Yeah, I think it would be a problem, Dennis. Agreeing on what was meant either century, that is. However, common sense should dictate some of it.

Sometimes I think that a "manifest destiny" paradigm, absorbed through the general education and culture of the U.S. doesn't allow us to see people like Thomas Jefferson for who/how they really were. There's a little, mostly unconscious, element of judgmentalism (against what we perceive to be morally superior positions by today's standards), which tends to creep into our view of these people. We shy away from the feeling we're "exposing them" and making them less-than somehow.

Personally, I don't have a problem with recognizing that what is considered today as decidedly racist and sexist became racist and sexist through great evolutions in cultural/societal viewpoints. I personally feel great devotion towards Jefferson and his peers; I'm grateful they lived and did what they did. That's a very rich heritage to have and I acknowledge it as my own.

But ... I also acknowledge, without faulting him in any way, that Thomas J. would consider me (a female) not his equal if we stood face to face in his lifetime. Neither would he consider a black person his equal. When he said "all men are created equal", he meant you and himself are equal because you are free white males. There is nothing "wrong" with that; it's just how it was and perfectly understandable for the time he lived.

Penny