New York City’s Public Design Commission has decided to remove a nearly two-hundred-year-old statue of Founding Father Thomas Jefferson from NYC’s City Hall on Monday by a unanimous vote.
Local ABC affiliate <a href="https://abc7ny.com/thomas-jefferson-city-council-new-york-save-our-statue/11139323/">reported</a>, “The statue, which dates back to 1833, was expected to go on ‘long term loan’ to the New-York Historical Society by the end of the year, where it would be included in educational exhibits with the proper historical context that likely will include discussion of Jefferson&#8217;s slave ownership.”
People have been pushing for the Founding Father and primary author of the Declaration of Independence removal from the City Council chambers in City Hall since June of 2020. Due to discussions over cost, a new destination has not yet been determined for the statue. 
&#8220;This Administration owes it to the more than five million New Yorkers of color our members &#8211; past, present and future &#8211; represent, to resolve that the individuals memorialized within the confines of our People&#8217;s House be reflective not only of the best traditions of our city&#8217;s history and its diversity but unquestionable character,” the city’s council’s Black, Latino, and Asian Caucus said in a statement. 
One New York assemblyman, who first attempted to remove the statue of the nation’s third president from the chamber back in 2001, called Jefferson a “slaveholding pedophile.” 
“How the hell can people see as a hero someone who had hundreds of enslaved Africans, someone who was a racist and who said we were inferior and someone who was a slaveholding pedophile?” Charles Barron <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/18/nyregion/thomas-jefferson-statue-ny-city-council.html">said</a> according to The New York Times. “For him to be canonized in a statue is incredible — incredibly racist.”
Many are upset with the decision to remove the historic statue, which has been in the city chambers for 188 years.
&#8220;Do we suddenly wipe out the images, the markings, the names of all those great patriots because they were slaveholders and slave holding was quite common at that time?&#8221; NYC Mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa said. 
As previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/nyc-mayor-bill-de-blasio-banishes-thomas-jefferson-statue-from-city-hall-after-187-years">reported</a> by The Daily Wire, members of the city’s Public Design Commission are all appointed by the mayor. A spokesman for the mayor said that the city would still have jurisdiction over the statue but that they would work to “provide valuable historical context.” 
“The city would still own the plaster model, and the historical society would include it in educational exhibits and provide valuable historical context,” the spokesman said. 
Before the vote, Republican City council member Joe Borelli accused Mayor Bill de Blasio of waging a “progressive war on history.” 
“The de Blasio administration will continue the progressive war on history as he, himself, fades away into a portrait on a City Hall wall,” the Staten Island member <a href="https://nypost.com/2021/10/13/de-blasio-booting-founding-father-jefferson-from-city-hall/">told </a>the New York Post. 
Originally, the statue was commissioned to celebrate Jefferson’s promotion of religious liberty in 1833 by Jewish Navy commodore Uriah P. Levy.
 “I consider Thomas Jefferson to be one of the greatest men in history,&#8221; Levy once <a href="https://www.monticello.org/site/research-and-collections/uriah-phillips-levy">said</a>, &#8220;the author of the <a href="https://www.monticello.org/site/research-and-collections/declaration-independence">Declaration</a> and an absolute democrat. He serves as an inspiration to millions of Americans.”
Earlier this year, New York’s Public Design also voted to remove a statue of Spanish-American war hero, explorer, and president Theodore Roosevelt from outside of the American Museum of Natural History. 
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Washington, D.C. Cityscapes And City Views

‘Incredibly Racist’: New York City Commission Votes To Remove 200-Year-Old Thomas Jefferson Statue

