07-23-2020, 02:05 PM
(07-23-2020, 10:34 AM)BmorePat87 Wrote: 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.
Wilson catches a lot of shit, and rightfully so, but he is responsible for an end to the spoils system (not single-handedly, and not necessarily as president as it occurred before he was in office) and he laid a lot of the groundwork for what FDR would eventually build upon. Without the way he built the bureaucracy and really implemented that idea, the system would not have been in place for FDR when it came time.
This is why I like to focus just on their actions and words. There are good things and bad things with every one of our historical figures. But yeah, Wilson's racism when compared with that of TR at the time is a very interesting comparison to raise. That's also the difference between southern racism and northern racism, though. Wilson was, after all, born and raised in Virginia.
"A great democracy has got to be progressive, or it will soon cease to be either great or a democracy..." - TR
"The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little." - FDR
"The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little." - FDR
