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| Bill O’Reilly Defends His Comments About ‘Well Fed’ Slaves | |
| (about 7 hours later) | |
| Addressing Michelle Obama’s remarks about slaves having built the White House, Bill O’Reilly said Tuesday on his Fox News program that those slaves were “well fed and had decent lodgings provided by the government.” | |
| His comments drew swift rebukes online. He fired back on his Wednesday program, saying that the nation’s first president provided slaves with “meat, bread and other staples” and “decent lodging.” | |
| It all began in a 90-second segment near the end of “The O’Reilly Factor” on the Fox News Channel on Tuesday night, when Mr. O’Reilly delved into the history of the White House dating to George Washington’s selecting the site for it in 1791. | |
| Mr. O’Reilly, a conservative pundit and the author of historical books like “Killing Kennedy,” appeared to be attempting to fact-check a statement the first lady made on Monday at the Democratic National Convention, calling her words “a positive comment” and adding that “the history behind her remark is fascinating.” | |
| “Slaves that worked there were well fed and had decent lodgings provided by the government, which stopped hiring slave labor in 1802,” he said. “However, the feds did not forbid subcontractors from using slave labor. So, Michelle Obama is essentially correct in citing slaves as builders of the White House, but there were others working, as well.” | “Slaves that worked there were well fed and had decent lodgings provided by the government, which stopped hiring slave labor in 1802,” he said. “However, the feds did not forbid subcontractors from using slave labor. So, Michelle Obama is essentially correct in citing slaves as builders of the White House, but there were others working, as well.” |
| Twitter users seized on his comments, which were criticized as making light of the slaves’ treatment and regurgitating the antebellum view of the “happy” or “content” slave. | Twitter users seized on his comments, which were criticized as making light of the slaves’ treatment and regurgitating the antebellum view of the “happy” or “content” slave. |
| Mr. O’Reilly responded on Wednesday, first on Twitter and then on television. | |
| Then, on his program, Mr. O’Reilly attributed the criticism to “smear merchants” and called it “a given that slavery is an abomination.” | |
| He then, again, addressed the conditions in which slaves worked. | |
| “As any honest historian knows, in order to keep slaves and free laborers strong, the Washington administration provided meat, bread and other staples, also decent lodging on the grounds of the new presidential building,” he said. | |
| “That is a fact. Not a justification, not a defense of slavery,” Mr. O’Reilly added. | |
| Historians generally agree that slaves indeed helped build the White House. The White House Historical Association said African-Americans — enslaved and free — provided “the bulk of the labor that built the White House, the United States Capitol, and other early government buildings.” | Historians generally agree that slaves indeed helped build the White House. The White House Historical Association said African-Americans — enslaved and free — provided “the bulk of the labor that built the White House, the United States Capitol, and other early government buildings.” |
| Slaves worked at the government’s quarry in Aquia, Va., to cut the stone for the White House walls, the organization said. | Slaves worked at the government’s quarry in Aquia, Va., to cut the stone for the White House walls, the organization said. |
| Jesse Holland, a journalist who wrote “The Invisibles: The Untold Story of African American Slaves in the White House,” said he appreciated that Mr. O’Reilly acknowledged the slaves, considering others had disputed their role in the White House after Ms. Obama’s comments. Most of Mr. O’Reilly’s history lesson was accurate, he said. | Jesse Holland, a journalist who wrote “The Invisibles: The Untold Story of African American Slaves in the White House,” said he appreciated that Mr. O’Reilly acknowledged the slaves, considering others had disputed their role in the White House after Ms. Obama’s comments. Most of Mr. O’Reilly’s history lesson was accurate, he said. |
| But there’s no historical evidence either way on the question of how well fed the slaves were, he said. The slaves were indeed fed pork and bread, but it’s unknown what kinds and how much they were given, he said. | |
| “We know as construction workers they were expected to do hard, grueling, backbreaking work,” Mr. Holland said. “So they had to feed them enough so they could actually get their money’s worth. Were they well fed? That’s not something that, right now, history supports.” | |
| Many of the slaves lived in a structure described as a barn, Mr. Holland said. There were houses built for workers, but it’s unknown if the slaves got to live in them. | Many of the slaves lived in a structure described as a barn, Mr. Holland said. There were houses built for workers, but it’s unknown if the slaves got to live in them. |
| Following is a transcript of Mr. O’Reilly’s original remarks on the Tuesday program, in the video above: |