Founding Fathers

Statues

Thomas Jefferson

In the newest “Making America” video for PragerU, speaker and author Dinesh D’Souza discusses how the inventor, diplomat, and patriot Benjamin Franklin embodies the self-made man spirit that made the United States into a great nation. 
“Franklin’s life, no less than his ideas, conveys the indomitable spirit of both invention and, just as important, self-invention, that define Americans and make them almost instantly distinguishable, even today, by people around the world,” D’Souza explains. 
Franklin, the youngest of 17 children, was born in Boston, Massachusetts, and would grow up to become one of the nation’s foremost inventors, printers, and statesmen. Although he had little formal education, Franklin was brilliant and came up with many innovations. 
“He conducted early experiments in electricity, devised bifocal glasses, designed a new type of stove, organized lending libraries, formed Philadelphia’s first fire department, and founded the college that became the University of Pennsylvania,” says D’Souza. 
On top of this, Franklin produced “Poor Richard’s Almanac,” one of the most popular pamphlets ever produced in America at the time. 
When conflict came between the colonies and England, Franklin hoped that war could be avoided. 
“He desperately tried to keep America out of a war with Britain, offering the British government every kind of compromise to avoid the conflict,” D’Souza says, “But when his efforts were rejected and he realized separation from the mother country was inevitable, he threw his heart and soul into the revolutionary cause, the struggle for independence.”
During the War for Independence, Franklin was key to getting France to join the conflict as an ally to the fledgling American nation. Without the aid of France, many historians do not believe that the Americans would have been successful in gaining independence.
After the successful conclusion of the war, Franklin played a pivotal role in keeping the various state delegates together during the drafting of the Constitution. Franklin, truly one of America’s most unique polymaths, always put his mind and efforts to the task at hand, whether it be negotiating with the French, conducting scientific experiments, or trying to cultivate personal virtue. 
D’Souza argues that the life and character of Franklin was representative of many who would come to America and make a name for themselves through hard work and innovation. 
“In America, class didn’t matter. Country of origin didn’t matter. Level of education didn’t matter. All that mattered was talent, hard work, and luck,” D’Souza says, “In America, you could make of yourself what you will, and you still can. Just as Benjamin Franklin did.”
WATCH: 
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PragerU

WATCH: Making America: Benjamin Franklin And The Self-Made Man

In the latest “Making America” video for PragerU, Dinesh D&#8217;Souza, the author and speaker, explains how Alexander Hamilton laid the foundations for American commercial prosperity by promoting new ideas about wealth creation for the country. 
As D’Souza points out, after the American War for Independence, there was debate about the future of the new country’s economic system. What system would the young nation adopt if it moved on from the old force and conquest means of acquiring wealth?
“Alexander Hamilton, the first treasurer of the United States, had the answer,&#8221; says D&#8217;Souza. &#8220;Under his brilliant stewardship, the new nation developed a new concept of wealth creation: capitalism—based on innovation, invention, and enterprise. And it would be available to every citizen from any background with the willingness to work for it.&#8221;
While D’Souza notes that there were exceptions to this general principle, he argues that, at the core, “America is the first society to be based on invention and trade.” 
D’Souza credits this fact to the unique influence of Alexander Hamilton. 
Born in the Caribbean, Hamilton was orphaned at 12 and years later, at age 29, moved to New York. Soon after, he joined George Washington’s staff, took part in the Revolutionary War, and, eventually, became a member of Washington’s cabinet as the Secretary of Treasury. 
“Hamilton envisioned America as a nation whose nuclei would be cities, centers of vigorous invention, innovation, and trade, with new types of people—entrepreneurs, mechanics, financiers, salesmen, and so on—all working to enjoy the ‘pleasing reward of their toils,’” D’Souza says. 
Hamilton knew that the acceptance of slavery was a major problem for the young United States, and favored a gradual ending of the slave system. He believed, says D’Souza, that adopting his commercial-based system would hasten slavery’s demise. 
“In his mind, there was only one way: make it as easy as possible for as many people as possible to become as prosperous as possible. This would happen through the myriad ways of commerce,” says D’Souza. 
He realized that the government would need to be strong enough to protect the new commercial systems he hoped to implement throughout the country. On this question, he often debated Thomas Jefferson, who wanted a weaker government. 
A key component of protecting the rights to commerce was included in the Constitution in the form of patent protection. This gave creators an incentive to invent things that would benefit the nation. 
“It was no accident that within a matter of decades the United States became the most prosperous nation in world history,&#8221; D’Souza says. “It’s no accident because Alexander Hamilton was there at the founding—the man who understood that, thanks to capitalism, you don’t have to take anyone else’s marbles to get more marbles of your own.”
WATCH:
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Alexander Hamilton

