Seventy-three percent of college students who identify as Democrats favor taking down the statue of any of the Founding Fathers who owned slaves, according to an online survey taken by the College Fix, which covers news on America’s college campuses.
College Fix surveyed 1,000 college students, asking the question, “Do you support or oppose taking down public statues of U.S. Founding Fathers who owned slaves?” Only 12 percent of Democrats opposed such action. According to College Fix, 44 percent strongly favor taking the statues down, and an additional 29 percent said that they support doing so. The remaining 15 percent were not sure whether they wanted to see the statues removed.
College students who identify as Republicans, on the other hand, are opposed to removing the statues, with only four percent favoring such a drastic step. Eighty-eight percent oppose the removal, with the remaining eight percent telling College Fix that they are not sure.
To be clear, Founders who owned slaves include George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison.
Washington, of course, was the first president of the United States, but he is also considered the “father” of the country, and it is his name that is used for the national capital of the United States. At his funeral, Washington’s close friend, “Lighthorse Harry Lee,” said that Washington was “first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen.”
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But Washington was not called the father of his country because he was our first president, although that was certainly part of that designation. His service for over seven years as the commander-in-chief of the Continental Army, and his service in presiding over the Constitutional Convention also contributes to that title.
Perhaps more than anything else, Washington’s refusal to seize power as our first king, or at least as a military dictator, as had been done so often before him in world history, and has been repeated since, elevates George Washington to that title of father of his country. When the War for Independence was over, he went to Harlem and watched the last British ships sail over the horizon of the Atlantic, then went to Congress and resigned his commission, voluntarily surrendering the power that he could have used to make himself a dictator.
He then came out of retirement to serve, first at the Constitutional Convention, and then as our nation’s first president. After eight years, he again surrendered power, and returned to his Mount Vernon home for the last few years of his life. King George III marveled at Washington’s lack of personal ambition, saying it placed him in a light the most distinguished of any man living, making him the “greatest character of his age.”
In short, no person has ever existed without a human father (except for Adam and Jesus), and the United States would simply not exist without Washington. That, not just that he was our first president, is the reason we rightly celebrate him as father of our country.
Yet, because Washington was not a perfect man — he owned slaves — these holier-than-thou college students think his statues should be torn down. Washington freed his slaves in his will, and provided that those unable to work due to age or illness would be supported by the estate for the rest of their lives. Not good enough for these academic Talibans.
Thomas Jefferson was another slave owner whose statues should be toppled, according to these pseudo-intellectuals. Yet, Jefferson was the principal author of the Declaration of Independence, which put forth the revolutionary idea that governments exist to protect our rights, not give us our rights. According to Jefferson’s words, any government not performing that function of securing our rights can be replaced by another government that will do so.
Then there is James Madison, whose contributions to the Constitution of the United States were so immense that he has rightly been dubbed the Father of the Constitution — another Founding Father whose statues should be consigned to the dustbin of history, if these academic Talibans have their way.
Sweeping away these three men from our rightful admiration means that we are cutting away the pillars of our country. Certainly, all three men had their faults, as do all human beings, including liberal college students. But these three human beings also did much good, not only for the citizens of our nation, but they have inspired a thirst for freedom around the world. Millions would love to move to the country that these three men created, yet these college students evidently do not believe they are worthy of admiration.
Such arrogance is incredible, yet they have been indoctrinated by those in our popular culture, our left-wing media, and academia to hate their own country and its Founding Fathers. Even in Oklahoma, a state in which no Democrat has carried even a county in a presidential race in 20 years, we find on the campus of the University of Oklahoma powerful evidence of the problem. Of 33 members of the history faculty at OU, none are registered Republicans — not even a never-Trumper.
So, is it any wonder that Democrat-identifying college students favor the destruction of the founding of our nation, along with its founding documents such as the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution?
Perhaps these same Democrat students should be asked what they think of being registered in a political party which provided almost all of the support for the KKK and segregation?
Diversity of thought is not what the Left means when they speak of diversity. They mean a liberal white guy, a liberal black guy, a liberal woman, and so on. The diversity to challenge the leftist group-think of the college campus is not only discouraged, but it can get you punished on the college campus today, maybe even expelled.
If you doubt that, go to most campuses today and say something positive about Washington, Jefferson, and Madison. Just make sure your health insurance premiums are paid up.
Image: dosecreative/iStock/Getty Images Plus
Steve Byas is a university instructor of history and government and the author of History’s Greatest Libels. He may be contacted at [email protected].
