
00:10:00
constitutional history. The scholar
00:10:01
Robert Nadson has noted the Urkcoy don't
00:10:04
show up as a model in the 34 volume
00:10:06
journals of the Continental Congress,
00:10:07
the three volume collection, the records
00:10:09
of the federal convention, in other
00:10:10
words, the constitutional convention, or
00:10:12
the more than 40 volume documentary
00:10:14
history of the ratification of the
00:10:15
Constitution. In other words, Burns
00:10:18
deliberately left the viewer with the
00:10:19
impression that the Indians, despite
00:10:21
being illiterate savages, by Ben
00:10:24
Franklin's own testimony, had somehow
00:10:27
influenced Ben Franklin and the founding
00:10:29
fathers and laid the groundwork for our
00:10:31
system of government.
00:10:34
In in reality, the Urkcoy had created a
00:10:36
loose confederacy, which was vaguely
00:10:38
similar to many other similar
00:10:40
confederies throughout history,
00:10:43
including the Confederacy called the
00:10:44
Delian League, which the Greeks
00:10:46
established to resist the Persian
00:10:47
Empire, except the Greeks actually had a
00:10:48
written language and great philosophers,
00:10:51
which the Ukra obviously didn't. And
00:10:54
Franklin, decades before the revolution,
00:10:56
was just blowing off steam in a letter
00:10:58
to a friend. And and so that's the story
00:11:01
here. That's the whole story. But we
00:11:03
should move on because the documentary
00:11:04
only gets worse from here. But it's bad
00:11:07
often in a subtle way. So you have to
00:11:10
take a little bit of time to decode the
00:11:12
propaganda which which is what makes the
00:11:13
propaganda so effective. For example,
00:11:16
see if you notice anything odd about
00:11:18
this moment from the first episode. This
00:11:20
is about 20 minutes in. Watch. Slavery
00:11:24
was legal everywhere from New Hampshire
00:11:27
to Georgia. Many of the black people
00:11:30
living in the colonies had been born
00:11:32
there or in the Caribbean,
00:11:34
but tens of thousands were from West
00:11:37
Africa, captured from what is now Sagal,
00:11:40
Gambia, and Gabon, Angola, Congo, and
00:11:44
the Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Cameroon, and
00:11:48
Ghana.
00:11:49
>> Now, when you're trying to sniff out
00:11:51
propaganda,
00:11:52
what you have to look for is the passive
00:11:54
voice. And anytime you hear the passive
00:11:56
voice, you should ask yourself, who's
00:11:58
the subject of this sentence? Now, think
00:12:01
of it this way. If you hear somebody
00:12:03
say, "John was stabbed to death." Your
00:12:06
first question is going to be, "Well,
00:12:08
who did it?" Be a lot more
00:12:10
straightforward and clear if the
00:12:12
sentence said, "Bob stabbed John to
00:12:14
death." Then you wouldn't need to ask
00:12:15
the question. Now, Ken Burn knows Ken
00:12:18
Burns knows that. He's a he's a good
00:12:20
filmmaker.
00:12:21
He's an experienced writer. He's
00:12:24
intentionally omitting the subject of
00:12:26
the sentence. He's willing to tell the
00:12:28
viewers that tens of thousands of blacks
00:12:30
were captured as part of the slave
00:12:32
trade, but he doesn't tell you who did
00:12:34
the capturing.
00:12:36
It it's certainly an odd omission when
00:12:38
you're talking about the this act of
00:12:40
extreme human cruelty.
00:12:42
He's completely omitting the identity of
00:12:44
the people who captured millions of
00:12:46
innocent black men, women, and children
00:12:48
and put them in chains and sold them. So
00:12:51
why would he do that? The reason is
00:12:53
pretty clear actually. Ken Burns knows
00:12:56
that these black people were enslaved by
00:12:58
other black people. The Africans were
00:13:01
enslaved by Africans. That's the dirty
00:13:04
little secret you're not supposed to
00:13:05
talk about. The white colonists needed
00:13:07
labor because they were living in a vast
00:13:09
new continent. And um they bought slaves
00:13:13
who had been captured by African kings.
00:13:15
Now, in some cases, the African kings
00:13:17
sent ships as far as away as Iceland and
00:13:19
Ireland to capture white slaves, too.
00:13:21
But at this particular time period, for
00:13:23
the most part, uh they were selling
00:13:25
Africans to the colonists. Now, you
00:13:28
might be inclined to give Burns the
00:13:29
benefit of the doubt here. Maybe he just
00:13:31
wrote the sentence poorly for some
00:13:32
inexplicable reason. But the problem is
00:13:35
that he keeps doing it. He keeps making
00:13:37
the same quote mistake. This is another
00:13:40
sequence from later on in that same
00:13:42
episode about an hour in. Watch.
00:13:47
I [music] young in life by seeming cruel
00:13:50
fate was snatched from Afric's fancied
00:13:54
happy seat. What pings excruciating must
00:13:58
molest what sorrows labor in my parents'
00:14:02
[music] breast
00:14:04
stealed was that soul and by no misery
00:14:08
moved that from a father seized his babe
00:14:11
beloved.
00:14:13
Such such my case and can I then but
00:14:19
pray others may never feel tyrannic
00:14:22
sway.
00:14:24
Phyllis Wheatley.
00:14:27
>> Phyllis Wheatley who was stolen from
00:14:30
Senagambia in West Africa and taken to
00:14:33
Massachusetts as a young girl was
00:14:35
renamed for the slave ship the Phyllis
00:14:38
that brought her and the Wheatley family
00:14:41
that bought her.
00:14:43
Well, wait a second. Who stole this
00:14:46
woman from West Africa? Why aren't we
00:14:48
entitled to that information? Again,
00:14:50
it's the passive voice. We're only told
00:14:52
that Phyllis Wheatley was stolen from
00:14:55
West Africa and sent to Massachusetts.
00:14:56
It's as if a ghost just snatched her up
00:14:59
out of nowhere.
00:15:01
But as it turns out, ghosts did not
00:15:03
snatch her up. In fact, African
00:15:04
villagers enslaved her. And they
00:15:08
enslaved her when she was 7 years old.
00:15:11
And then they sold her. And Ken Burns
00:15:12
knows that. But Burns also knows that
00:15:15
he's not allowed to say that out loud.
