Thomas Jefferson

I have been fortunate enough to attend schools that never tried to tell the classic American history fabrications. So it does not surprise me to read that Thomas Jefferson owned slaves or that he was in favor of freeing slaves and kicking them out of the country. It doesn't surprise me that he also had some rather progressive and humanitarian ideas for somebody of his time. In many ways, Jefferson is the embodiment of a hypocrite. But in many ways Jefferson is the embodiment of the future. While reading "Notes on the State of Virginia" one gets the feeling that Jefferson is a racist, inhumane man who exists in a fantasy world where whites are the superior race. At other times, though, Jefferson appears to be so close to the truth. It is easy to see that Jefferson calls black people odorous, less beautiful, less loving, and inferior in thinking. But there are times when Jefferson seems so close: when he suggests that blacks may be capable of being free members of society if there weren't so many prejudices against them. Or like when he admits that there are examples of success by black people in society. Or when he admits that blacks may look inferior because of years of oppression in America that included lack of education and opportunity and being forced into slavery. In his time period, Jefferson must be considered a progressive thinker - a man who talked about freeing slaves before they were free and a man who saw some potential in black people. But at the same time, it's important not to forget that Jefferson was still very racist, that he was cowardly of doing the right thing, and that he was not the man that many people say that he was.