Will Sutton Strikes Again
The man-baby baby-man who once wrote: "an ever-changing, ever-expanding gumbo of people" adds to his literary legacy
Will Sutton, The Advocate writer who called for martial law in New Orleans to enforce covid lockdowns, who boasted about staying huddled, frightened, in various corners of his home since March 2020, and who seems to have admitted that he was reduced to sobbing when signs indicating public bathroom designations were removed during a conference of transgender advocates, has courageously come out swinging against slave-owning long-dead ancestors of Louisiana politicians. It’s an amazing piece of writing, and fully consistent with what we’ve come to expect from the man-baby baby-man Mr. Will Sutton.
From the man who wrote these stunning words in June…
You would think we'd all be accustomed to the idea of different types of bathrooms by now. But noooooo.
I don't know of a single person or family who has home bathrooms labeled only for men, women, children or families. Or for gay, lesbian, nonbinary or transgender people who might visit them.
Most of us make do with one or two bathrooms at home, or even partial bathrooms. Some are lucky enough to have three of them — and a few can afford four, five, six or more bathrooms.
… comes another piece of life-altering writing:
By: Will Sutton
15 December 2023
Louisiana's U.S. Sen. John Kennedy has slave connections. So does U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy.
U.S. Rep. Garret Graves and U.S. Rep. Julia Letlow are linked to slavery, too.
So is Gov. John Bel Edwards.
All are descendants of enslavers, and their families became wealthy.
Reuters recently published a story that included Kennedy's family connection to the slave business. He's one of three federal lawmakers featured in the news organization's latest installment of its "Slavery's Descendants" series.
Some of the names will surprise you.
I’m sorry to interrupt you while you’re transfixed, but why will “some of the names surprise” me? As if today’s political affiliation offers some indication of the likelihood a Deep South farming ancestor may have owned slaves?
In a Dec. 13 story, Reuters reported that Kennedy and U.S. Reps. French Hill, R-Arkansas, and Dina Titus, D-Nevada, have ancestors who lost much of their wealth when slavery was abolished — but later recovered that wealth and passed it along.
Kennedy's family expanded its wealth via inheritance and marriage. His great-great-great-grandfather enslaved 120 people on Concordia Parish land worth about $57 million today. There was other land, and more enslaved people as well.
When slavery ended, Kennedy's family recovered its lost fortune by leasing farmland to formerly enslaved sharecroppers who found it difficult, if not impossible, to get out of debt.
"Reuters found that a fifth of the U.S. political elite — congressional members, living presidents, Supreme Court justices and governors — are direct descendants of slaveholders in America," the news agency reported.
Some of the richest families are those of Kennedy, Hill and Titus. "Each had a slaveholding ancestor who was among the wealthiest 1% of Americans in 1860, Reuters found." But, Reuters reported, "By 1870, each of those forebears had lost between 60% and 90% of their wealth."
Valuable Kennedy land in Concordia and Catahoula parishes have a Neely connection. The senator's middle name is Neely. His mother's estate included hundreds of acres in the two central Louisiana parishes. Kennedy inherited that land.
According to Reuters' research of public financial disclosure documents and real estate records, Kennedy's net worth is between $8.1 million and $22.6 million. Not bad for someone who didn't work the land or oversee the Black people who did.
To his credit, Kennedy has described slavery as "reprehensible."
I have some news for Mr Sutton: Will, everyone, literally everyone considers slavery “reprehensible.”
I wanted to know what Kennedy had to say about the Reuters report, but I didn't get a response when I reached out to his office on Dec. 14.
Such wealth doesn't mean Kennedy and others have to cut themselves off from the riches passed down to them from an immoral, nasty business. But it's important for us to know more about this part of our history and who's connected to it.
Gov. Edwards' ancestor Daniel Edwards enslaved 57 people five generations ago. Graves' ancestor Edmond Patin enslaved four people six generations ago. Cassidy's ancestor Pebles Hasty enslaved four people five generations ago. Letlow's ancestor William N. Barnhill enslaved two people six generations ago.