00:15:17
He's certainly not allowed to say that
00:15:18
if she had remained in West Africa with
00:15:20
the savages who enslaved her, uh,
00:15:23
Phyllis Wheatley would not have become a
00:15:25
published poet. She would not have been
00:15:27
surrounded by kind-hearted Bostononians
00:15:29
who taught her how to read and write and
00:15:31
how to read Latin and Greek, how to
00:15:34
interpret the most complicated passages
00:15:35
in the Holy Bible. And Burns also isn't
00:15:38
allowed to say that if she had stayed in
00:15:40
West Africa, Phyllis Wheatley would not
00:15:41
have received praise from George
00:15:43
Washington himself and become a national
00:15:45
celebrity. None of that would happen.
00:15:46
Put simply, being sold to an American
00:15:49
family
00:15:51
was by almost every measure the best
00:15:53
thing that could have ever happened to
00:15:54
Phyllis Wheatley because it separated
00:15:56
her from the people who enslaved her and
00:15:58
introduced her to civilization and she
00:16:01
became a person that she would not she
00:16:02
would not have had the opportunity to
00:16:04
become.
00:16:05
But all of that history is lost in this
00:16:08
documentary. Instead, you're simply told
00:16:10
that someone, some unidentified person,
00:16:12
stole this woman from West Africa. And
00:16:14
the only credit the Americans get in
00:16:16
this whole story from Ken Burns is that
00:16:18
they looked after her education. So,
00:16:21
it's a total croc in other words. And
00:16:23
now, again, I'm only showing you the
00:16:25
worst parts of this documentary. You
00:16:26
have to imagine that in between these
00:16:27
lies, there's some genuine good history
00:16:30
here. But then out of nowhere, I'd say
00:16:32
it happens every like 30 minutes or so,
00:16:34
you just get hit with a a massive woke
00:16:37
bomb out of nowhere. And some of them
00:16:39
are so absurd that you can only conclude
00:16:41
they were added in post-prouction on a
00:16:43
dare or something like that. This is
00:16:45
probably the worst moment in that
00:16:46
regard. Watch this.
00:16:49
>> Crisis changes people [music]
00:16:51
and it gave women different ideas about
00:16:54
what they should be doing.
00:16:57
Women [music] were the main consumers in
00:16:58
colonial society and they were the ones
00:17:02
who made sure the boycotts worked.
00:17:05
Women stopped drinking tea. Women
00:17:07
started making their own fabric. Women
00:17:09
started making toys for their children.
00:17:11
And [music] they didn't just stop buying
00:17:14
British things and start making their
00:17:16
own things. They publicized it. And
00:17:19
reporters would report, "The ladies of
00:17:21
Boston, the ladies of New York are
00:17:24
[music] the most patriotic. They are at
00:17:27
the forefront of this protest movement.
00:17:30
If women hadn't done that, the protest
00:17:32
movement and eventually the revolution
00:17:33
would have gone nowhere."
00:17:35
>> So, as you catch that, if women had not
00:17:37
stopped buying things constantly as a
00:17:39
form of protest, then the American
00:17:40
Revolution would would not have gotten
00:17:42
off the ground. So, really, the women
00:17:45
are the heroes of the American
00:17:46
Revolution.
00:17:48
Forget the men who, you know, got shot
00:17:50
and died.
00:17:51
Sure, that's a significant sacrifice by
00:17:53
any measure, but it's nothing compared
00:17:55
to the pain that colonial women had to
00:17:57
endure by not buying things.
00:18:00
They bravely put down their Visa credit
00:18:02
cards, and in doing so, they
00:18:04
single-handedly created America. Now,
00:18:07
what's great about this segment is that
00:18:08
no one at any point in this 5,000 hour
00:18:10
documentary comes back to this claim.
00:18:13
They don't support this claim in any
00:18:15
way. is just hanging there in the middle
00:18:16
of the first episode and we're supposed
00:18:18
to take it at face value, I guess, even
00:18:20
though it makes no sense whatsoever.
00:18:23
Again, that's probably the most overt
00:18:25
ridiculous moment in the whole series.
00:18:27
Most of the propaganda is more subtle.
00:18:30
So, take this moment for example from
00:18:31
episode two. For the most part, this is
00:18:33
a good episode about the Battle of
00:18:35
Bunker Hill. It tells the story of uh
00:18:37
that battle in a neutral, even-handed,
00:18:39
factual way. It also talks about George
00:18:41
Washington. And although it keeps
00:18:42
mentioning that he owns slaves every now
00:18:44
and then, nothing too crazy is going.
00:18:46
And then you get this moment. Watch.
00:18:49
>> George Washington made his Cambridge
00:18:51
headquarters in the handsome home of a
00:18:53
loyalist who had fled to England. One
00:18:56
morning, not long after he had moved in,
00:18:59
he noticed a six-year-old African-Amean
00:19:02
named Darby Vassel swinging on the gate.
00:19:06
Vassel remembered saying he had been
00:19:08
born in the house and his parents had
00:19:10
worked there.
00:19:12
Washington urged him to come inside and
00:19:14
get something to eat. He had plenty of
00:19:16
chores for him to do. When Darby asked
00:19:20
what sort of wages he could expect,
00:19:22
Washington thought the question
00:19:24
impertinent and unreasonable.
00:19:28
Darby Vassel lived to be a very old man
00:19:31
and when asked he liked to say that in
00:19:34
his experience George Washington was no
00:19:37
gentleman since he'd expected a boy to
00:19:41
work for free.
00:19:44
Washington was also shocked to [music]
00:19:46
see black soldiers encamped alongside
00:19:49
their white neighbors. Unconvinced they
00:19:52
could ever make good soldiers,
00:19:54
Washington persuaded the Massachusetts
00:19:56
Provincial Congress to enlist no more of
00:19:59
them, though dozens had fought on
00:20:01
Breed's Hill.
00:20:03
>> Now, when I saw this, admittedly, I had
00:20:04
never heard of this story before. Uh,
00:20:07
but my first thought was, even if it's
00:20:09
true, and it's probably not, this has to
00:20:12
be the single lamest attack on George
00:20:14
Washington that anyone could possibly
00:20:16
make. They're trying to find some way to
00:20:18
smear our first president, a founding
00:20:20
father, and one of the most
00:20:21
consequential men to ever live anywhere
00:20:24
in world history. And the best hit they
00:20:26
can come up with, apparently, is that a
00:20:28
black kid said that George Washington
00:20:30
was rude to him.
