http://www.cavalierdaily.com/article/2016/11/professors-ask-sullivan-to-stop-quoting-jefferson
Wow. This is sad.
The laziest modern trend right next to renaming buildings simply for the sake of it.
We were very saddened by this article.
Mr. Jefferson certainly had his faults, like most of the founding fathers. However, you need to consider a person within the context of their times and within the totality of their achievements. That means facing his slave ownership head-on, but not burying him from history because of it.
At least UVA won’t be asked to changed its name.
University of Washington, Washington State, Eastern Washington, George Washington University, Washington College, WashU in St Louis.
And, of course, the double bads – Washington & Jefferson College and Washington & Lee.
Mr. Jefferson sought to condemn the transatlantic slave trade in 1776 in the Declaration of Independence, but the provision was removed. The US Constitution then was adopted (without involvement by Mr. Jefferson) to state that the transatlantic slave trade could not be banned until 1808. Mr. Jefferson then got a law passed to ban the transatlantic slave trade, effective January 1, 1808.
Even though Thomas Jefferson was a slave owner (obviously inexcusable), it doesn’t mean that he should be erased from our history. Nearly every historical figure has committed an act or acts that don’t align with modern-day ethics. Instead of trying to banish controversial figures and limit speech, we should realize that these people are complex and cannot be generalized as being all “good” or “bad”. The email quoting Thomas Jefferson does not mean that it’s sender condones racism, it just means that they enjoy and agree with the quote.
I think members of the UVA community are more aware of Jefferson’s virtues and faults than the average American.
President Sullivan responded quickly to the petition:
http://www.cavalierdaily.com/article/2016/11/sullivan-defends-email-as-alumni-start-pro-jefferson-petition