WATCH: Making America: Alexander Hamilton And Capitalism

In the new “Making America” series for PragerU, Dinesh D’Souza, the author and speaker, takes a look at Founding Father John Adams and his thoughts on the importance of virtue and good character. 
Adams believed cultivation of virtue should be the chief concern of Americans. But to understand “virtue,” says D’Souza, Americans today need to understand another phrase — the “pursuit of happiness.” 
The phrase meant something different before. 
D’Souza explains that to many today, the pursuit of happiness means following one’s heart and being true to one’s self. But Adams would disagree with that interpretation. 
“To John Adams, America’s second president and a seminal figure in the creation of the country, this was bad advice. For Adams and the Founders generally, happiness was a modus vivendi, a way of living, expressed by how one conducted oneself, especially in public,” D’Souza explains. 
“Being yourself,” Adams would have argued, would lead to self-absorption, not virtue. Instead, as explained by D&#8217;Souza, Adams would have argued that happiness is having good character which needs to be worked towards. It means being a noble person. 
“Over time, through the result of continual effort and the slow working of habit, one can become that person. Adams practiced what he preached. In this way, he became a public figure both incorruptible and unfailingly honest. He became the best version of himself,” says D’Souza. 
Adams and the framers understood virtuous people were necessary for a well-functioning nation. 
“The preservation of liberty,” Adams wrote, “depends on the intellectual and moral character of the people. As long as knowledge and virtue are diffused generally among the body of a nation, it is impossible they should be enslaved.”
Adams was also a Christian, and he believed that a fear of God and respect of the Bible would be one means of inculcating virtue in the new nation. 
However, as D’Souza notes, Adams also strongly believed that a virtuous government was necessary. Adams hoped that politicians and statesmen of good character would be attracted to serving in the government instead of men who just wanted power. 
“His focus was to give citizens the ability to thwart the conniving, corrupt, power-lusting politicians for which he had so much contempt. Once identified, they could simply be voted out of office and better people could take their place,” D’Souza says. 
WATCH: 
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John Adams

WATCH: Making America: John Adams And Virtue

In the latest 5-minute video for PragerU, Dinesh D’Souza, the author and speaker, explains the ingenious structure of the Constitution, detailing how it was designed to protect against not only an overbearing monarchy, but also the tyranny of the many. 
The video, part of PragerU’s five-part series on “Making America,” takes a close look at James Madison — a Virginian who is often referred to as the Father of the Constitution — and his role in shaping the early American Republic. 
D’Souza begins the video by asking whether the American people could be counted on to always do the right thing, and says this was a question Madison was deeply invested in answering. 
“Whenever there is an interest and power to do wrong,” Madison once said, “wrong will generally be done.”
D’Souza explains, “For his new nation, Madison wanted as much freedom as possible with as little government as possible. But he had no illusions. Tyranny, he knew, comes in many forms. It’s not confined to monarchies and dictatorships.”
One of the forms of tyranny that most concerned Madison was that of the majority, or the mob. 
This recognition of the danger that people could pose to their own political liberty led Madison to look at the role of factions, or groups with shared interests, in republican government. While smaller factions would be kept in check by larger factions, Madison knew that there needed to be a way to keep the bigger factions from dominating everyone else. 
“This is the central purpose of the Constitution: to limit, frustrate, and in some cases block majority rule,” D’Souza explained. 
One simple yet important observation is that the Constitution needed to be written down so that everyone would know the law of the land. 
D’Souza notes, “The original document was written on four pieces of parchment and is 4543 words long. Its remarkable brevity perfectly matches its purpose: to create a framework for limited government.”
Another important point about the nature of the Constitution is that rights are clearly spelled out. 
And a third major component of the Constitution was that it set up a representative republic, not a direct democracy. “And a republic is a much better guard against tyranny of the majority than a democracy, in which, by definition, the majority can do whatever it wants,” D’Souza says. 
The design of the Constitution also ensured that power was divided up among three branches of government. While the legislative branch had the power to write and pass laws, the executive branch was entrusted with enforcing those laws, and it was the job of an independent judiciary to then resolve legal disputes about those laws. 
WATCH:
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Dinesh D’Souza

