What John Legend Said About Slavery at the Oscars IS True

GotNewsDotCom is — again — wrong
Wingnuts • Views: 25,917

I already blogged this at GotNwes,com, but a FAIL of this magnitude needs all the coverage it deserves.

Short version: Chuck C. Johnson of GotNewsDotCom “fact-checked” John’s Legend’s Oscar night remarks about slavery by using a mangled quote, and based on this misquote, claimed Legend was wrong.

The thing is, Legend was correct, and Johnson is wrong.

Here is what Legend said in his acceptance speech, as reported in The Hollywood
Reporter and elsewhere, and even recorded on video.

“There are more black men under correctional control today than were under slavery in 1850,” Legend said in his acceptance speech. “March on, and God bless.”

PolitiFact ruled this as true.

PolitiFact Rhode Island found that U.S. Bureau of Criminal Statistics put the number of African-American men under state and federal criminal justice supervision in 2013 at about 1.68 million — 807,076 above the number of African-American men enslaved in 1850.

More: What John Legend Said About Slavery at the Oscars

But, what Johnson used as his source was a tweet by someone other than John Legend, who misquotes Legend royally.

From this flimsy beginning, Johnson proceeds to prove with lots of statistics (and racial slurs) that Legend had it wrong — or rather, the misquoted John Legend had it wrong.

To make it crystal, Legend said:

# black men under correctional control today > # male slaves in 1850 — This is TRUE.

He did not say:

# black men incarcerated today > # slaves in 1850 — This is not true. There were many more slaves — male and female — in 1850 than black men incarcerated today.

Now Johnson either deliberately used a fake quote, or he was just too damned lazy to find Legend’s actual words, or he has trouble reading the English language. Whatever the case, first he failed at fact-checking John Legend, then he used this misquote to justify a racist screed about how black males belong in jail.

There should actually be more blacks in jail, not fewer if black lives actually matter.

Sadly, none of the knuckledraggers who follow Johnson and GotNewsDotCom will understand or care that he screwed up basic journalism and reading comprehension.

UPDATE: Interestingly enough, if you go to the main page of GotNewsDotCom, the incorrect John Legend story is no longer featured, or visible. But it’s still there under the Hollywood category.

Related
The Worst Human Being on Twitter Spews Racist Hate Speech at John Legend

Jump to bottom

65 comments
1 Doofus  Feb 23, 2015 4:33:26am

The point being that there are too many African American men being incarcerated. This needs to stop.

2 wheat-dogghazi-bola-trality  Feb 23, 2015 5:15:31am

Except Chuck wants moar black men in the slammer, not fewer.

3 RealityBasedSteve  Feb 23, 2015 9:21:21am
UPDATE: Interestingly enough, if you go to the main page of GotNewsDotCom, the incorrect John Legend story is no longer featured, or visible. But it’s still there under the Hollywood category.

Yes…. because taking it off the home page is just the same as correcting an error isn’t it?

RBS

4 Fourth Football of the Apocalypse  Feb 23, 2015 10:03:32am
“There are more black men under correctional control today than were under slavery in 1850,” Legend said in his acceptance speech. “March on, and God bless.”

Also think correctional control could be a reference to those released from prison but on parole, those sentenced to probation, or other being in some other relation to the prison justice complex.

5 piratedan  Feb 23, 2015 10:03:52am

re: #3 RealityBasedSteve

corrections are for little people, not award winning journalists, after all, he was with Bill O’Reilly at the front lines in the Falklands and unlike Brian Williams, he was ACTUALLY in the chopper that was shot down in Iraq, guys like this shouldn’t have their integrity questioned by the likes of us…. //////////

6 Targetpractice  Feb 23, 2015 10:05:50am
Now Johnson either deliberately used a fake quote, or he was just too damned lazy to find Legend’s actual words, or he has trouble reading the English language.

Or he simply doesn’t give a shit about the truth, because he knows that a lie repeated enough will overshadow the truth.

7 Fourth Football of the Apocalypse  Feb 23, 2015 10:06:17am

re: #4 Fourth Football of the Apocalypse

Also think correctional control could be a reference to those released from prison but on parole, those sentenced to probation, or other being in some other relation to the prison justice complex.