00:20:33
Now, even if it's true that Washington
00:20:34
was indeed rude to this random
00:20:36
six-year-old black kid in 1775 and
00:20:38
suggested that he do some chores without
00:20:40
pay, uh, there's no possible way to
00:20:42
express in the English language how
00:20:44
little any sane person would possibly
00:20:46
care. It's like saying that George
00:20:48
Washington jaywalked once and then you
00:20:51
have the big intimidating voice of God
00:20:53
narrator trying to sell it in this super
00:20:55
serious voice. Well, actually, no, I
00:20:57
don't care if George Washington
00:20:59
jay-walked and I don't care if he was
00:21:00
rude to a random kid. is like not even
00:21:02
worth mentioning in a in a in a
00:21:04
documentary on the subject. But just out
00:21:07
of curiosity, I decided to look into
00:21:08
this particular claim. And it turns out,
00:21:11
as you might have guessed, that uh it's
00:21:13
complete nonsense. Now, supposedly this
00:21:15
incident happened in 1775, but the story
00:21:17
didn't appear in print in any form until
00:21:20
the 1870s, a century later, and it
00:21:24
appeared in some kind of romanticized
00:21:26
history of uh the vassel estate. And
00:21:29
here's the here's the kicker. The first
00:21:31
time it appeared in print, the boy was a
00:21:33
guy named Tony Vassel, who was Darby's
00:21:36
father. But that didn't make sense
00:21:38
because Tony would have been in his 60s
00:21:39
in 1775. So, he definitely wasn't a boy
00:21:42
swinging on a gate. So, they revised it
00:21:44
after the fact and said Darby was
00:21:46
swinging on the gate. So, this whole
00:21:47
narrative is about as credible as any
00:21:49
other modern race host hoax, except
00:21:52
there's about a million more reasons to
00:21:53
doubt it. But Ken Burns doesn't mention
00:21:55
any of those problems with the
00:21:56
narrative. He makes it seem like uh it
00:21:58
it happened definitively.
00:22:00
And the lame hits on Washington did not
00:22:02
end there. They kept coming. Watch.
00:22:05
>> The first enslaved person to escape
00:22:07
Mount Vernon was named Harry Washington.
00:22:11
Born somewhere near the Gambia River in
00:22:13
West Africa. He was captured, carried
00:22:16
across the ocean, and in 1763
00:22:20
purchased [music] by George Washington.
00:22:23
Freedom was never far from his mind. In
00:22:26
1771, he had tried to escape but was
00:22:30
caught and brought back.
00:22:33
Four years later, he saw his chance.
00:22:37
>> Now, again, we have the passive voice
00:22:38
saying the slave was captured without
00:22:40
saying who did it. Uh Burns really
00:22:42
doesn't want to use the active voice for
00:22:44
some reason. And then we we learn that a
00:22:46
black slave fled Washington's estate
00:22:48
because George Washington was a horrible
00:22:49
person who had slaves like everybody
00:22:51
else at that time. across the world,
00:22:54
slavery was a an established and
00:22:56
accepted institution everywhere,
00:22:58
especially in Africa.
00:23:01
But what we didn't learn from Ken Burns,
00:23:02
strangely enough, is that Washington
00:23:04
also employed a lot of white indentured
00:23:06
servants, many of whom also ran away.
00:23:09
And it's a shame Ken Burns left that out
00:23:11
because it's actually a fascinating
00:23:13
piece of history that no one ever talks
00:23:14
about. This is a paragraph from NPR of
00:23:17
all places. It's from a transcript of a
00:23:19
2008 interview from historian Michael
00:23:21
Walsh. quote, "Just on the week of
00:23:23
Lexington at the beginning of your War
00:23:25
of Independence, the Revolutionary War,
00:23:26
there were ads in the Virginia Gazette
00:23:28
for runaways, and I think there were
00:23:29
that week there were something like 11
00:23:32
for white runaways and three for black
00:23:34
runaways. And two of the 11 white
00:23:35
runaways were being advertised for by
00:23:38
George Washington."
00:23:40
So, yes, the week of the Revolutionary
00:23:42
War began, uh, that it began, the the
00:23:44
newspaper in Virginia had 11 ads seeking
00:23:47
the return of white runaways and three
00:23:50
ads for black runaways.
00:23:52
Did you know that? Did you have any idea
00:23:54
that white indentured servants who were
00:23:56
treated worse than slaves in many cases
00:23:58
because they weren't permanent
00:23:59
investments?
00:24:01
Um, it's a little bit like how people,
00:24:03
you know, uh, treat their their cars
00:24:05
that they rental cars from Enterprise,
00:24:08
um, as opposed to ones they buy. Uh, but
00:24:11
did you know that that was happening
00:24:12
that you these white indentured servants
00:24:14
fleeing George Washington's estate?
00:24:17
That's the kind of thing that would be
00:24:18
interesting to talk about, but it goes
00:24:20
unmentioned. It won't surprise you to
00:24:22
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00:24:26
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00:24:31
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00:24:32
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00:24:34
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ends on Cyber Monday. In the next
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episode of this documentary, I'll be
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honest, I began paying less attention to
00:26:48
the interesting history and started
00:26:49
looking for the lies that Ken Burns
00:26:51
would try to slip in without anyone
00:26:52
noticing. Became something of a game.
00:26:55
And with that in mind, this moment stuck
00:26:57
out to me. Watch. Margaret Corbin, a
00:27:00
Pennsylvania artilleryman's wife, was
00:27:03
standing near her husband when he was
00:27:05
mortally wounded. She stepped in and
00:27:08
kept up such deadly fire that her
00:27:10
position became a [music] target for
00:27:12
Hessen guns. Grapeshot eventually hit
00:27:15
her jaw and breast and rendered her left
00:27:18
arm useless.
00:27:20
3 years later, she would become the
00:27:23
first woman to receive a lifetime
00:27:25
disability pension, but at half the rate
00:27:29
wounded men received.
