Thomas Jefferson: Asked And Answered

Asked: President Trump, August 15, 2017

Asked about the white nationalist rally that ended in violence last weekend in Charlottesville, Va., Mr. Trump defended some who had gathered to protect a statue of Robert E. Lee, and criticized the “alt-left” counterprotesters who had confronted them.

“Many of those people were there to protest the taking down of the statue of Robert E. Lee,” Mr. Trump said. “So this week, it is Robert E. Lee. I noticed that Stonewall Jackson is coming down.”

George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, the president noted, were also slave owners. “I wonder, is it George Washington next week?” Mr. Trump said. “And is it Thomas Jefferson the week after?”

Answered: Charlottesville City Council, July 1, 2019

Thomas Jefferson’s birthday is no longer an official, paid holiday in the City of Charlottesville.

Councilors voted late Monday, July 1, to remove April 13 from the city’s holiday schedule. They added “Liberation and Freedom Day” as an official holiday, which is set for on March 3. That day will commemorate the day U.S. troops officially emancipated enslaved people in Charlottesville following the end of the Civil War.

“Having March 3rd be a designated holiday in the city will be a big step towards more accurately presenting the history of Charlottesville and recognizing the importance and value of the lives of the black residents who made up the majority of the population in the city and county at the time of the Civil War,” said [City Councilman] Ben Doherty.

Councilman Doherty did not explain how failing to honor Charlottesville’s most illustrious and influential citizen — author of the Virginia Statute For Religious Freedom, lead author of the Declaration of Independence, designer of Monticello, third president of the United States, and founder of the University of Virginia — “more accurately present[ed] the history of Charlottesville.”

What it does accurately present is the prominent place dishonoring occupies on the agenda of woke progressives.

Say What?