Let's Not Cancel the Founding Fathers!

Some folks (including two of my cousins) have argued that we need to remove the statue of Jefferson from the Jefferson Memorial in Washington.  

Others have said the George Washington statues need to go too.   Both Washington and Jefferson were slaveholders, after all.

And while we're at it, let's rename Washington DC.

Many of you who have been reading this column might anticipate that I'd be supportive of such moves.  

Well, I'm not.  Here's why.

Every nation needs an enduring and inspiring national myth.  An uplifting and rousing narrative, an encouraging set of anecdotes that give us purpose.  A saga about a nation's past.  A story we all know by heart, one that affirms our identity as Americans. 

And many of these figures who are up for 'cancellation' are essential parts of our national myth. 

It is surely a fact that Thomas Jefferson and George Washington, both pivotal characters in America's historical narrative, are unquestioned in their contributions towards a more perfect union.

Not a perfect union (which it certainly wasn't back then and isn't now).  

A more perfect union.  Just like it says in the preamble to the constitution.  

Striving to make the nation (and ourselves) more perfect is what this is all about.  The chronicle of less-than-perfect people striving to make our union more perfect is part of our history and should not be erased or forgotten.  This is one of the keystones in our national myth.

Yea but... What about the slavery?

It is true, both Washington and Jefferson implicitly embraced the dreadful and inhumane institution of slavery.  In fact, slavery enabled a lifestyle of haute couture and big mansions for both of them... all on the backs  of the enslaved, and the torturous conditions which were imposed upon them. 

However, nobody wants to propagate the idea that Washington's and Jefferson's enslavement of humans was even close to acceptable.  So we're back to removing their statues?

No, not quite.

Here is Jon Meacham, one of my favorite presidential historians, on the topic of which statues to preserve and which to remove (link to reference).  He proposes a straightforward test:

Was the person to whom a monument is erected on public property devoted to the American experiment in liberty and self-government? Washington and Jefferson and Andrew Jackson were. Each owned slaves; each was largely a creature of his time and place on matters of race. Yet each also believed in the transcendent significance of the nation, and each was committed to the journey toward “a more perfect Union.”

By definition, the Confederate hierarchy fails that test. Those who took up arms against the Union were explicitly attempting to stop the American odyssey. While we should judge each individual on the totality of their lives (defenders of Lee, for instance, point to his attempts to be a figure of reconciliation after the war), the forces of hate and of exclusion long ago made Confederate imagery their own. Monuments in public places of veneration to those who believed it their duty to fight the Union have no place in the Union of the 21st century — a view with which Lee himself might have agreed. “I think it wiser,” he wrote in 1866, “not to keep open the sores of war.”

Extending Our National Myth

Leaving up statues of Washington and Jefferson while removing select confederate statues is proving to be not nearly enough.  

As each day passes, it is becoming more and more obvious that there are elements which are missing from the story.  There are chapters that are incomplete, and need to be woven into our national myth, extending it and making it relevant to the 21st century.  

For example, polls are showing Americans are quickly changing views on racism, and its role in the development of our nation.  The recognition that African-Americans have been long oppressed is starting to again become a key part of our national dialog.  The legacy of slavery is proving to be stronger than anyone imagined and is still negatively impacting a portion of our citizens.

Now is the time to formalize under-recognized people and events into our national myth, by commissioning new monuments and statues, in our nation's capitol, to complete our picture of the American story of making a more perfect union.

For example, the dreadfulness of slavery, and the unthinkably horrendous middle passage have yet to be recognized with a monument on a proper and proportionate scale.  We've rightfully honored the veterans that have sacrificed their lives in the Viet Nam war with a wonderfully designed monument in DC.  Shouldn't the sacrifices made by the enslaved be honored in a similarly grand fashion?  

We've payed only token homage to many of the heroes and heroines who persisted during antebellum times.  For example, I have no doubt that Harriet Tubman had every bit as much courage as Andrew Jackson and inspired thousands of people during her time.  A monument in Washington, DC would certainly help cement her persona into the nation's story.

Celebrating these brave people and significant events with monuments on the proper scale will help weave these stories into our national myth.

A myth that can encompass and inspire all Americans, not just white, wealthy, gentlemen farmers from Virginia.

A myth that celebrates our history of not-perfect people striving to make America a more perfect nation. 

As we find ourselves in this conflict-ridden virus-prone year, we need our national myth more than ever to knit all of our peoples into one nation.