00:27:31
>> This is one of those claims that, as far
00:27:33
as I knew, was accurate. I'd never heard
00:27:35
of this woman before or her alleged act
00:27:37
of heroism or her pension. But the
00:27:39
little sassy factoid they add at the end
00:27:42
about how the wounded woman only
00:27:43
received half a pension, presumably
00:27:45
because she's a woman. And you know, the
00:27:46
Americans are misogynists who don't
00:27:48
believe in equal pay. Uh, that didn't
00:27:50
didn't seem right to me. It seemed like
00:27:51
a lot like Ken Burns attempt to shoehorn
00:27:54
a modern grievance into the narrative,
00:27:56
which he does throughout the entire
00:27:58
series constantly.
00:28:01
Now, if you think about it, it's a
00:28:02
strange claim. For one thing, even if
00:28:04
they only gave her half a pension for
00:28:06
life, it's still quite a generous
00:28:07
handout. She was not a member of the
00:28:10
military when she was wounded. She was
00:28:11
there for the love of the game,
00:28:12
essentially. They didn't owe her
00:28:14
anything and they voluntarily awarded
00:28:16
her a very reasonable wage for the rest
00:28:18
of her life. And on top of that, there
00:28:20
are reasons to doubt what Ken Burns is
00:28:22
saying. Once again, he didn't provide
00:28:24
any explanation for why she might
00:28:26
receive only half pay, which got me
00:28:28
thinking that once again, he was trying
00:28:30
to lie by omission. He wanted us to fill
00:28:32
in the blanks and conclude that
00:28:34
America's founders simply hated women,
00:28:36
even women who risked their lives on the
00:28:38
battlefield. So, I looked into it and
00:28:41
here's what I found. Unsurprisingly
00:28:42
enough, this was passed by the
00:28:44
Continental Congress in 1776. Quote,
00:28:47
"Resolved that every commissioned
00:28:49
officer, non-commissioned officer, and
00:28:50
private soldier who shall lose a limb in
00:28:52
any engagement or be so disabled the
00:28:54
service of the United States of America
00:28:55
as to render him incapable afterwards of
00:28:57
getting a livelihood, shall receive
00:28:59
during his life of the continuence of
00:29:01
such disability, the one half monthly
00:29:04
pay from and after the time that his pay
00:29:06
as an officer or soldier ceases.
00:29:09
So, in other words, all wounded
00:29:11
officers, including the men, received a
00:29:14
pension equivalent to 1/ half of their
00:29:16
regular pay. And that appears to be what
00:29:18
Margaret Corbin received. I checked a
00:29:21
variety of sources, including the
00:29:22
National Museum of the US Army, the
00:29:23
Daughters of the American Revolution,
00:29:24
Wikipedia, uh the Lurman Institute of
00:29:27
American History. None of them claimed
00:29:29
that Margaret Corbin had been snubbed or
00:29:32
had her pension cut in half because she
00:29:33
was a woman. They didn't mention
00:29:35
anything like that. In fact, here's what
00:29:37
Congress did in 17779. Uh they issued
00:29:41
this resolution. Quote, "Resolved that
00:29:44
Margaret Corbin, who was wounded and
00:29:45
disabled in the attack on Fort
00:29:46
Washington, do receive during her
00:29:48
natural life or the continuence of said
00:29:50
disability the one half of the monthly
00:29:52
pay drawn by a soldier in the service of
00:29:54
the states and that she now receive out
00:29:56
of public stores one complete suit of
00:29:58
clothes."
00:30:00
So, in other words, she gets new
00:30:01
clothes, plus she gets one half the pay
00:30:04
of an active duty soldier, which in turn
00:30:06
is the same pay that every disabled
00:30:08
soldier gets.
00:30:10
Now, as far as I can tell, Ken Burns
00:30:12
derived his claim that this woman was
00:30:13
given half the pension of a wounded
00:30:15
soldier from this throwaway line from
00:30:18
the website of the National Women's
00:30:19
History Museum, which stated, quote, "In
00:30:21
July 6th, 1779, the Continental
00:30:23
Congress, in recognition of her brave
00:30:25
service, awarded her with a lifelong
00:30:26
pension equivalent to half that of male
00:30:29
combatants."
00:30:31
But that appears to be false. It
00:30:33
contradicts the primary source, which is
00:30:34
what the Congress actually said, which I
00:30:36
just quoted. So, what's going on here?
00:30:40
Is Ken Burns just quoting random lines
00:30:42
from wedge web pages? Now, what's the
00:30:45
support for his claim? He doesn't say.
00:30:47
The documentary just moves on. Now, I
00:30:51
really cannot emphasize enough how
00:30:52
insidious and evil this kind of behavior
00:30:54
is. A historian, especially one who's
00:30:57
paid with our tax dollars, is not
00:31:00
supposed to lie to us when he presents
00:31:02
extremely dubious claims. He shouldn't
00:31:04
do so with confidence. He shouldn't
00:31:07
pretend it's obviously true.
00:31:10
He should show his work. And if it's not
00:31:13
certain that something is true, then you
00:31:14
need to say that. And if you're just
00:31:16
giving your theory about something, then
00:31:18
you should say that it's your theory.
00:31:21
But the reason he doesn't show his work
00:31:23
is that he's a propagandist. Ken Burns
00:31:24
has become a Trumpobsessed weirdo who's
00:31:26
desperate to include racial politics in
00:31:28
everything he does, which by the way is
00:31:31
how we got interviews like this one in
00:31:33
his uh latest documentary. Watch.
00:31:36
I think it's easy to underestimate the
00:31:39
sheer diversity and variety
00:31:42
um in the colonies.
00:31:46
Close to the majority of the population
00:31:48
in the southern colonies are African.
00:31:51
There are French hugenos. There [music]
00:31:53
are Germans. They're Scots or
00:31:55
ScotsIrish.
00:31:57
There are native people not just on the
00:31:59
frontiers but actually living in the
00:32:02
heart of the 13 colonies. You are not
00:32:05
going to have an American revolution
00:32:07
unless you have [music] Virginia on
00:32:09
board. And the leaders of Massachusetts
00:32:12
understood this. It was not going to be
00:32:15
easy. There were deep prejudices between
00:32:18
the [music] two regions because of the
00:32:20
differences in their ethnic mix and in
00:32:23
the nature of their cultures
00:32:26
and they hadn't previously had [music]
00:32:28
any kind of trust for one another.