WATCH: Making America: James Madison And The Constitution

Constitution

In the latest five-minute video for PragerU, Clemson professor Brad Thompson breaks down the life of Founding Father John Adams, and explains how Adams saved the United States before it had even begun.
Thompson, a professor of political science and author of “America&#8217;s Revolutionary Mind,” said that a single speech from Adams convinced the Second Continental Congress to declare independence from Great Britain and launch the Revolutionary War.
On July 1, 1776, in Philadelphia, “when the forces against independence appeared to have the upper hand, Adams rose to his feet. Without notes and without any preparation, he made the case for independence. By the time he sat down, the case had been won,” Thompson said. “We don’t have a transcript of what he said. If we did, Adams might rank even higher than he does now among the Founding Fathers.”
The professor noted that Adams’ fellow Founding Father Thomas Jefferson praised Adams years later as “our Colossus on the floor,” giving a speech so powerful in “thought and expression” that it “moved us from our seats.”
Adams was a difficult man to get along with. Born in 1735 near Boston, Adams was driven. He was “brilliant, demanding, meticulous, but often irascible,” Thompson said. He would inevitably fight with anyone he came to work with, yet Adams’ character and intellect earned respect and appreciation from his colleagues, as well.
“Adams relentlessly pushed himself to rise early, work hard, and live a moral life. He strove — in the language of the day — for a life of virtue over vice,” Thomson said. In 1765, Adams came to the public’s attention with a speech opposing the Stamp Act, and dedicated himself to the struggle for American independence for the next 18 years.
During the Revolution, Adams, then in his forties, served as an emissary and diplomat, crossing the Atlantic four times despite deadly storms, disease, and potential execution at the hands of British authorities. Adams played a key role in securing French support in the Revolutionary War, and in negotiating the Treaty of Paris in which the British crown officially recognized the United States as an independent country.
“For all these efforts, Adams was paid virtually nothing. But fortune was never his aim. Creating a new, better, freer country than the world had ever known was all that he cared about,” Thompson explained. “As one delegate to the Continental Congress said, ‘The man to whom the country is most indebted for the great measure of independence is Mr. John Adams.’”
After the war, Adams followed George Washington as president of the United States. Adams held the post for one term marked by two major achievements: convincing Congress to build a navy in order to secure America’s future, and refusing to get the U.S. entangled in a war in Europe despite pressure from France.
Adams remained a patriot dedicated to American independence for the remainder of his life.
“As the fiftieth anniversary of the Declaration of Independence approached, a 91-year-old Adams was asked to provide a toast for the upcoming celebration,” Thompson said. “He offered two words: ‘independence forever.’ It turned out to be his last public utterance. How fitting.”
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Brad Thompson

WATCH: ‘Our Colossus’: How John Adams Served And Saved The United States

Prager University

The Metro Parks Tacoma Board of Commissioners voted unanimously Monday to boot Ben Franklin from a public park in central Tacoma, replacing him with Rosa Franklin, Washington state&#8217;s first African American state senator.
Franklin Park, which has occupied approximately 20 acres in central Tacoma since the 1930s, will technically not be changing its name, since both the founding father and the former state senator share a last name, according to <a href="https://www.thenewstribune.com/news/article249436860.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The News Tribune</a>.
The theoretical gesture is nevertheless being hailed as a sign of progress.
“I really believe that it means a lot to people — and to kids — to see people who look like them represented in the names of parks and schools and other facilities,” said Metro Parks board commissioner Aaron Pointer. “It gives people inspiration. To some, it might not mean a lot. But to others, it can mean a sense of belonging, and that the city recognizes that our people are a part of the city, and not just something that is disregarded.”
As The News Tribune reported:
<blockquote>Not only will [the renaming] provide a concrete example of the work Metro Parks has done to improve equity, inclusion and diversity, but it will serve as an example to Tacoma residents — young and old — of the important role Black Tacoma residents have played in the city’s history.</blockquote>
Metro Parks board chair Erik Hanberg jokingly described the name change as &#8220;<a href="https://www.kiro7.com/news/local/today-in-history-king-county-officially-renamed-in-honor-of-martin-luther-king-jr/941770559/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">pulling a King County</a>,&#8221; a reference to when Washington state lawmakers &#8220;renamed&#8221; King County after Martin Luther King Jr. in 2005 without actually doing anything.
Hanberg maintained the name change meant no disrespect to Benjamin Franklin but rather was simply intended &#8220;to honor a woman of color who spent much of her life living in Tacoma and working to make the city a better place.&#8221;
“In this case, there was an opportunity to take a name from someone who had not been from Tacoma and had died long before the city was founded and replace it with an icon who is also a woman of color,” Hanberg said. “I don’t think [Ben Franklin] loses anything by having Tacoma change the name &#8230; to someone who is actually connected to our city and has done great things for our city.”
Metro Parks Board Commissioner Jessie Baines took a less charitable view toward the founding father, who once owned slaves but later became an abolitionist. According to The News Tribune, Baines argued &#8220;that dead white men are constantly put on a pedestal in this country, despite blemishes or missteps, while people of color have rarely received similar recognition.&#8221;
Rosa Franklin, 93, said when she was told she had been chosen as the park&#8217;s namesake, she asked, “Are you sure?”
“I used to live in that district. My two kids &#8230; went to Franklin Elementary, so you know that was a long time ago,” Franklin added. “I’m so appreciative.”
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/cant-make-it-up-bill-hemmer-predicts-cancel-culture-coming-for-bible-characters-next" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">‘Can’t Make It Up’: Bill Hemmer Predicts Cancel Culture Coming For ‘Bible Characters’ Next</a>
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Franklin Institute

