07-23-2020, 10:34 AM
A lot of people have already articulated many of my thoughts. We can judge people within the context of their time. Most of the founding fathers were great people who did great things. I think we can apply more scrutiny regarding slavery to someone in 1861 than we can to someone in 1787 given the evolution of society's view on the topic.
The catchall term "Founding Father" shouldn't be a shield, however, for scrutiny. Not all of those involved in establishing our nation were equally great or equal advocates of democracy.
Some I think it's fair to not include their names based on scrutiny. Compare Wilson and T Roosevelt. Both believed White people were superior, but Teddy promoted his idea as a necessity to uplift Black people and hire more for lead roles in the federal government while Wilson used it as a justification to segregate, fire Black people in the federal government, and support the KKK. In 2020, both are considered racist. In 1912, Wilson would have been considered racist.
The catchall term "Founding Father" shouldn't be a shield, however, for scrutiny. Not all of those involved in establishing our nation were equally great or equal advocates of democracy.
Some I think it's fair to not include their names based on scrutiny. Compare Wilson and T Roosevelt. Both believed White people were superior, but Teddy promoted his idea as a necessity to uplift Black people and hire more for lead roles in the federal government while Wilson used it as a justification to segregate, fire Black people in the federal government, and support the KKK. In 2020, both are considered racist. In 1912, Wilson would have been considered racist.
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