According to National Mall officials, an exhibit accompanying the Jefferson Memorial will be updated to acknowledge “the complexity” of the Founding Father’s life.
The pursuit of changes to a monument honoring Thomas Jefferson comes amidst a backlash over confederate statues and anything that could possibly be perceived as racist.
A private non-profit Board of Trustees has said the memorial will acknowledge Jefferson’s history as a slave owner.
“We can reflect the momentous contributions of someone like Thomas Jefferson, but also consider carefully the complexity of who he was,” an official with the Trust said. “And that’s not reflected right now in the exhibits.”
Jefferson Memorial to get an update acknowledging slavery pic.twitter.com/EwkBZaHMLc
— FOX & friends (@foxandfriends) August 21, 2017
Via the Washington Examiner:
An exhibit alongside the nation’s chief memorial to Thomas Jefferson will receive an update that reflects “the complexity” of his status as a founder of the United States and a slaveholder, according to stewards of the National Mall.
…
But the Trust will try to strike a balance between patriotic applause and the legacy of slavery, particularly as they initiate private fundraising drives at a time of rarely-intense criticism of the founders.
Perhaps this is the best manner in which to handle an explosive situation, rather than defacing memorials or demanding they be relegated solely to museums.
It’s certainly a step upward from having a race-hustler like Al Sharpton declare the memorials be defunded and calling them ‘an insult to my family.’
As long as it remains historically accurate, while continuing to focus on the Founding Fathers’ significant contributions to our nation, updating the official records might be a proper solution.
Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has argued that erasing history is not a good plan.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXgcc4c2MKw
“When you start wiping out your history; sanitizing your history to make you feel better,” she observed. “It’s a bad thing.”
Rice believes that history should serve as a lesson, not scrubbed from the collective consciousness of America.
“George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and other slave owners were people of their times,” she said. “What we should celebrate is that from the Jeffersons and the Washingtons as slave owners. Look at where we are now.”
We are a far, far better country than the liberal media is letting on. Let’s learn from the people who made it that way.
Do you think amending monuments to accurately reflect a complex history is a better solution than tearing down statues and monuments? Share your thoughts below!
