The Debatable Land #1: No More Heroes

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The New Puritans: Jefferson Must Fall

Of course they would, in the end, come for Thomas Jefferson. How could it be otherwise, for Jefferson was a slave-owner and a sinner and this, in 2021, trumps his role as a founder of the United States. A statue of Jefferson has been removed from city hall in New York and this, I wager, will not be the last time Jefferson is judged by the standards of today and found hideously, even irredeemably, wanting. 

If this seems presumptuous it is also in keeping with the spirit of the moment. I hold to the view that it is wholly reasonable to reconsider monuments erected in previous eras but also to the once uncontroversial vie…