Ben Franklin’s Name Scrubbed From Tacoma City Park

Cancel Culture

Washington

A commission created by Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser has recommended a slew of changes to public buildings in the district that includes scrubbing Thomas Jefferson’s name from schools and potentially removing the Washington Monument.
The District of Columbia Facilities and Commemorative Expressions (DCFACES) board submitted its <a href="https://mayor.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/mayormb/page_content/attachments/DC-FACES-Executive-Summary.pdf">recommendations</a> to Bowser on Monday, suggesting changes to monuments, memorials, and public spaces to better reflect “DC values.” Bowser assembled the committee in July to “review the legacy of namesakes of District assets.”
“This July, I tasked the DCFACES Working Group with evaluating public spaces to ensure the namesake&#8217;s legacy is consistent with #DCValues,” Bowser announced on Twitter on Tuesday. “They have delivered the report, and I look forward to reviewing and advancing their recommendations.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
This July, I tasked the DCFACES Working Group with evaluating public spaces to ensure the namesake&#39;s legacy is consistent with <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/DCValues?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#DCValues</a>.
They have delivered the report, and I look forward to reviewing and advancing their recommendations.
Learn more: <a href="https://t.co/VpUZf4HcZB">https://t.co/VpUZf4HcZB</a> <a href="https://t.co/tj889EQmdD">pic.twitter.com/tj889EQmdD</a>
&mdash; Mayor Muriel Bowser (@MayorBowser) <a href="https://twitter.com/MayorBowser/status/1300849673272524805?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 1, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The DCFACES committee evaluated historical figures based on “key disqualifying histories, including participation in slavery, systemic racism, mistreatment of, or actions that suppressed equality for, persons of color, women and LGBTQ communities and violation of the DC Human Right [sic] Act,” according to the report’s executive summary.
The report targeted monuments, buildings, and parks that honor such figures as the author of the Star-Spangled Banner Francis Scott Key, U.S. Founding Father Benjamin Franklin, famed inventor Alexander Graham Bell, and the fifth U.S. President James Monroe.
The committee also targeted federal property and recommended that Bowser use her position on the National Capital Memorial Advisory Commission to push to “remove, relocate, or contextualize” the following national monuments:
<ul>
<li>Columbus Fountain</li>
<li>Benjamin Franklin Statue</li>
<li>Andrew Jackson Statue</li>
<li>Jefferson Memorial</li>
<li>George Mason Memorial</li>
<li>Newlands Memorial Fountain</li>
<li>Albert Pike Statue</li>
<li>Washington Monument</li>
<li>George Washington Statue</li>
</ul>
After a survey, town hall, and meetings with residents, the committee said that 80% of Washington residents support a push “to remove or rename assets where the namesake’s legacy was inconsistent with or did not align with the District’s core values of equity, opportunity, and prosperity.”
Bowser has already engaged in other public works projects catering to the Black Lives Matter movement since the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis on Memorial Day and the outbreak of massive protests and riots in major cities across the U.S. On June 5, Bowser had a giant “Black Lives Matter” slogan painted on 16th Street leading to the White House. She named the two-block section of street encompassing the mural <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/protesters-add-defund-the-police-to-black-lives-matter-painted-near-white-house">Black Lives Matter Plaza</a>.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/unhinged-manic-rage-trump-blasts-riots-roiling-d-c-and-says-mayor-should-be-ashamed-of-herself">President Donald Trump</a> has criticized Bowser in recent weeks for attempting to appease rioters instead of cracking down on violence that has at times gripped parts of the nation’s capital. On Thursday night after Trump’s speech on the last night of the Republican National Convention, angry crowds met GOP lawmakers and guests as they exited the White House. Protesters screamed obscenities at those leaving and, in several instances, got violent. One protester pushed a police officer into Sen. <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/watch-crazed-mob-assaults-police-officer-guarding-rand-paul-accosts-him-after-rnc-convention">Rand Paul</a> (R-KY) and his wife.
“Today’s Democrat Party is filled with hate,” Trump said the day after. “Just look at Joe Biden’s supporters on the streets, screaming and shouting at bystanders with unhinged, manic rage, right? You see it. It’s crazy. It’s crazy. You ought to see last night in Washington—it was a disgrace.”
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DC Mayor Muriel Bowser Considering Proposal To Remove Thomas Jefferson, Other American Icons From Public Spaces

