Republican Sign Document Saying that Black Families were Better off under Slavery

Rick Santorum and Michele Bachmann, two leading Republican Presidential candidates, have put their foots in their mouths as it pertains to the sensitive issue of slavery.   Both of the candidates signed something called “The Marriage Vow,” which is a document circulated by a Christian conservative group out of Iowa.  In the vow, it is claimed that black families were better off during slavery than when African Americans were free.

“Slavery had a disastrous impact on African-American families, yet sadly a child born into slavery in 1860 was more likely to be raised by his mother and father in a two-parent household than was an African-American baby born after the election of the USA‘s first African-American President,” said the pledge.

After the backlash, the group’s leadership apologized and removed the reference to slavery from the document.
“We sincerely apologize for any negative feelings this has caused, and have removed the language from the vow,” the group said in a statement.

In addition to the comments about slavery, the pledge also equates homosexuality with adultery and polygamy and calls for a ban of pornography of all types.   Michele Bachmann tried to squash the criticism early, stating that she only endorsed the “candidate vow” and not the preamble to the document.  Her representatives say that Bachmann ”believes that slavery was horrible and economic enslavement is also horrible.”

Santorum says that he only agrees with the part of the document that is against gay marriage and asks candidates to be faithful to their spouses.