Astronaut Scott Kelly attacked for quoting Winston Churchill

Copyright of the image
NASA

One of the unwritten rules of social media is to avoid inspirational quotes.

US astronaut Scott Kelly put this to the test Sunday when his use of Winston Churchill's quotes landed in warm waters with people who opposed the Prime Minister's views British on the empire and race in wartime.

But when Kelly tried to apologize for the tweet and offered to educate him, Churchill fans attacked him for discrediting the politician's record.

Kelly, whose sister-in-law, former Democratic congressman Gabrielle Giffords, used Churchill's famous remark to comment on the deep divisions of American politics.

The warlord wrote "In Victory, Magnanimity" in his book on World War II to refer to the need for winners of a conflict to be gracious. Kelly added, "I guess these days are over."

But Churchill is also known for quotes like: "I do not recognize that these people were wrong to deny that a stronger race, a higher-level race, a wiser race to say so, came in and took their place ", with reference to the indigenous populations of North America and Australia.

Copyright of the image
Pennsylvania

Kelly's followers on Twitter also linked Churchill to a famine in Bengal, India, which killed at least three million people in 1953.

Kelly quickly excused himself for the offense committed, stating that he would inquire about Churchill's "atrocities and racist views."

• The 10 biggest controversies of Winston Churchill's career
• How an imperfect man has become a great leader

He added that his point of view was that Americans should not let politics divide the nation.

But he was quickly attacked by Churchill's supporters for calling the leader a racist.

They suggested that these views were the norm in the middle of the 20th century.

"Please read a good biography of Churchill before making statements about his" atrocities "and his" racist views. "He committed no atrocities and his views on race 100 years ago can not be judged by the current standards – generational chauvinism " wrote Twitter user Paul Reid.

"We can not judge historical figures in terms of modern sensitivities, no one would escape unscathed.Adjusting history to our modern perception is unfair to the times and circumstances that preceded us "commented another.

In two tweets, Kelly wrote another rule about social media: Never quote Winston Churchill.

---

You might also like:

By Georgina Rannard, UGC & Social News