monuments

Muriel Bowser

Washington D.C.

Washington Monument

Administrators of a residential college named after President James Madison on the campus of Michigan State University announced their willingness to expunge the Founding Father&#8217;s name from their institution.
In a <a href="https://jmc.msu.edu/news/article.php?id=206" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">letter</a> addressed last week to &#8220;Alumni, students, and friends of the college,&#8221; interim dean Linda Racioppi and assistant dean Jeff Judge expressed their desire to foster an environment where &#8220;students can thrive as scholars and human beings,&#8221; adding, &#8220;As such, the College is taking steps to combat systemic racism and the perpetuation of whiteness and to probe how it can best support Students of Color, especially Black students.&#8221;
The letter goes on to lay out specific ways by which they intend &#8220;to combat racism and advance an anti-racist agenda within our college,&#8221; such as revising curriculum and course material, recruiting more students of color, providing counseling for &#8220;Students of Color dealing with racial trauma,&#8221; and dipping into an endowment to &#8220;annually host a visiting scholar-in-residence who will teach and engage in research on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) issues.&#8221;
The letter concludes by letting readers know that after summer, the college will consider changing its name, an act they say &#8220;will need to incorporate the perspectives of students, staff, faculty, and alumni. If these groups should support a name change, we would then proceed through the University governance process.&#8221;
The Michigan State chapter of Young America&#8217;s Foundation (YAF) released a statement on July 11 opposing the effort to change the college&#8217;s name, while acknowledging the complexity of Madison&#8217;s legacy. &#8220;None of us are perfect people,&#8221; the statement read in part. &#8220;James Madison, like all of us, has major flaws. But these flaws should not erase the good Madison did for this country. The figures of the past should be viewed in the context of their times and commend the good that they did, while acknowledging their flaws as ways we can improve ourselves.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
YAF at MSU’s statement on the Potential Renaming of James Madison College <a href="https://t.co/btugWSTdwA">pic.twitter.com/btugWSTdwA</a>
&mdash; Michigan State YAF (@MichStateYAF) <a href="https://twitter.com/MichStateYAF/status/1282010536973078530?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 11, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Some students and alumni are understanding of the move, however. Anisa Dagher, a 2020 MSU graduate, told <a href="https://freebeacon.com/campus/michigan-state-may-scrub-james-madison-from-campus/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Washington Free Beacon</a>, &#8220;I don&#8217;t think James Madison was a great person, but I can understand why the college was named that to begin with. I can understand why some may want it to be changed and I would support that.&#8221;
&#8220;It isn&#8217;t my place to decide whether or not the name is offensive because it isn&#8217;t offensive toward me&#8230; I am curious as to what they would want to change it to that would represent what the college teaches while at the same time remaining inoffensive to students and faculty of color,&#8221; Dagher added.
Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz was less impressed with the proposal, tweeting Monday, &#8220;James Madison was the Father of our Constitution. The Lunatic Left wants to expunge his memory.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
James Madison was the Father of our Constitution. The Lunatic Left wants to expunge his memory. <a href="https://t.co/VPIhLoS0Ux">https://t.co/VPIhLoS0Ux</a>
&mdash; Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) <a href="https://twitter.com/tedcruz/status/1282378508736565250?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 12, 2020</a></blockquote>
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The college&#8217;s letter comes at the height of a summer that has seen statues of historical figures toppled all over the country. During his recent <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-at-mount-rushmore-left-wing-cultural-revolution-is-designed-to-overthrow-the-american-revolution" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Independence Day speech</a> at Mount Rushmore, President Donald Trump denounced such behavior, saying, &#8220;We want free and open debate, not speech codes and cancel culture. We embrace tolerance, not prejudice.&#8221;
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/thomas-jefferson-descendant-calls-for-harriet-tubman-to-replace-flawed-founder-in-jefferson-memorial" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Thomas Jefferson Descendant Calls For Harriet Tubman To Replace ‘Flawed Founder’ In Jefferson Memorial</a>
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Beaumont Tower MSU