That is to say, upchuckity linked to some tweeter equating correctional incarceration to correctional control.

8 Fourth Football of the Apocalypse  Feb 23, 2015 10:06:42am

re: #6 Targetpractice

Or he simply doesn’t give a shit about the truth, because he knows that a lie repeated enough will overshadow the truth.

Well we know he doesn’t care about truth or facts.

9 nines09  Feb 23, 2015 10:09:22am

Chuck C. Johnson is one of those individuals who should drop to his knees every night and give thanks that breathing is an involuntary act. Dolt is too kind a word. He’s a star in the Galaxy Of Fucked Up And Ignorant Haters. Shine on.

10 Backwoods_Sleuth  Feb 23, 2015 10:15:42am
11 Targetpractice  Feb 23, 2015 10:15:49am

Chucky is the kinda guy who gives hack journalists a bad name. Tabloid journalists have better respect for themselves and their readers than he does.

12 Charles Johnson  Feb 23, 2015 10:21:38am
13 Dr Lizardo  Feb 23, 2015 10:21:42am

re: #11 Targetpractice

Chucky is the kinda guy who gives hack journalists a bad name. Tabloid journalists have better respect for themselves and their readers than he does.

This newspaper and its reporters:

had infinitely higher ethical standards than UpChuck.

14 Lidane  Feb 23, 2015 10:21:48am

Sorry for the OT:

15 nines09  Feb 23, 2015 10:22:25am

re: #11 Targetpractice

Chucky is the kinda guy who gives hack journalists a bad name. Tabloid journalists have better respect for themselves and their readers than he does.

He makes liars look good. He’s the child of Fox News and Rush Limbaugh. Sown seed of Knowingly Ignorant.

16 Archangelus  Feb 23, 2015 10:25:08am

Breaking:
Ha’aretz: U.S. jury finds PLO, PA liable over terror attacks in Israel more than a decade ago

A U.S. federal jury has found the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Palestinian Authority civilly liable over six terror attacks in Israel more than a decade ago.

The verdict was still being reads in the case, which was tried in a Manhattan federal court.

The victims of the attacks will be awarded more than $218 million.

Filed more than a decade ago, the complaint charges the two organizations with responsibility for attacks in which the plaintiffs or members of their families were injured or killed.

17 William Barnett-Lewis  Feb 23, 2015 10:25:15am

Still more evidence that the GOP & it’s Prison Industrial Complex are an utterly immoral hive of wretchedness and villainy that needs to be ended.

18 Kragar  Feb 23, 2015 10:27:12am
19 lawhawk  Feb 23, 2015 10:27:47am

Rudy now “walking back” his comments, even though they were exactly as he meant them to be.

20 William Barnett-Lewis  Feb 23, 2015 10:29:37am

re: #18 Kragar

[Embedded content]

So? None of them were white, at least by Stormfront definitions, either…

21 thedopefishlives  Feb 23, 2015 10:30:07am

re: #20 William Barnett-Lewis

So? None of them were white, at least by Stormfront definitions, either…

Yes, but point out that Jesus was a brown person and you’ll make their pointy little heads asplode.

22 Targetpractice  Feb 23, 2015 10:30:34am

re: #19 lawhawk

Rudy now “walking back” his comments, even though they were exactly as he meant them to be.

[Embedded content]

So his “walk back” is basically him standing by what he said?

23 nines09  Feb 23, 2015 10:30:49am

re: #18 Kragar

Don’t tell him they were Jews….

24 The Mother Of All Pies  Feb 23, 2015 10:31:30am
25 Kragar  Feb 23, 2015 10:31:31am

re: #20 William Barnett-Lewis

So? None of them were white, at least by Stormfront definitions, either…

“HOW MANY APOSTLES WERE BLACK?!”

Given the region and the prevalent ethnicities, I’d say more than were blonde haired and blue eyed.

