Washington Times writer Peter Lillback laments the alleged removal of George Washington from American History.
“In these politically correct times, George Washington isn’t the hero he once was. Children don’t read about him in school as much as their parents did. They’re much more likely to learn about African-American, Native American or female heroes. New Jersey, in fact, issued new history standards a few years ago that omitted any mention of Washington.”
How does multicultural America treat deeply flawed heroes?
Last year, I (Justin) read An Imperfect God: George Washington, His Slaves and the Creation of America, a truly great book that detailed the relationship between Washington, his slaves and slavery in general. Throughout his adult life, Washington owned slaves, inheriting slaves first from his father and then from his wife, Martha Custis. Washington worked his slaves to the bone, 6 days per week, sunrise to sunset. His slaves, which numbered as many as 316, were given one set of clothing for the entire year, and were barely fed enough to keep them alive.
Washington’s attitudes toward slavery changed as he grew older. He came to view slavery as a mark on his own soul, and on the spirit of freedom in America. However, he never took a public position against slavery because of the perceived need to maintain American unity during and after the Revolutionary War. In his will, Washington arranged for all of the slaves he owned to be freed after the death of his wife. He also left instructions for the continued care and education of some of his former slaves, support and training for all of their children until they came of age, and continuing support for the elderly.
TheStateOf . . . Independence Day. As much as it pains white people, people of color must continue to point out that white folks’ every nickel is stolen from someone’s else’s labor. Anything else is a lie. I give Washington some credit for the things he did at the end of his life, but I’d have much more respect for him had he pushed to abolish slavery in 1776 when he had a chance. Imagine if we would have been free 100 years earlier!
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