Monuments for George Washington and Thomas Jefferson Don't Commemorate Heroes

The Federal Hall National Memorial in Manhattan and its statue of George Washington were covered with graffiti during 2020's BLM protests. Photo: Billie Grace Ward

By BAHIYAH LEITO

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Monuments and statues are constructed to remember individuals of prestige and excellence. So, can you find valid reasons for keeping up statues of racists? Trick question, there aren’t any.

With the Black Lives Matter demonstrations this past summer, beginning on May 28 and picking up speed on June 6, there came about multiple forms of protesting. Among these was the defacement and destruction of statues of American “heroes” such as Andrew Jackson, Christopher Columbus, George Washington, and Thomas Jefferson. To protect these “sacred” monuments, many city governments removed them, thus sparking a debate: Should statues of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson be permanently removed?

The answer, beyond a shadow of a doubt, is yes.

George Washington and Thomas Jefferson were both United States presidents, Washington being the first and Jefferson being the third. They were also well-known slave owners. Washington owned 123 slaves and Jefferson owned 600 on their respective properties.

Slave labor played a big early role in the capitalist system we hold oh so dear to our hearts, and it was the basis of the cotton trade that was essential to the American economy for critical decades in our nation’s development. Owning slaves during that time contributed to the exploitation of black bodies and helped lay the groundwork for today’s systemic racism.

But Washington was a big supporter of the Bill of Rights, and Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence! Fair points, but the simple fact is that these accomplishments show them to be hypocrites. Don't believe me? Here are some words straight from their mouths:

“I can only say that there is not a man living who wishes more sincerely than I do to see a plan adopted for the abolition of slavery,” Washington said. I’m sure there were plenty of people who weren’t active slave owners for 56 years who would also have loved to see slavery abolished.

“I prefer dangerous freedom over peaceful slavery,” Jefferson said. I’ll keep that in mind when remembering Jefferson’s orders for physical punishment of his slaves. 

Yes, Jefferson also wrote the famous words “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal,” and both of these men supported the Constitution’s guarantee that no one should be deprived of “life, liberty, or property.” But these are ironic comments given their history of slave ownership.

This hypocrisy is precisely why the statues are being defaced and possibly going to be removed for good. Why should human beings who encouraged and supported a racist institution have national holidays and be celebrated in textbooks?

The opposition says that Washington’s and Jefferson’s positive impacts in the founding of America outweigh their sins, and that tearing down monuments isn’t patriotic or “American.” Has racism become so normalized that when it’s combatted or checked, it's seen as anti-American?

I like to believe that systemic racism can be uprooted and our society redesigned, and a possible start could be telling the whole truth about our history. 

School textbooks from publishers like Houghton Mifflin and Macmillan McGraw-Hill whitewash the past by underplaying the role of slavery in many founders’ lives. That’s why so many people don’t see why statues of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson should be removed. 

Teaching the whole truth, the good and the bad, the ugly and the inspiring, helps kids and people of any age see that our “founding fathers” had many layers that are just waiting to be unpacked. They aren't just white entitled men who sit on big stone horses or stand frozen in the middle of park promenades. 

Yes, they had successes and shaped what our country looks like today, but they also had faults and contributed to the division and ignorance we currently experience.

Critics tried to paint Black Lives Matter protesters as rioters and criminals, but what's wrong with challenging norms and becoming more aware of our own biases and prejudices? What’s the problem with tearing down statues of slave owners? Are they who we want as our American heroes?

I say watch them crumble.