26 lawhawk  Feb 23, 2015 10:32:42am

re: #18 Kragar

Ah, how many look black? Well, guess they’ve never seen the mosaics at the Church of the Annunciation in Nazareth, which knows a thing or two about Christianity.

Of note, the Chinese, Spanish, Korean, German, Chilean, Thai, San Marino, Georgia, Cameroonian, Japanese, and Indian mosaics/gifts.

27 Archangelus  Feb 23, 2015 10:32:45am

re: #10 Backwoods_Sleuth

[Embedded content]

Yeah, we can expect more “jewels” like these courtesy of Al Jazeera and the Guardian in the coming days (apologies if I missed this being posted before):

Haaretz: Massive leak said to reveal Mossad’s ‘true’ assessment on Iran nuclear program,

Hundreds of confidential documents penned by South Africa’s intelligence agency that detail meetings with Mossad operatives on Iran’s nuclear program are expected to be published in the coming days, Al-Jazeera English reported on Monday.

The documents, part of a leak which is being referred to by Al-Jazeera as ‘The Spy Cables,’ appears to be most significant exposition of secret intelligence documents since former NSA contractor Edward Snowden revealed the breadth of American eavesdropping operations in 2013.

The documents, obtained by Al Jazeera in digital form, were also passed to the Guardian as part of the cooperation between the two newspapers, the Qatari network reported.

28 Archangelus  Feb 23, 2015 10:34:04am

re: #18 Kragar

[Embedded content]

Well seeing how they were all Middle Easterners, I reckon this dude wouldn’t like details..

29 Targetpractice  Feb 23, 2015 10:35:20am

I think what we’re seeing is the early stages of the GOP’s campaign message for 2016, namely another round of “Only we can keep you safe!” What they don’t realize is how badly this is going to backfire when they start getting questioned about how they intend to fight the enemy in a way different from the president and can’t give an answer that he’s not already doing or proposing.

30 Kragar  Feb 23, 2015 10:36:00am
31 sagehen  Feb 23, 2015 10:37:06am

re: #25 Kragar

“HOW MANY APOSTLES WERE BLACK?!”

Given the region and the prevalent ethnicities, I’d say more than were blonde haired and blue eyed.

But I’d bet there were some redheads…

32 The Mother Of All Pies  Feb 23, 2015 10:37:10am

Meme posted by a Secessionist Treasonous Racist==>

33 Kragar  Feb 23, 2015 10:38:08am

Trust the Guardian to go with the Israeli part of the story, even though plenty of other countries are involved.

34 Kragar  Feb 23, 2015 10:39:34am
35 The Mother Of All Pies  Feb 23, 2015 10:40:07am
36 Targetpractice  Feb 23, 2015 10:40:23am

re: #30 Kragar

[Embedded content]

And how long do you think it will take the wingnuts who slobbered all over Snowden to declare this a “hoax” because it presents the potential to neuter the case for war with Iran?

37 Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)  Feb 23, 2015 10:41:40am

re: #29 Targetpractice

GOP Rep. Lamar Smith: Obama doesn’t think the US is “exceptional” so he won’t stop ISIL

America is not exceptional, it’s…special.

38 Archangelus  Feb 23, 2015 10:42:47am

re: #34 Kragar

[Embedded content]

re: #35 The Vicious Babushka

[Embedded content]

One of the reasons i’ve never used Twitter (asides from the absence of a personally justifiable need for it) was to avoid having to deal with the likes of such treasonous scumbags; Kudos to the both of you for having the mental strength to not only endure that kind of BS on what seems to be a regular basis but to counter it time and time again!

39 The Mother Of All Pies  Feb 23, 2015 10:45:26am
40 Kragar  Feb 23, 2015 10:47:30am

re: #35 The Vicious Babushka

[Embedded content]

On a humorous note, I did learn over the weekend that I could register as a “Son of the Confederacy”

41 nines09  Feb 23, 2015 10:50:38am

re: #40 Kragar

On a humorous note, I did learn over the weekend that I could register as a “Son of the Confederacy”

But how much would it cost to buy your dignity back? They never mention that.