00:32:31
Now, it's not hard to see what this
00:32:33
historian, quote unquote, is doing here
00:32:35
or what Ken Burns is trying to do by
00:32:37
featuring this interview. He wants you
00:32:39
to think that this nation was founded on
00:32:41
diversity, which is a modern buzzword
00:32:43
that conotes multiculturalism, open
00:32:45
borders, DEI, affirmative action, all
00:32:49
that. Uh, and he wants you to think that
00:32:51
because the colonists were supposedly
00:32:53
diverse. Well, the colonists were not
00:32:55
diverse in the sense that modern
00:32:57
leftists use the word. And Ken Burns
00:32:59
knows that the colonists were
00:33:01
overwhelmingly white and British. The
00:33:05
fact that Indians were present on the
00:33:07
continent or the fact that 3% of slaves
00:33:09
from the transatlantic slave trade ended
00:33:11
up in this country does not mean that
00:33:13
the colonists themselves were diverse in
00:33:16
the way that we would say New York City
00:33:17
or Minneapolis are diverse today.
00:33:20
The colonists, unlike the residents of
00:33:22
Minneapolis and New York, spoke the same
00:33:24
language,
00:33:26
uh, shared similar ancestry.
00:33:29
They were almost all the same race. Now,
00:33:32
they might not have the same religion or
00:33:34
the same country of origin, although
00:33:35
most did, but they still had far far
00:33:38
more in common with one another than the
00:33:40
typical modern-day American has in
00:33:41
common with these so-called newcomers
00:33:43
that are flooding our cities at the
00:33:45
moment.
00:33:47
And again, Burns knows that. He knows
00:33:50
that a Dutch or German colonist had much
00:33:52
more in common with an English-born
00:33:55
colonist than a Somali asylum seeker has
00:33:57
in common with an American today.
00:34:00
But we're supposed to lump all this
00:34:02
together using the buzzword of
00:34:03
diversity, which in Ken Burns's world is
00:34:06
a universal good.
00:34:09
Now, we'll end with just one more clip
00:34:10
from episode 4. This is one final lie
00:34:12
that um all things considered, maybe one
00:34:15
of the most egregious. Watch. It does me
00:34:18
no injury for my neighbor to say there
00:34:20
are 20 gods or no god. It neither picks
00:34:24
my pocket nor breaks my leg.
00:34:29
Most of the revolutionaries [music]
00:34:30
belong to Protestant denominations,
00:34:33
but there were Catholics and Jews among
00:34:36
them too, as well as Muslims whose faith
00:34:39
had [music] crossed the Atlantic on
00:34:40
slave ships.
00:34:43
Central to the philosophy of some of the
00:34:45
most influential creators of the United
00:34:47
States was their belief in a supreme
00:34:50
being, but one who did not interfere in
00:34:53
the affairs of men or distinguish
00:34:56
between faiths.
00:34:59
They were deists [music]
00:35:00
and they believed it was each
00:35:02
individual's responsibility to lead a
00:35:04
virtuous [music] life which could only
00:35:07
come from tolerance and a lifetime of
00:35:10
learning.
00:35:12
the pursuit of happiness.
00:35:14
>> This is one of those claims that you'll
00:35:15
hear again and again predominantly from
00:35:17
Marxists and agitators who want to
00:35:18
undermine undermine our Christian
00:35:20
tradition. They'll tell you that the
00:35:21
United States was founded by men who
00:35:23
believe that God is totally indifferent
00:35:25
to America's success or failure and that
00:35:28
um you know we should believe the same
00:35:29
lie. But in this case, Burns is pretty
00:35:31
obvious about his intentions. He starts
00:35:33
talking about all the Muslim influence
00:35:36
uh on our founding and how tolerance is
00:35:39
a foundational virtue almost as if he's
00:35:41
you know being extremely lazy and
00:35:42
applying 2025 leftist talking points to
00:35:45
18th century history which is what he's
00:35:46
doing. The problem is that in fact
00:35:48
America was not founded by deists. You
00:35:52
will not find a single reference to
00:35:54
dismal
00:35:56
law or charter. What you will find if
00:35:58
you do any amount of research, which
00:36:00
many organizations, including the
00:36:02
Christian Heritage Fellowship, have
00:36:03
done, is that the founders explicitly
00:36:05
rejected the idea of an absent God again
00:36:08
and again. Ben Franklin presided over
00:36:10
the state constitutional convention in
00:36:12
Pennsylvania in 1776 during which
00:36:14
members affirmed that quote, "I do
00:36:16
believe in one God, the creator and
00:36:18
governor of the universe, the rewarder
00:36:20
of the good and the punisher of the
00:36:21
wicked, and I do acknowledge the
00:36:22
scriptures of the Old and New Testament
00:36:24
to be given by divine in inspiration."
00:36:28
The Massachusetts Constitution which was
00:36:30
drafted by John Adams states that the
00:36:32
good order and preservation of civil
00:36:34
government essentially depend upon
00:36:35
piety, religion and morality and cannot
00:36:38
be generally discussed through a
00:36:39
community but by the institution of the
00:36:41
public worship of God.
00:36:43
Then there's the fact that as the
00:36:45
Christian Heritage Fellowship found
00:36:46
during the Second Continental Congress
00:36:48
as well as the Confederation Congress
00:36:49
which took place after the war ended,
00:36:52
members of Congress issued issued a
00:36:53
grand total of 16 spiritual
00:36:56
proclamations which quote asks the
00:36:58
states to fast, pray, and give thanks to
00:37:01
God.
00:37:03
That's not dism
00:37:05
what Ken Burns and PBS are counting on,
00:37:07
of course, is that you won't look into
00:37:09
any of these claims. uh his narrator
00:37:12
delivers every line from the accurate
00:37:15
interesting factoids to the flagrant
00:37:17
lies and everything in between with an
00:37:19
equal degree of self-confidence. And
00:37:21
that is a deliberate tactic.
00:37:24
It's how history is taught now in every
00:37:26
context. Whether you're talking about
00:37:28
public schools or or the media,
00:37:31
you know, it's enough to make me think
00:37:32
that in the near future I should make my
00:37:34
own true history series where I tell you
00:37:36
what the Ken Burns types are leaving
00:37:38
out.
00:37:40
It wouldn't be especially difficult. All
00:37:42
I'd have to do in order to destroy Ken
00:37:44
Burns's documentary is tell the truth.
