Thomas Jefferson statue toppled in Portland, Oregon

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22. Yes, Jefferson did own slaves.

But it is not what he is known for. He didn't spend his time and energy and rhetoric on holding up the value of slavery and declaring it essential to some particular "way of life" that had to be defended with bloodshed against the possibility of change.

That is the difference between Thomas Jefferson and Jefferson Davis. There were men at the Continental
Congress who opposed slavery. They cut a political deal with the men from the slave-holding states. It wasn't pretty and slavery has been called America's original sin.

But they did what they did and founded a country. The price for the hypocrisy of our founders was paid in our civil war, and continues to be paid with the division that poisons our country.

But the words and the ideals are still valid even if the men penning them at the start didn't live up to those ideals. If you're going to tear down Jefferson's statue you may as well tear up the Declaration of Independence. The image of the man, the ideals of the man, and the flaws of the man are all one in the same.