Paul’s Socialist Investigations
I don’t even know what I can add to this quote to make it better, so here it is:
“If English was good enough for Jesus Christ, it ought to be good enough for the children of Texas.”
-’Ma’ Ferguson (former Texas governor) speaking on Spanish as a second language in the United States
’nuff said.
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It’s a famous quote, but considered apocryphal. What is unquestioned is that she fought tooth and nail against the KKK. She passed an anti-mask law for instance, aimed right at them.
Is that supposed to make the quote any less stupid?
um no, but relevant that she may not have said it isn’t it?
I was referring to the latter portion of your comment, not the first part where you claim the quote’s authenticity is in question.
Is there a particular source you can point me to which attempts to establish that the quote is suspect?
Simply that most sources that discuss Ferguson describe the quote as alleged or apocrypha and although any politician can pander, the quote seems inconsistent from one who fought the KKK. Might have been true – might have been intended ironically – it makes a great illustration of the crude, know-nothing southern politician but her record doesn’t quite fit that stereotype.
Cliff – you seem to be placing a lot of weight on her putatively strong stance against the KKK. Forgive me, but I don’t see what one has anything to do with the other. My personal view of Ma Ferguson is that she couldn’t fart without her husband’s permission (keep in mind that even her entire campaign for office was at the behest of her husband who couldn’t run again) and so I think the quote isn’t exactly outside the realm of possibility. Moreover, objectively speaking, she was hardly a progressive in many of her other policies.
I was just wondering if you had a particular source you could point me to which establishes that the quote is suspect. I’ve seen multiple sources which have attributed the quote to her (as well as several sources which attribute the quote to her, albeit while misquoting her by leaving out the two words ‘children of’), but I’ve yet to come across one that reliably debunks it.
I almost want to say I am sorry for being from Texas now *hangs head in embarrassment*
Yeah, and Jesus Christ definitely didn’t speak English.
Two points: First, if Jesus was God incarnate, he could probably speak any language he wanted to (even one that didn’t yet exist). Secondly, the best “proof” that the Ferguson quotation is bogus may be that it’s also been attributed to a great many others (including the prior governor, her husband) and there’s no contemporary newspaper or other written report of the incident.
Bob in AZ,
That’s quite the penetrating argument you put forward. So then, by your logic, Jesus of Nazareth — if he were a real, historical character — “could probably” have spoken Klingon just as easily as Aramaic? Please elaborate on this.
Secondly, I don’t claim to know for certain whether the quote is genuine or not. I’ve found two reliable sources that cite it and that’s enough for me until such time as I find more evidence to the contrary. But, that said, if we take your argument that the quote is suspicious because it’s been attributed to many other people, then virtually every quote would be suspicious.
For instance, take this quote:
“To sin by silence when we should protest makes cowards out of men.”
If you google it, you’ll come up with at least four different people, including the former U.S. President Abraham Lincoln, who are attributed as having said that quote when it’s actually well known that Ella Wheeler Wilcox is actually the one who said it.
But, according to your argument, we’d have to conclude that the quote was fabricated because it’s attributed to many different people.
Pretty weak if you ask me.
Some people cling to any thought to get them through, I myself can’t believe anybody in today’s world would actually say that but then again people say stupid things everyday. Also while I am sure Jesus could talk to anyone at the time, I don’t really think that he would have known or spoken English, Bob.
It’s generaly accorded that Ma Ferguson, a newspaper owner didn’t say it, or if she did, was making fun of some less progressive souls in Texas. Quote is indeed attributed widely to many people. Probably best regarded as an archetypal bonehead attitude–perhaps as fairly ascribable to the Texas Board of Education of today as anything.