00:37:47
But there's a clear need for a project
00:37:48
like this because obviously no one in
00:37:50
the mainstream media is willing to do
00:37:52
it. If there's anything we've learned
00:37:54
from the past decade or so in American
00:37:56
politics, it's that the national media
00:37:58
is willing to lie to us about
00:37:59
everything. Even things we can observe
00:38:02
with our own eyes.
00:38:04
They lie to us about Russia gate and
00:38:05
climate change and gender ideology and
00:38:07
so on and so on and so The list
00:38:08
continues. If these lies could be
00:38:10
effective in the 21st century, then
00:38:11
imagine how many lies they've been
00:38:12
telling us about ancient history.
00:38:15
Imagine how many lies they've been
00:38:16
telling us about slavery, the
00:38:18
Revolutionary War.
00:38:21
Imagine how many lies they've been
00:38:22
telling us about the Civil War or about
00:38:25
the Indians or about Nixon or about
00:38:28
civil rights or anything else.
00:38:31
Well, my goal is that very soon you
00:38:33
won't have to ask these questions
00:38:34
anymore. you'll get the truth about our
00:38:36
history, not the passive aggressive
00:38:37
innuendo of delusional activists like
00:38:39
Ken Burns, but the actual truth. And if
00:38:43
Ken Burns accomplished one thing with
00:38:45
this bloated mess of a documentary in
00:38:47
the American Revolution, he's
00:38:48
demonstrated probably more than any
00:38:50
other living person, the need for
00:38:52
exactly that. So, my two-word message
00:38:54
for you on the eve of Thanksgiving Day
00:38:55
is simply this. Stay tuned. Well, we've
00:38:59
reached the middle of November and the
00:39:00
holiday season is just around the
00:39:01
corner. All the Christmas chaos can mean
00:39:03
it's hard to find peace amid the cookies
00:39:05
and wrapping paper and halfpack
00:39:07
suitcases that litter your front
00:39:08
entryway. So this year, take a breath
00:39:11
and lean into the stillness of the
00:39:13
Advent season. Thankfully, my friends at
00:39:14
Hallow have designed a challenge that's
00:39:16
impactful and perfect for a busy holiday
00:39:19
schedule. This Advent, you'll dive into
00:39:21
the real story of Christmas. Come to
00:39:23
understand that it was probably just as
00:39:24
chaotic as our own and learn to
00:39:26
surrender it all to God anyway and find
00:39:27
real peace through Hallow's Advent
00:39:29
challenge, Pray 25, Be Still, you'll
00:39:32
have the opportunity to meditate on the
00:39:34
words of Psalm 46, be still and know
00:39:36
that I am God. I hear powerful examples
00:39:38
from the read of God and the ruthless
00:39:40
elimination of hurry. Experience the
00:39:42
stillness of the Holy Family amid the
00:39:44
chaos and busyiness of the world and
00:39:46
dive into the story of the nativity. Get
00:39:48
three months free of Hallow today at
00:39:50
hallow.com/mattwalsh
00:39:52
and prepare for your most peaceful
00:39:53
Christmas season yet. Once a year every
00:39:56
year, we give you our best deal of the
00:39:58
year and it's happening right now. Daily
00:40:00
Plus memberships are 50% off and now
00:40:02
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ever. More new series, documentaries,
00:40:05
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00:40:09
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the price. And yes, that includes our
00:40:12
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00:40:14
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00:40:16
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00:40:18
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00:40:20
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00:40:22
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00:40:24
This is our best deal of the year. Don't
00:40:25
miss it. Go to dailywire.com/subscribe
00:40:28
and save 50% right now.
00:40:32
[music]
00:40:37
I decided to spend most of the show
00:40:38
debunking anti-American propaganda,
00:40:40
which seems like a worthy subject
00:40:42
anytime, but particular during uh
00:40:43
Thanksgiving week. So, with the final
00:40:45
few minutes of the show, we're going to
00:40:46
skip ahead to the daily cancellation and
00:40:48
cover something of uh much less
00:40:51
importance, you know, as is customary
00:40:53
for this segment. Uh although there is
00:40:55
when when you get to the bottom of it,
00:40:57
it is there is something important going
00:40:58
on which we'll talk about. So, a couple
00:41:00
of months ago, a poll of voters in
00:41:03
Pennsylvania was conducted to find out
00:41:04
how they feel about the general state of
00:41:06
affairs in the state. A sizable majority
00:41:09
of respondents, 60% said they did not
00:41:12
believe Pennsylvania was on the right
00:41:13
track. They cited cost of living, the
00:41:16
economy, high taxes, crime as their top
00:41:19
concerns. 70% said they were
00:41:21
dissatisfied with their local school
00:41:22
district. 60% said they would give the
00:41:24
school system statewide a C, D, or F
00:41:27
grade. Uh 70% said their utility
00:41:30
electricity prices had gone up. 54% said
00:41:33
it was a bad time to find a job in the
00:41:35
state. So in other words, the people of
00:41:37
Pennsylvania, like the people of every
00:41:39
other state, have practical, realworld
00:41:41
concerns, and they feel overwhelmingly
00:41:44
that the political leadership of the
00:41:45
state is failing to address those
00:41:47
concerns. So what have the state
00:41:50
legislators and the governor, Democrat
00:41:52
Josh Shapiro, decided to do? How will
00:41:55
they write the ship? Well, as it turns
00:41:58
out, they'll address these concerns by
00:42:00
not addressing any of them at all.
00:42:02
Instead, Shapiro just signed into law a
00:42:04
new bill that bans quote unquote hair
00:42:09
discrimination. Now, before we talk
00:42:12
about the ludicrous concept of hair
00:42:14
discrimination, you'll already notice
00:42:16
that hair discrimination was not on the
00:42:20
list of top concerns among Pennsylvania
00:42:22
residents.
00:42:23
When they were asked, "What are you most
00:42:26
worried about?" Precisely zero of them
00:42:29
responded, "Well, my biggest fear is
00:42:31
that I'll suffer hair discrimination."
00:42:33
No. When the people of Pennsylvania
00:42:35
think about what causes them the most
00:42:36
anxiety in life, none of them are
00:42:38
thinking about their hair or anything to
00:42:40
do with it. And yet, Governor Shapiro
00:42:44
and the brave legislators of
00:42:46
Pennsylvania are thinking about hair.
