# Man Petitions Circuit Court to Have His Slave Ancestors Declared Free **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 7, 2012, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-petitions-circuit-court-to-have-his-slave-ancestors-declared-free/618079 "2012-04-07T14:08:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2012, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-petitions-circuit-court-to-have-his-slave-ancestors-declared-free/618079/1 "2012-04-07T14:08:51Z")
[http://www.wvgazette.com/News/201204040116](http://www.wvgazette.com/News/201204040116) An interesting case (an update on which I can’t find). In my opinion, this is the judge’s moment to shine. He should write a long flowery opinion about how the state of West Virginia was founded on liberty and fidelity to the Union and the words of the Declaration of Independence. He should take this opportunity to rule that slavery is and always was against the public policy of the state of West Virginia and decree that every person held in slavery in the borders of what is now West Virginia was and always will be free. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2012, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-petitions-circuit-court-to-have-his-slave-ancestors-declared-free/618079/2 "2012-04-07T16:29:16Z")
Is there any real consequence to this? Otherwise I can’t imagine why he wouldn’t just say “yeah, sure, whatever, I declare your dead ancestors free,” and go to lunch. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2012, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-petitions-circuit-court-to-have-his-slave-ancestors-declared-free/618079/3 "2012-04-07T16:34:14Z")
Having just been to a Passover seder last night, I am going to petition the government of Egypt to do the same thing for my people. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2012, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-petitions-circuit-court-to-have-his-slave-ancestors-declared-free/618079/4 "2012-04-07T17:19:20Z")
The case should be dismissed as moot. Everyone involved is dead. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2012, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-petitions-circuit-court-to-have-his-slave-ancestors-declared-free/618079/5 "2012-04-07T17:52:58Z")
Only thing I could think of is if at some time in the future everybody descended from a slave would get a sum of money, being declared non-slave, their descendant would lose the ability to register and collect the money, probably =) ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2012, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-petitions-circuit-court-to-have-his-slave-ancestors-declared-free/618079/6 "2012-04-07T21:24:08Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > Is there any real consequence to this? Otherwise I can’t imagine why he wouldn’t just say “yeah, sure, whatever, I declare your dead ancestors free,” and go to lunch. No consequence at all. > [@hajario](#): > > Having just been to a Passover seder last night, I am going to petition the government of Egypt to do the same thing for my people. Read the article. This man has a specific case and a specific claim that his ancestors were freed. > [@Oakminster](#): > > The case should be dismissed as moot. Everyone involved is dead. Is it moot? Justice delayed is justice denied and all that. A chance to say that the stigma of slavery lives or some such thing to make it not moot? ---
**Author:** ![Mops](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mops/32/16494_2.png) [@Mops](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mops)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2012, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-petitions-circuit-court-to-have-his-slave-ancestors-declared-free/618079/7 "2012-04-07T21:46:50Z")
What’s interesting about that suit IMO is that the ruling sought by Mr. Hale would _affirm the legal basis of the institution of slavery in 1850_ by ruling that the Polley children were _fraudulently_ re-enslaved then. ---
**Author:** ![akennett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee59a6/32.png) [@akennett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/akennett)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2012, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-petitions-circuit-court-to-have-his-slave-ancestors-declared-free/618079/8 "2012-04-08T03:37:34Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > Having just been to a Passover seder last night, I am going to petition the government of Egypt to do the same thing for my people. > [@jtgain](#): > > This man has a specific case and a specific claim that his ancestors were freed. Not to mention the fact that his ancestors were held in slavery by people under the government in question in reality, rather than some poorly written fantasy story. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2012, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-petitions-circuit-court-to-have-his-slave-ancestors-declared-free/618079/9 "2012-04-08T03:39:43Z")
> [@akennett](#): > > Not to mention the fact that his ancestors were held in slavery by people under the government in question in reality, rather than some poorly written fantasy story. Wow. Someone knows his history. I am impressed. ---
**Author:** ![akennett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee59a6/32.png) [@akennett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/akennett)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2012, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-petitions-circuit-court-to-have-his-slave-ancestors-declared-free/618079/10 "2012-04-08T03:51:29Z")
Hey, I also know that fairy tales aren’t real, and the slaughter of innocent children isn’t a reason to celebrate. Those facts also seem in short supply this time of year. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2012, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-petitions-circuit-court-to-have-his-slave-ancestors-declared-free/618079/11 "2012-04-08T04:14:07Z")
> [@akennett](#): > > Hey, I also know that fairy tales aren’t real, and the slaughter of innocent children isn’t a reason to celebrate. Those facts also seem in short supply this time of year. You should write a book or something, dude. My mind is blown by your originality. I’m not clear on one thing though. If it’s not real, then no innocent children were slaughtered. So maybe then it’s ok to celebrate it. I mean seeing how that is totally the main focus of the story and all. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2012, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-petitions-circuit-court-to-have-his-slave-ancestors-declared-free/618079/12 "2012-04-08T04:19:44Z")