James Madison College At Michigan State University May Change Its Name

Michigan State University

A sixth-generation descendant of President Thomas Jefferson advocated for the statue of the founding father in the Jefferson Memorial to be replaced with the likeness of Harriet Tubman.
Author and journalist Lucian K. Truscott IV condemned his ancestor in a Monday op-ed for <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/06/opinion/thomas-jefferson-memorial-truscott.html?action=click&amp;amp;module=Opinion&amp;amp;pgtype=Homepage">The New York Times</a>, writing that Jefferson&#8217;s memorial in Washington, D.C., should be &#8220;taken down and replaced&#8221; because it is &#8220;a shrine to a man who famously wrote that &#8216;all men are created equal&#8217; in the Declaration of Independence that founded this nation — and yet never did much to make those words come true.&#8221;
Describing his childhood playing at Monticello, Truscott characterized Jefferson&#8217;s famous estate in Charlottesville, Virginia, as a sufficient memorial to the third president because it offers exhibits on slavery and Sally Hemings, the slave with whom Jefferson reportedly fathered children. Truscott went on to denounce Jefferson for owning 600 slaves but freeing only those in the Hemings family upon his death.
&#8220;Monticello is an almost perfect memorial, because it reveals him with his moral failings in full, an imperfect man, a flawed founder,&#8221; Truscott wrote.
Truscott concluded that Jefferson &#8220;should not be honored with a bronze statue 19 feet tall, surrounded by a colonnade of white marble. The time to honor the slave-owning founders of our imperfect union is past.&#8221;
In Jefferson&#8217;s place, Truscott recommended a depiction of Harriet Tubman. &#8220;To see a 19-foot-tall bronze statue of a Black woman, who was a slave and also a patriot, in place of a white man who enslaved hundreds of men and women is not erasing history. It’s telling the real history of America.&#8221;
Truscott&#8217;s op-ed echoes the sentiments of Shannon LaNier, a ninth-generation descendant of Jefferson and Hemings, who recently told <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/descendants-weight-debate-confederate-symbols/story?id=71642026">ABC News</a> that despite once overlooking his faults because of his other accomplishments, he is rethinking Jefferson&#8217;s legacy. &#8220;You really do have to look at the whole person and what else he did,&#8221; LaNier said.
&#8220;Thomas Jefferson wrote that &#8216;All men are created equal.&#8217; When he wrote those words, they did not include black people, they didn&#8217;t include women, they didn&#8217;t include people who didn&#8217;t own land,&#8221; LaNier added. He suggested leaving statue plinths empty as &#8220;a monument to what might be, what could be, what could be possible if we actually listen to the voices of the people.&#8221;
Modeled after the Pantheon in Rome, the <a href="https://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/wash/dc73.htm">Thomas Jefferson Memorial</a> was built on Washington, D.C.&#8217;s Tidal Basin between 1939 and 1943 at the request of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The bronze statue of Jefferson beneath the dome is surrounded by some of his most memorable quotes, including one from &#8220;Notes on the State of Virginia&#8221; that reads in part, &#8220;Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, that his justice cannot sleep forever. Commerce between master and slave is despotism.&#8221;
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/history-professor-says-thomas-jefferson-didnt-design-uva-walls-to-hide-slaves-as-activists-claim">History Professor Says Thomas Jefferson Didn’t Design UVA Walls To Hide Slaves, As Activists Claim</a>
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Thomas Jefferson Statue

Thomas Jefferson Descendant Calls For Harriet Tubman To Replace ‘Flawed Founder’ In Jefferson Memorial