00:42:48
And that's what they that's why they
00:42:50
just passed something called the Crown
00:42:51
Act. Watch
00:42:54
>> today when I sign the Crown Act into
00:42:57
law.
00:42:58
>> That will BE [cheering]
00:43:01
>> that [applause] will be the next step in
00:43:03
making good on that promise of bringing
00:43:06
about real freedom for all Pennians.
00:43:10
This public policy campaign is my
00:43:12
brainchild in a nationwide effort I have
00:43:15
led since 2018,
00:43:19
determining it was necessary to change
00:43:22
the law to help redress the longstanding
00:43:25
and problematic practice of racial
00:43:27
discrimination in the form of hair
00:43:30
discrimination. I subsequently developed
00:43:33
the national legislative social impact
00:43:35
and coalition building strategies for
00:43:38
this movement because for too long a
00:43:42
myopic notion of professionalism and
00:43:45
eurosentric standards of beauty have
00:43:47
perpetuated racial inequity and
00:43:50
exclusion.
00:43:52
Too many black children have been
00:43:54
suspended and missed what should be
00:43:57
valuable instruction time because their
00:44:00
hair worn in ways that are aligned with
00:44:03
their racial identity have been deemed a
00:44:06
violation of school rules.
00:44:08
>> So, the lady with the hoop earrings the
00:44:10
size of the Milky Way galaxy says that
00:44:12
she's been on a single-minded crusade
00:44:15
for eight years to defeat hair
00:44:18
discrimination. And Josh Rapiro says
00:44:20
that he's making good on his promise to
00:44:22
ban hair discrimination, which is a
00:44:25
promise that nobody in his state knew he
00:44:27
had made or asked him to make. And yet
00:44:30
here we are. So what is hair
00:44:32
discrimination then? And and and what
00:44:34
does this law actually say? Well, I
00:44:36
looked up the text of the bill and all I
00:44:38
can say is that if you expected this
00:44:39
legislation to be completely
00:44:42
you were right. Uh it is. So here here's
00:44:45
what House Bill 439 says. and to to the
00:44:49
to their law banning racial
00:44:50
discrimination, which is already on the
00:44:52
books, they added an amendment. And the
00:44:56
amendment says in part the following
00:44:59
quote, "The term race includes traits
00:45:02
historically associated with the
00:45:04
individual's race, including hair
00:45:06
texture and protective hairstyles. The
00:45:08
term protective hairstyles includes but
00:45:10
is not limited to such hairstyles as
00:45:13
locks, braids, twists, coils, bent two
00:45:16
knots, afro and extensions.
00:45:20
So according to this law, an institution
00:45:23
like a business or a school may not
00:45:26
discriminate based on protected
00:45:28
characteristics like race, which we
00:45:30
already knew. But the law now stipulates
00:45:32
that the term race includes hairstyles.
00:45:36
If a hairstyle is historically
00:45:39
associated with a certain race, then the
00:45:41
hairstyle is legally protected and an
00:45:43
employer may not bar their employees
00:45:45
from styling their hair in that way on
00:45:48
the job. That's what the law says. And
00:45:50
it is, in a word, madness.
00:45:54
Absolute madness.
00:45:56
What does it even mean for a hairstyle
00:45:58
to be historically associated with a
00:46:01
particular race? How far back does the
00:46:03
historical association have to go?
00:46:06
If a rapper wears his hair a certain way
00:46:08
in a music video that came out last
00:46:10
Tuesday and then now it's popular among
00:46:12
black people, does that count as in
00:46:15
historical association?
00:46:18
And
00:46:19
more importantly, what if a hairstyle is
00:46:22
historically associated with every race
00:46:24
on the planet?
00:46:26
Does that mean that employers can or
00:46:28
can't prevent their employees from
00:46:30
wearing it? Or does it mean that only
00:46:32
some races can be prevented while others
00:46:34
can't?
00:46:36
Now, the bill lists braids and
00:46:38
dreadlocks as protected because of their
00:46:40
historical racial association,
00:46:43
but that's a problem because braids have
00:46:45
been worn by all races of people for as
00:46:48
long as people have existed. As long as
00:46:51
there have been people with hair, there
00:46:53
have been braids everywhere on the
00:46:55
planet.
00:46:57
Black people did not invent the concept
00:46:59
of wearing braids, nor did they
00:47:01
popularize it, nor did they innovate it
00:47:03
in any way.
00:47:05
at all. As for dreadlocks, uh, Nordic
00:47:09
people were wearing their hair in that
00:47:11
fashion a thousand years ago. The
00:47:12
Vikings wore dreadlocks. Actually, there
00:47:14
are depictions of Europeans wearing
00:47:15
dreadlocks all the way back in the
00:47:17
Bronze Age. So, are dreadlocks protected
00:47:20
for white people, too, or just black
00:47:23
people? Now, you might think that, well,
00:47:26
at least the afro is a hairstyle that we
00:47:28
can all agree is historically owned by
00:47:31
black people. Well, the problem is that
00:47:34
first of all, no style can be owned by
00:47:36
anyone, much less any race of people.
00:47:39
Styles are not objects that a person or
00:47:41
group can claim ownership of. A style is
00:47:44
an abstract concept. It's one which is
00:47:48
uh by definition shared and spread
00:47:50
around and adopted and changed and
00:47:52
adapted and so on.
00:47:54
Second, actually the afro is not unique
00:47:58
to black people historically or
00:48:00
originated by them. Now, obviously the
00:48:02
name afro has black origins, but the
00:48:05
style of hair, very tight curls which
00:48:08
form a rounded silhouette, which is what
00:48:10
an afro is, well, that was worn by
00:48:12
Europeans in the Victorian age. That was
00:48:14
worn by Greeks and Romans thousands of
00:48:17
years before that.
00:48:20
So, as it turns out, none of the
00:48:22
protected racial hairstyles are racial.
00:48:27
None of them are historically unique to
00:48:29
black people. In fact, it's plausible
00:48:32
that many of these historic black
00:48:33
hairstyles were worn by ancient
00:48:35
Europeans before they were worn by
00:48:37
ancient Africans. At the very least,
00:48:39
it's a tie. It's a wash.