New Orleans-born U.S. Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett's ancestor Joel J. Coney enslaved 21 people six generations ago.
If you're surprised that Democratic Gov. Edwards has a slaveholding ancestor, brace yourself.
Yep, Will… consider us all “braced.”
Former President Barack Obama's ancestor George W. Overall enslaved two people six generations ago. Former Democratic President Jimmy Carter's ancestor James W. Carter enslaved 54 people four generations ago.
NO WAY! This cannot be true! Contemporary Democrats are descended from slaveholders? That’s impossible, Will! And oh my gosh! The courage it has taken you, Will Sutton, to expose these modern-day slave holders Democrats.
You don't have to disagree with someone politically to consider the actions of their ancestors cruel and immoral. I agreed with Kennedy when he said in 2019 that families who benefitted from slavery shouldn't be individually responsible today for things that happened 150 years ago.
Honest to Goodness I have to pause and repeat that again… I’m literally shaking! … just to be sure I wrap my head fully around this… “You don’t have to disagree with someone politically to consider the actions of their ancestors cruel and immoral.” Shocker of shockers, that one.
Still, I think those families have a moral obligation to consider wealth sharing with those whose ancestors didn't reap the benefits of their labor.
The government also bears responsibility for fostering such a system. That's where reparations come in.
We can't change history. We can impact our shared future.
We all saw the money grab coming, Will. Sorry to break that news to you.
Kennedy, Cassidy, Edwards, Graves, and Letlow — as well as Carter, Obama and others — should consider how their choices can make our society more equitable. It needn't mean giving away their wealth.
Expanding Medicaid, as Gov. Edwards did in 2016, allowed more people with limited incomes access to health care.
Providing prenatal and infant care for mothers would save the lives of countless mothers and infants. Fully funding K-12 education for all is expected, but we should insist on more equitable schooling through college.
There are many ways to turn bad situations into good outcomes — when we evolve and commit to doing the right thing.
“When we evolve”… because let’s remind ourselves of that earlier work from Mr Sutton about the “evolved” amongst us…
According to staff at the Riverside Hilton, the host hotel opened some bathrooms to all genders while others remained exclusively for men or women during the conference. Urinals were covered in at least one all-gender bathroom. All gender signs and explanatory notices were posted outside. Anyone could use the all-gender bathrooms.
Someone tore the signs down.
Hilton staff put up more signs.
I don't know if the perpetrator intended emotional injury, but that's what happened. It was painful to watch.
I saw conference attendees walk by, gasping in shock, hugging each other. Some wept.
NCORE sent an email to conference attendees: "Trans, nonbinary, and gender-expansive communities have been and continue to be a key part of liberatory work. We at NCORE denounce and want to name clearly that these actions are unacceptable and not in alignment with NCORE's call to fostering inclusion," it read in part.
An NCORE representative read the official statement in front of hundreds and before a scheduled major keynote address. "This place is a refuge for all of us. If we want a new world and a new place, we have to find it here first," he continued to wild, supportive applause as he choked up with emotion. There was such warmth in the huge ballroom, even among strangers.
Astute readers of The BEC are still unsure about where Will Sutton stands (or sits) on the evolved things truly essential, so I’ll remind you further…
I attended enough of the NCORE conference that I had occasion to use several men's bathrooms. I also used one of the all-gender bathrooms — twice.
Once I locked the door behind myself, as anyone would have done. Another time I forgot to lock the door. As bad luck would have it, a woman entered a moment or two later. I gasped because I realized I had made a mistake. Fortunately, she was only putting something in the trash.
It was my mistake. I should have locked the door to spare the woman — and myself — the embarrassment.
Or I could've gone to a men's bathroom.
It was a choice — and a lesson.
You don’t have to thank me, everyone.
I know… I know.
Six generations from now, fair-minded people will look back and demand equitable treatment and reparations for descendants of those of us who have endured Will Sutton's terrible writing and ill-formed, thinly-constructed ideas.
the bec
