
James Woods is spreading a widely-debunked claim about slavery.
The conservative actor has a history of promoting conspiracy theories and was briefly suspended from Twitter last year for sharing a meme which falsely claimed Democrats were trying to stop men from voting.
Yesterday, Woods shared an image which falsely claimed that the first slaves shipped to America were 100 white children from Ireland.
#Reparations https://t.co/rMRQIHXOLA— James Woods (@James Woods) 1555520632
What he's claiming is completely untrue.
The "white Irish slaves" story has been challenged by scholars of American and Irish history for years.
Historian Liam Hogan explained why it was so wrong last year:
This "history" account has almost 400,000 followers and so a basic corrective about the origins of colonial slavery… https://t.co/7UxJtZQoMB— Liam Hogan (@Liam Hogan) 1542132740
In short, 100 poor English children (not Irish) were sent to Virginia in 1619.
In 1619 one hundred poor English children (not Irish) between 8 and 16 years of age were sent to Virginia from Lond… https://t.co/0BjWKksXry— Liam Hogan (@Liam Hogan) 1542132847
Those children came to America as indentured servants, which was a bad life but not the same as slavery.
They were considered legally human and their servitude was limited, in this case to when they reached the age of 21.
They were to be bound to their masters in the colony until they reached the age of majority (21 years old), or if g… https://t.co/Hmjt6EiUCN— Liam Hogan (@Liam Hogan) 1542133174
The claim that the first slaves were sent to American colonies in 1619 is also untrue, as there were black slaves well before that date.
The original tweet makes the claim that the "first shipment of Black slaves...into the American colonies" occurred… https://t.co/obuQeYvBMk— Liam Hogan (@Liam Hogan) 1542134131
As well as being wrong, the claim has been used by white nationalists and Neo-Nazis to diminish the significance and impact of black slavery.
Before looking at the provenance of this image, let me reiterate what the purpose of this propaganda is. It is raci… https://t.co/yojLzpqFMh— Liam Hogan (@Liam Hogan) 1542138548
Twitter users were quick to reply to Woods’ tweet, telling him that he was, once again, taking about something he didn’t understand.
@RealJamesWoods This is all wrong, and not historically correct . Stop falsifying Irish history to be a massive racist— The Blindboy Podcast (@The Blindboy Podcast) 1555584026
@RealJamesWoods This has been debunked over and over and over again. 🙄— Jane Nibful ♿️ (@Jane Nibful ♿️) 1555541109
Also, that photo in the tweet? Well, there weren’t any photographs in the 1600s - they weren't invented until the 1800s.
@RealJamesWoods If nothing else always good to see genuine photographs from 1619 🙄— Terence Keeley (@Terence Keeley) 1555540558
And James II came after Charles I and Oliver Cromwell…
@RealJamesWoods Apart from the fact that there was no photography in the 17th century, James II came after Oliver C… https://t.co/xI9D3O4wks— Bessie Burgers (@Bessie Burgers) 1555575379
So the post isn't even close to being accurate.
If Woods learned to fact-check literally anything, maybe he’d spend less time posting on Twitter.