Now there is a shocking bit of news...but those people, mostly men, did risk all to found the country. If they'd lost the war they certainly would have "hanged together". Some people may think the world would be better off if there had been no revolutionary war. No independent USA. I think the good about this country is far better than the bad.
So some of those founders owned slaves...does that mean we should not honor their contribution to building a nation? I say no. Racism was pretty common for hundreds of years. Should we judge Lincoln by today's standards? Seems kind of dumb to me...who knows what values may be accepted in a hundred years that many of us would be condemned by long after we are gone? Did Lincoln think highly of blacks? Doesn't seem so. Did his official acts benefit blacks in America?
In fact, isn't it true that his official policies benefited African Americans for all time, changing the course of our country forever? Didn't he actually lose his life because of that?
To fail to balance their contributions with what anyone sees as their failures is simply short sighted. If we want to go down that road then wouldn't we also have to take down Martin Luther King statues? He wasn't perfect either.
So some of those founders owned slaves...does that mean we should not honor their contribution to building a nation? I say no. Racism was pretty common for hundreds of years. Should we judge Lincoln by today's standards? Seems kind of dumb to me...who knows what values may be accepted in a hundred years that many of us would be condemned by long after we are gone? Did Lincoln think highly of blacks? Doesn't seem so. Did his official acts benefit blacks in America?
In fact, isn't it true that his official policies benefited African Americans for all time, changing the course of our country forever? Didn't he actually lose his life because of that?
To fail to balance their contributions with what anyone sees as their failures is simply short sighted. If we want to go down that road then wouldn't we also have to take down Martin Luther King statues? He wasn't perfect either.