00:48:42
Unlike dreadlocks, which cannot be
00:48:43
washed, which is why you shouldn't be
00:48:45
allowed to wear them if you work in the
00:48:47
food industry or the medical industry or
00:48:50
any industry that involves food or
00:48:52
people.
00:48:54
That's why certain hair hairstyles are
00:48:56
discriminated against because they're
00:48:58
unsanitary or unckempt or unsightly
00:49:01
because they look slovenly or
00:49:03
ridiculous.
00:49:05
The law has not protected anyone from
00:49:07
actual
00:49:09
racial discrimination which is already
00:49:11
illegal, but it has protected them from
00:49:13
the most basic standards of hygiene and
00:49:16
professionalism.
00:49:17
Like I I want you to think about the
00:49:19
levels of narcissism and pettiness that
00:49:22
are involved here.
00:49:24
If you work at a restaurant and your
00:49:26
boss says you can't wear dreadlocks,
00:49:29
the assumption is that if you're a black
00:49:31
person, the rule is specifically
00:49:34
targeted at you
00:49:36
for no other reason than to cramp your
00:49:39
style and persecute you. And this
00:49:42
assumption is built on an underlying
00:49:43
assumption that your race invented
00:49:46
dreadlocks and has unique ownership over
00:49:48
them. All of these assumptions right
00:49:50
down the line are false. They are all
00:49:53
examples of the worst kind of racial
00:49:56
main character syndrome.
00:49:59
You know, the actual reason you can't
00:50:00
wear dreadlocks while you cook my steak
00:50:03
is that you haven't washed them since
00:50:05
last February. And it's disgusting.
00:50:08
And this is the basic concept that the
00:50:10
lady with the hoop earrings pretends not
00:50:11
to understand. Speaking of which, are
00:50:13
hoop earrings protected? I mean, what
00:50:16
about jewelry and clothing and other
00:50:18
accessories that are historically
00:50:20
associated with certain races? Now,
00:50:22
black people did not invent hoop
00:50:23
earrings, but if we're giving them
00:50:25
credit for braids, then I guess we give
00:50:28
them credit for earrings, too.
00:50:30
So, how far does this go? Now, the
00:50:32
answer is that it goes as far as the
00:50:34
race hustlers can take it. I mean, if it
00:50:37
seems like they're trying to make it so
00:50:39
that racial minorities are not required
00:50:41
to follow any rules or meet any
00:50:44
standards or do anything they don't feel
00:50:47
like doing ever. Well, that's because
00:50:49
that's exactly what they're trying to
00:50:51
do. Which is why although this is the
00:50:54
dumbest law ever written in the history
00:50:55
of laws, it is also incredibly sinister.
00:50:59
And that is why the concept of hair
00:51:01
discrimination and anyone who pushes it
00:51:04
is today canled. That'll do it for the
00:51:07
show today uh and this week. Have a
00:51:10
beautiful and blessed Thanksgiving. I'll
00:51:11
talk to you on Monday. Godspeed.
00:51:17
>> [music]
00:51:24
[music] >> Hey there, I'm Daily Wire executive
00:51:26
editor John Bickley.
00:51:27
>> And I'm Georgia How and we're the hosts
00:51:29
of Morning Wire.
00:51:30
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00:51:31
know in 15 minutes or less.
00:51:33
>> Watch and listen to Morning Wire 7
00:51:35
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Once a year, every year, we give you our best deal of the year. And it’s happening right now. DailyWire+ memberships are 50% off. https://getdwplus.com/blackfridayMATTYT Today on the Matt Walsh Show, as we head into Thanksgiving we are going to take a close look at a piece of sophisticated anti-American propaganda just released by PBS and the documentary filmmaker Ken Burns. There is a neverending effort to make Americans embarrassed of their history, and to give credit for its achievements to people who don't deserve it. American history has been rewritten for this purpose. Today we will debunk the lies. Also, Pennsylvania just passed a law against hair discrimination. That sounds absurd, and it is, but it's even worse and more nefarious than you think. Ep.1698 -- -- -- LIKE & SUBSCRIBE for new videos daily. https://www.youtube.com/@MattWalsh?sub_confirmation=1 Click here to join the member-exclusive portion of my show: https://get.dailywire.com/matt-walsh/subscribe/ -- -- -- TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 - 00:31 Opening 01:55 - 38:59 DEBUNKED: Exposing Every Lie In Ken Burns’ New Anti-American Documentary 40:36 - 51:19 The Concept Of Hair Discrimination, And Anyone Who Pushes It, Is Canceled Sources: https://x.com/breaking911/status/1993436018381668744?s=46 https://pbs.twimg.com/media/G6R8XRcW8AAMOuI?format=jpg&name=medium https://www.pbs.org/kenburns/the-american-revolution -- -- -- Today's Sponsors: PureTalk - Switch to PureTalk and start saving today! Visit https://puretalk.com/WALSH Boll & Branch - Get 25% off sitewide, plus free shipping and extended returns at https://bollandbranch.com/WALSH with code WALSH Balance of Nature - Go to https://balanceofnature.com/pages/podcasters and get a FREE Variety Snack Pack plus a FREE Preferred Customer membership with your first set of Balance of Nature supplements. Hallow - Get 3 months free at https://hallow.app.link/e/HIJwDvjF7qb -- -- -- DailyWire+: Once a year, every year, we give you our best deal of the year. And it’s happening right now. DailyWire+ memberships are 50% off. https://getdwplus.com/blackfridayMATTYT Finally, Friendly Fire is here! No moderator, no safe words. Now available at https://www.dailywire.com/show/friendly-fire Get your Matt Walsh flannel here: https://store.dailywire.com/collections/matt-walsh?cid=merch&mid=q&xid=0 -- -- -- This video includes information, descriptions, video, and images meant to give important context to viewers. By including this context, the overlaid commentary, criticism, and analysis is able to serve the public's interest in the discussed subject matter. Pairing the appropriate context with the included commentary allows the video to: (i) educate viewers; and (ii) document newsworthy events or other matters of public interest. To the greatest extent possible, the included commentary is intended to: (a) accurately identify the involved parties; (b) describe the subject matter in detail; (c) clearly articulate condemnation and criticism of the subject behavior while including an opposing view; and (d) to discourage viewers from engaging in the subject behavior.

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