Arkansas Republican: Slavery was 'blessing in disguise' that 'rewarded' blacks with U.S. citizenship

A Republican member of the Arkansas state senate's self-published memoir claims that for black people in America, slavery was a "blessing in disguise," that, if they were physically hardy enough to survive it, "someday be rewarded with citizenship in the greatest nation ever established upon the face of the Earth.” According to the Arkansas Times, Rep. Jon Hubbard, of Jonesboro, included these thought and others in his book, Letters to the Editor, Confessions of a Frustrated Conservative, which was initially written about and excerpted by writer Michael Cook at Talk Business.

"(T)he institution of slavery that the black race has long believed to be an abomination upon its people may actually have been a blessing in disguise," Hubbard wrote. "The blacks who could endure those conditions and circumstances would someday be rewarded with citizenship in the greatest nation ever established upon the face of the Earth.”

The Africans who were abducted from their homeland to be sold abroad as human chattel were the lucky ones, however. On page 189 of Letters to the Editor, Hubbard said, "Knowing what we know today about life on the African continent, would an existence spent in slavery have been any crueler than a life spent in sub-Saharan Africa?”

However, Hubbard also believes that black Americans' lives would "be more enjoyable and successful if they would only learn to appreciate the value of a good education."

And while he sees "the blacks" as a pressing problem facing America, the real threat, he wrote, comes from immigrants, "legal and illegal," who will eventually have to be rounded up and killed.

"(T)he immigration issue, both legal and illegal... will lead to planned wars or extermination," said Hubbard on page 9 of Letters to the Editor. "Although now this seems to be barbaric and uncivilized, it will at some point become as necessary as eating and breathing."

Hubbard has represented Arkansas's District 58 in the state senate since 2011.