42 Kragar  Feb 23, 2015 10:51:33am
43 klys (maker of Silmarils)  Feb 23, 2015 10:52:59am

re: #41 nines09

That’s when you double-down and insist everyone else is wrong for interpreting things differently, and whine about your victimhood because you support this cause.

Oh. You mean that doesn’t earn one dignity points?

44 Kragar  Feb 23, 2015 10:53:49am

re: #41 nines09

But how much would it cost to buy your dignity back? They never mention that.

How often do you learn that you had a long lost relative from Texas who went off to fight for the Confederacy, but who’s documented cause of death was “crushed by mule team”?

45 The Mother Of All Pies  Feb 23, 2015 10:54:17am

Should I make a collection of wingnut Patricia Arquette posts? They are stupefyingly ridiculous.

46 jaunte  Feb 23, 2015 10:55:13am

re: #40 Kragar

On a humorous note, I did learn over the weekend that I could register as a “Son of the Confederacy”

“…The citizen-soldiers who fought for the Confederacy personified the best qualities of America. The preservation of liberty and freedom was the motivating factor in the South’s decision to fight the Second American Revolution. The tenacity with which Confederate soldiers fought underscored their belief in the rights guaranteed by the Constitution. These attributes are the underpinning of our democratic society and represent the foundation on which this nation was built.

Today, the Sons of Confederate Veterans is preserving the history and legacy of these heroes so that future generations can understand the motives that animated the Southern Cause.”
scv.org

Umm. I have few questions…

47 Dr. Matt  Feb 23, 2015 10:55:18am

With all the personal attacks against President Obama, it appears the loony right is gearing up to run against him.

48 Fourth Football of the Apocalypse  Feb 23, 2015 10:55:42am

re: #39 The Vicious Babushka

Loved the tweet from the hard working conservative American patriot who bitched about the “[bigoted word]s”. I wonder if he made it to church yesterday. ///

49 Targetpractice  Feb 23, 2015 10:58:06am

re: #47 Dr. Matt

With all the personal attacks against President Obama, it appears the loony right is gearing up to run against him.

They’re gearing up to do what worked for them in 2000: Make the man so toxic that the Dem nominee will feel pressured not to associate their campaign with him and put as much distance between him and them as possible.

50 TedStriker  Feb 23, 2015 10:58:13am

re: #13 Dr Lizardo

This newspaper and its reporters:

Embedded Image

had infinitely higher ethical standards than UpChuck.

Don’t we have a Lizard that did a stint for WWN, the National Enquirer, or one of the other tabloids?

51 goddamnedfrank  Feb 23, 2015 10:59:39am

This one is speshul.

52 nines09  Feb 23, 2015 10:59:42am

re: #44 Kragar

How often do you learn that you had a long lost relative from Texas who went off to fight for the Confederacy, but who’s documented cause of death was “crushed by mule team”?

But you probably get a calender with all the “right” holidays highlighted. Like John Wilkes Booth Day and….

53 jaunte  Feb 23, 2015 11:01:01am

“And then there is the disastrous, continuing effort to avoid offending Islamic terrorists.”
— Said no one blown up by a Predator strike.

54 Dr. Matt  Feb 23, 2015 11:01:08am

re: #49 Targetpractice

They’re gearing up to do what worked for them in 2000: Make the man so toxic that the Dem nominee will feel pressured not to associate their campaign with him and put as much distance between him and them as possible.

Yup. Running away from Clinton was such a winning strategy in 2000.

55 TedStriker  Feb 23, 2015 11:02:36am

re: #25 Kragar

“HOW MANY APOSTLES WERE BLACK?!”

Given the region and the prevalent ethnicities, I’d say more than were blonde haired and blue eyed.

re: #18 Kragar

[Embedded content]

re: #20 William Barnett-Lewis

So? None of them were white, at least by Stormfront definitions, either…

Well, there was Rufus, the forgotten 13th apostle:

///

56 b_sharp  Feb 23, 2015 11:03:01am

re: #51 goddamnedfrank

This one is speshul.

[Embedded content]

He can’t figure this out for himself?

Edumication is not for everyone.

