{"id":58444,"date":"2017-09-07T10:34:07","date_gmt":"2017-09-07T15:34:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/?p=58444"},"modified":"2017-09-11T06:26:15","modified_gmt":"2017-09-11T11:26:15","slug":"tear-washington-jefferson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/inspiration\/tear-washington-jefferson\/","title":{"rendered":"Should We Tear Down Washington and Jefferson?"},"content":{"rendered":"

We\u2019ve been a little antsy lately because of neo-Nazis and White Supremacists but we haven\u2019t really discussed the trigger event. We all know that the march in Charlottesville was sparked by a motion to remove a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee \u2013 but how do we feel about that? <\/span><\/p>\n

President Trump invoked a \u201cslippery slope\u201d argument, that it would only be a matter of time until people wanted to remove statues of Washington and Jefferson. Of course, this was derided as a ridiculous conclusion but as people were ridiculing Trump for such an assertion, James Dukes, pastor of Liberation Christian Center in Chicago, was simultaneously protesting the statue of George Washington in Washington Park, as well as the park\u2019s very name.<\/span><\/p>\n

So how do we feel about the attempts to remove statues? Is there a way we\u2019re supposed to feel? (A huge disclaimer here: what follows is strictly my opinion. It is not meant to represent a position on the part of the OU or anyone else.)<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019m going to say something that\u2019s bound to be unpopular: many of the people protesting statues of Lee don\u2019t know what they\u2019re actually protesting. The Civil War wasn\u2019t fought because of slavery (which was waning in Virginia anyway) and Lee wasn\u2019t even pro-slavery himself! In an 1856 letter to his wife, Lee wrote, \u201cIn this enlightened age, there are few I believe, but what will acknowledge, that slavery as an institution, is a moral & political evil in any Country.\u201d (He was hardly an abolitionist, though. He seemed to believe in the \u201cwhite man\u2019s burden,\u201d as his letter continues that \u201cThe blacks are immeasurably better off here than in Africa, morally, socially & physically. The painful discipline they are undergoing, is necessary for their instruction as a race, & I hope will prepare & lead them to better things.\u201d) In any event, he didn\u2019t fight for the South because he supported slavery, he fought for the South because his primary loyalties were to the state of Virginia, of which the Lees were a First Family (FFV).<\/span><\/p>\n

Personally, I would support removing statues of Lee, not because he was pro-slavery (he wasn\u2019t) or because he fought to preserve it (he didn\u2019t) but because he led an armed insurrection against the United States. In my book, that shouldn\u2019t get one a statue!<\/span><\/p>\n

What about Columbus, whose popularity has plummeted over the past few decades? Just last week, vandals defaced a statue of Columbus in Astoria, Queens. Should we remove statues of Columbus and rename his holiday \u201cIndigenous People\u2019s Day\u201d as it is already called in some places? (Will New York City\u2019s 59<\/span>th<\/span> Street subway station be renamed \u201cIndigenous People\u2019s Circle?\u201d That seems less likely.) <\/span><\/p>\n

It may surprise some to learn that I would be perfectly okay with knocking Columbus off of his pedestal, both literally and figuratively (although I limit my approval to legal means). In school we learn that Columbus discovered America and that he proved the world was round. Neither of these is true: Columbus never set foot on the North American continent and that the world was round was already common knowledge in Columbus\u2019 day. What Columbus <\/span>did<\/span><\/i> do was enslave and murder close to a quarter-million Taino natives. As governor and viceroy of the Indies (in what we would call the Dominican Republic), Columbus put an end to political unrest by ordering the dissidents killed and their dismembered bodies paraded through the streets. So, yeah, I\u2019d be okay without glorifying this guy.<\/span><\/p>\n

Washington and Jefferson are another story. Yes, they owned slaves but that\u2019s not what we\u2019re celebrating. Washington was the hero who led this country to victory in the Revolutionary War; Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence. That they owned slaves was merely a product of their time. Make no mistake: owning slaves was immoral then, just as it is today. But if one lives in a society where such things are accepted, it would be unrealistic to demonize everyone who didn\u2019t oppose the status quo (which would be virtually everyone). By definition, only a few people in such a society would be the campaigners for change.<\/span><\/p>\n