Actually, I take it back about the book. I don’t think society is ready for your total irreverence. It’s too brave and edgy. ---
**Author:** ![akennett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee59a6/32.png) [@akennett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/akennett)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2012, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-petitions-circuit-court-to-have-his-slave-ancestors-declared-free/618079/13 "2012-04-08T15:03:46Z")
Hey, you know something? You’re right. It’s so much better that killing off a bunch of kids was just an aside. We wouldn’t want to think that such an action was noteworthy. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2012, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-petitions-circuit-court-to-have-his-slave-ancestors-declared-free/618079/14 "2012-04-08T15:24:48Z")
Many people, maybe most on this board, begin questioning religion and the Bible at a very young age, usually when they’re children as young as eight to twelve years old. They see, in their own immature way, logical inconsistencies and hypocrisy. They’re not wrong, mind you, they’re just young and their intellect hasn’t fully developed yet. As most of those people grow and learn and mature, they realize that reality is more subtle than that, that there is nuance and metaphor in the traditions. It’s not that they become believers, quite the opposite in fact. It’s just that they’re intelligent enough to comprehend that there is more than what appears to be on the surface. For others, sadly, their intellect and understanding never develops beyond that of a clever child. They think that they’re scoring points in a discussion by bringing up things that most of us have moved past in late adolescence as if no one had ever considered them before. They’re angry and disgusted about concepts that don’t actually exist in practice so that they miss the larger point. It’s a shame. ---
**Author:** ![akennett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee59a6/32.png) [@akennett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/akennett)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2012, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-petitions-circuit-court-to-have-his-slave-ancestors-declared-free/618079/15 "2012-04-08T15:52:56Z")
Right. In other words, people who give up on questioning ancient stories and beliefs and instead embrace the indoctrination are good. Those who continue to seek reality, to live in this world instead of a fantasy are immature. Good to know. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2012, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-petitions-circuit-court-to-have-his-slave-ancestors-declared-free/618079/16 "2012-04-08T15:55:33Z")
> [@akennett](#): > > Right. In other words, people who give up on questioning ancient stories and beliefs and instead embrace the indoctrination are good. Those who continue to seek reality, to live in this world instead of a fantasy are immature. > > Good to know. Nope. You totally missed the point. ---
**Author:** ![Makeitstop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/bb73d2/32.png) [@Makeitstop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Makeitstop)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2012, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-petitions-circuit-court-to-have-his-slave-ancestors-declared-free/618079/17 "2012-04-08T15:56:51Z")
> [@akennett](#): > > Hey, I also know that fairy tales aren’t real, and the slaughter of innocent children isn’t a reason to celebrate. Those facts also seem in short supply this time of year. You’re right, it isn’t. Being freed from slavery, though? Totally worth celebrating. And I don’t suppose you’ve ever attended a passover, where their are specific things said that tell us to mourn the fact that the first-born children died? As for the topic, I haven’t read the link, nor do I know what this person’s specific claims are, or why he has made them. But I feel the need to bring up the age-old saying. “Let it go.” Really, I know I can’t understand what it is like to look upon the history of slavery from the POV of a black person. It is not a view I am capable of understanding. But their comes a point when one must let go of the past. Not forget, mind you, but simply move on. There are more important thingson which to focus one’s attention. Like football, or 42. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2012, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-petitions-circuit-court-to-have-his-slave-ancestors-declared-free/618079/18 "2012-04-08T16:05:46Z")
> [@Makeitstop](#): > > You’re right, it isn’t. Being freed from slavery, though? Totally worth celebrating. And I don’t suppose you’ve ever attended a passover, where their are specific things said that tell us to mourn the fact that the first-born children died? Correct. Every haggadah that I have ever read explicitly says that the slaying of the first-born is _not_ to celebrated. That is something that couldn’t be made more clear in the service. Thinking otherwise is blatant ignorance. The myth is there to illustrate a point and many of the traditions date to pre-monotheistic paganism having to do with the equinox. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2012, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-petitions-circuit-court-to-have-his-slave-ancestors-declared-free/618079/19 "2012-04-08T16:11:45Z")
In addition, and to bring this back to the OP, every haggadah I have ever read brings up the point that our job as humans is not done. There are still people who are enslaved and they need to be freed. _That_ is the point of Passover. We celebrate that we are free but are mindful of that fact that others do not have that luxury. ---
**Author:** ![kjckjc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e36b37/32.png) [@kjckjc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kjckjc)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2012, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-petitions-circuit-court-to-have-his-slave-ancestors-declared-free/618079/20 "2012-04-08T21:00:32Z")
> [@akennett](#): > > Hey, I also know that fairy tales aren’t real, and the slaughter of innocent children isn’t a reason to celebrate. Those facts also seem in short supply this time of year. Fine, you didn’t like _The Hunger Games_, we get that. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-petitions-circuit-court-to-have-his-slave-ancestors-declared-free/618079.md?page=2)