57 Feline Fearless Leader  Feb 23, 2015 11:03:35am

re: #55 TedStriker

Well, there was Rufus, the forgotten 13th apostle:

[Embedded content]

///

Wasn’t Jesus black as well in that alternate universe?
/

58 Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)  Feb 23, 2015 11:03:45am

re: #56 b_sharp

He can’t figure this out for himself?

Edumication is not for everyone.

There is no arguing with these people, we can only hope to limit the amount of damage they can inflict on the rest of us.

59 Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)  Feb 23, 2015 11:04:33am

re: #55 TedStriker

Well, there was Rufus, the forgotten 13th apostle:

Embedded Image

///

One has to be a sad, sorry SOB to care one way or another which color Jesus’ skin was.

60 Kragar  Feb 23, 2015 11:05:58am

He focused much his ire on First Look management and the collapse of Racket, the organization’s political-satirical website that fell apart before publishing anything. Silverstein originally joined the organization to work for Racket, but moved to the Intercept after the collapse. He wrote that the company essentially “forced” Racket editor Matt Taibbi to resign through “incompetence and bad faith.”

“The fact that that it hired so many talented people to create Racket and spent millions of dollars on it and in the end fired everyone and Racket never published a single story is probably the greatest squandering of money and example of criminal ineptitude in the history of modern journalism,” he wrote. “Again, what a pathetic joke.”

Silverstein wrote that Racket staffers were promised the project would continue after Taibbi’s departure, only to be fired after a period of suspended animation.

61 goddamnedfrank  Feb 23, 2015 11:09:59am

Whatever you do don’t use TinEye on @ykrahs666’s avi. He’s really into posting pictures of his penis.

62 lawhawk  Feb 23, 2015 11:15:56am

re: #53 jaunte

Awlaki, Osama, and al-Libi could not be reached for comment.

63 No Country For Old Haters  Feb 23, 2015 12:29:25pm

re: #32 The Vicious Babushka

Meme posted by a Secessionist Treasonous Racist==>

[Embedded content]

64 jonhendry  Feb 23, 2015 12:39:11pm

re: #26 lawhawk

Ah, how many look black? Well, guess they’ve never seen the mosaics at the Church of the Annunciation in Nazareth, which knows a thing or two about Christianity.

Of note, the Chinese, Spanish, Korean, German, Chilean, Thai, San Marino, Georgia, Cameroonian, Japanese, and Indian mosaics/gifts.

Note the esperanto one. Esperantists: the bitcoin evangelists of language.

65 wheat-dogghazi-bola-trality  Feb 23, 2015 5:57:47pm

Charles, thanks for the promotion while I slept.


This article has been archived.
Comments are closed.

Jump to top

Create a PageThis is the LGF Pages posting bookmarklet. To use it, drag this button to your browser's bookmark bar, and title it 'LGF Pages' (or whatever you like). Then browse to a site you want to post, select some text on the page to use for a quote, click the bookmarklet, and the Pages posting window will appear with the title, text, and any embedded video or audio files already filled in, ready to go.
Or... you can just click this button to open the Pages posting window right away.
Last updated: 2023-04-04 11:11 am PDT LGF User's Guide RSS Feeds

Help support Little Green Footballs!

Subscribe now for ad-free access!Register and sign in to a free LGF account before subscribing, and your ad-free access will be automatically enabled.

Donate with
PayPal Cash.app
Recent PagesClick to refresh
The Pandemic Cost 7 Million Lives, but Talks to Prevent a Repeat Stall In late 2021, as the world reeled from the arrival of the highly contagious omicron variant of the coronavirus, representatives of almost 200 countries met - some online, some in-person in Geneva - hoping to forestall a future worldwide ...
Cheechako
2 days ago
Views: 97 • Comments: 0 • Rating: 1
Texas County at Center of Border Fight Is Overwhelmed by Migrant Deaths EAGLE PASS, Tex. - The undertaker lighted a cigarette and held it between his latex-gloved fingers as he stood over the bloated body bag lying in the bed of his battered pickup truck. The woman had been fished out ...
Cheechako
2 weeks ago
Views: 262 • Comments: 0 • Rating: 1