The model T was an amazing car for its times so it would make no sense to criticize it for being slow and fragile. But so many here seem to be doing a similar thing to Thomas Jefferson. He was brought up believing slaves to be inferior. Suprise, he mostly believed slaves to be inferior. He was also brought up to believe indentured servants were inferior, as well as a wide variety of peoples of all races, religions and cultures. The reason he is a great man is that he began to see how wrong many of these beliefs were and set the stage for all the civil rights movements to come. To judge his actions and beliefs by the moral standards of our times is as ridiculous as judging Henry Ford’s cars by modern engineering standards.
So why do it? There are two reasons.
In this smug age, many people make themselves feel better not by doing things that make them feel better (helping the poor, donating all of your free time to volunteer) but by trying to drag others down to their level
Political correctness, while not a created movement, is an organic movement. a tool to put society on the defensive. Cutting down those who are that society’s pillars is all of a piece for this movement.
Only two reasons, eh? Wow. How about something a bit more nuanced and fair?
You can praise someone’s work without praising that person. You can admire the good that someone did without apologizing for their bad actions (something that doesn’t happen enough IMHO).
I have a problem, in general, with idolization of anyone. While I have a problem with people who slam historical figures based on contemporary standards, I also have a problem with people so blinded by hero worship that they refuse to believe that a “great” man is still a man. Criticism is part and parcel with adulation. If we can praise someone for being a visionary, we should also be able to criticize that person for their hypocrisy and narrow-mindedness–especially when it exceeds what was the “norm” for the time. I think TJ did exceed the norm of his time, in more ways than one.
I had a history professor back in college who received complaints from her students because she deigned to criticize Thomas Jefferson for his views on race. She actually had students tell her that she was wrong–T.J never owned slaves and if he did, he set them free! My guess is that people glom onto historical figures like T.J. because they truly feel personally connected to these “heros”. It’s almost as if they take criticism of these figures personally. I find this just as irritating as anything the “PC” crowd does.
I can freely discuss how great the DoI is without talking about how great TJ was as a human being. If that makes me “PC”, well so be it.
Calling someone great is not the same as calling them a God. Every great man (and woman of course) has flaws. What normally makes someone great (at least to history) is that single or handful of acts that move the species forward either morally, scientifically, or artistically. I would never idolize anyone, it is not only against my religion (such as it is) and it trivializes greatness by making it a fixation for the immature.
I call TJ great because he rose for just a little while above the dark ethics of his time.
That is all I meant. The problem I have with the PC police is that they try to invalidate any hint of greatness in their target because that target is/was not perfect.