Times are always changing and human ideas of good and evil are malleable. For example, look at wholesome family entertainment from the first half of the 20<\/span>th<\/span> century and you\u2019ll find a staggering amount of casual racism. I\u2019m not just talking about <\/span>The Little Rascals<\/span><\/i> and <\/span>Looney Tunes<\/span><\/i>, but even Disney cartoons. And not just <\/span>Song of the South<\/span><\/i> \u2013 even <\/span>Fantasia<\/span><\/i> featured casual racism! (Google it!)<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s not just about race; lots of ideas change! What would you say if a cigarette company used TV cartoon characters as their mascots? Today, we\u2019d call that evil and there would be multi-million dollar lawsuits. In the early 1960s, however, characters from <\/span>The Flintstones<\/span><\/i> were spokesmen for Winston cigarettes. Yes, during commercial breaks for <\/span>The Flinstones<\/span><\/i>, you could see Fred, Barney and the others lighting up and telling us that \u201cWinston tastes good, like a cigarette should!\u201d (You can Google that, too.)<\/span><\/p>\n

Lots of ideas change, for good or for bad: the role of women in society, the definition of marriage, attitudes towards circumcision, the morality of eating meat, and many more. We can\u2019t blame someone for being a product of their times.<\/span><\/p>\n

People are complicated creatures and none of us is all good or all bad. David\u2019s sin is well-documented (II Samuel chapter 11) but he is still remembered as righteous. (Remember, \u201crighteous\u201d doesn\u2019t mean \u201cperfect.\u201d) Similarly, Yoshiyahu (King Josiah) appears to have spent a good portion of his life \u201coff the derech.\u201d This is limited to one oblique reference II Kings 23:25, which says that Josiah\u2019s teshuvah was unprecedented in its magnitude. His flaws, whatever they may have been, are unstated in favor of his many righteous deeds. Conversely, King Menashe\u2019s evil was so great that his end-of-life repentance isn\u2019t even mentioned in the Book of Kings \u2013 one would have to read II Chronicles chapter 33 even to know that it occurred. It may have been spiritually effective as far as Menashe\u2019s afterlife but it was too little too late to change his legacy as an evil king.<\/span><\/p>\n

We have to judge a person\u2019s legacy on the big picture, which includes all of their deeds in the context of the times in which they lived. As Genesis 6:9 tells us, Noah was righteous <\/span>in the generations when he lived<\/span><\/i>. Rashi cites a Talmudic debate about the words \u201cin his generations.\u201d One opinion says that, had Noah lived in righteous times, he would have been even greater. The other opinion says that in Abraham\u2019s time, Noah would have been nobody special.<\/span><\/p>\n

Like Noah, Washington and Jefferson were great people \u201cin their time\u201d \u2013 a time that overlooked the unconscionable evil of slavery. We can only speculate as to what they would have been in other generations but the acceptance of slavery was not their fault and their failure to oppose the status quo in this area is by definition unexceptional. They might have made great abolitionists had they lived 75 years later but instead they made their marks in other areas.<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019m all for downgrading the status of those whose legacies are murder and oppression. Those who are merely products of their times, however, provide us with educational opportunities to discuss with future generations the evils that man is capable of overlooking. Retaining a statue of George Washington is not an endorsement of slavery but removing one deprives us of an opportunity for meaningful dialogue.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We\u2019ve been a little antsy lately because of neo-Nazis and White Supremacists but we haven\u2019t really discussed the trigger event. We all know that the march in Charlottesville was sparked by a motion to remove a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee \u2013 but how do we feel about that? President Trump invoked a<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":384,"featured_media":58453,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_cloudinary_featured_overwrite":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[85],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-58444","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-inspiration"],"yoast_head":"\nShould We Tear Down Washington and Jefferson? - OU Life<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Lots of ideas change, for good or for bad: the role of women, the definition of marriage, & more. 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