New York Times

Slavery

On Friday, South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem (R) delivered a speech at Mount Rushmore for President’s Trump’s Independence Day celebration.
After thanking those who came to the event, Noem made a critical point about the ongoing attempt to erase American history:
<blockquote>Across America these last several weeks, we have been witnessing a very troubling situation unfold. In real-time, we are watching an organized, coordinated campaign to remove and eliminate all references to our nation&#8217;s founding and many other points in our history. Rather than looking to the past to help improve our future, some are trying to wipe away the lessons of history, lessons that we should be teaching to our children and to our grandchildren. This approach focuses exclusively on our forefathers’ flaws, but it fails to capitalize on the opportunity to learn from their virtues.</blockquote>
Noem noted that this isn’t happening by accident, but “deliberately” as a means to “discredit America&#8217;s founding principles by discrediting the individuals who formed them so that America can be remade into a different political image.”
The governor continued, asking the audience to understand that America’s independence was a unique and powerful confluence of events and brilliant minds. Noem added that the Declaration of Independence is “arguably one of the most important statements of purpose ever written” in part because it stands as a symbol for other peoples across the globe.
Noem then offered salient insight:
<blockquote>These ideals cannot be dismissed as the irrelevant opinions of flawed men. Our founders had their flaws, certainly, but to use those flaws to condemn their ideals is unjust and self-defeating. How many of us have lived up to our own ideals?</blockquote>
The governor added that because of the Founding Fathers and the ideals they put to paper, we have a society in which “we can speak and write, worship, work, defend ourselves, and even protest as we see fit.”
Noem later spotlighted the aftermath of the Civil War:
<blockquote>The struggle to maintain the Union was about the proposition that America must live up to the principles articulated in the Declaration, and America&#8217;s rebirth allowed a fuller realization of the fundamental purposes of government articulated in the Declaration. In 1862, a simple question was put before Congress: can we do better? Our choice was clear, we could either nobly save or meanly lose the last best hope on earth.</blockquote>
Governor Noem also quoted former President Theodore Roosevelt, who said:
<blockquote>It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with [those] cold and timid souls who neither know victory [nor] defeat.</blockquote>
Noem stated that such a quote is a perfect direction for leaders in the modern era, adding that “we honor these men and women for their contributions, their leadership, all the positive things that they represent.”
“This Independence Day, let us be grateful that we have such words and such examples to follow, and that others were willing to sacrifice so much to create a land in which liberty and law can be protected,” Noem said.
The governor concluded by admonishing the audience to “not destroy history,” but “learn from it by preserving and imitating what is good about it.”
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At least one news outlet appeared to spin Governor Noem’s remarks by headlining their piece about her speech thusly: “South Dakota governor calls removal of Confederate statues effort to ‘discredit’ Founding Fathers.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
South Dakota governor calls removal of Confederate statues effort to &#8220;discredit&#8221; founding fathers <a href="https://t.co/kHZSm2RPmB">https://t.co/kHZSm2RPmB</a> <a href="https://t.co/4cRWixU0vJ">pic.twitter.com/4cRWixU0vJ</a>
— The Hill (@thehill) <a href="https://twitter.com/thehill/status/1279374661877448705?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 4, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Gov. Kristi Noem

South Dakota Gov: Founding ‘Ideals Cannot Be Dismissed As The Irrelevant Opinions Of Flawed Men’

4th of July

Declaration of Independence

Kristi Noem

Mount Rushmore

&#8220;A More or Less Perfect Union&#8221; is a three-part series, produced by Free to Choose Network, that will air on various PBS stations across the nation starting in February. The documentary is a personal exploration of the U.S. Constitution by Justice Douglas Ginsburg, who served on the U.S. Court of Appeals D.C. Circuit and is now a senior justice on the court. Ginsburg explores the U.S. Constitution and features interviews with and gains the perspectives from constitutional experts of all political views — liberal, conservative and libertarian. He examines the key issues of liberty in the U.S. both from a historical and contemporary perspective. Among those issues are freedom of the press and religion, slavery and civil rights, the Second Amendment, separation of powers and the number of ways that the Constitution&#8217;s framers sought to limit the power of the federal government.
The first episode is titled &#8220;A Constitution in Writing.&#8221; It examines the contentious atmosphere that arose among the delegates in that hot, humid Philadelphia summer of 1787. State delegates were sent to Philadelphia to work out the problems of the Articles of Confederation, which served as the first Constitution of the 13 original states. This part of the documentary examines some of the efforts to deal with the problems of the Articles of Confederation while maintaining its guiding principle to preserve the independence and sovereignty of the states. It also examines the compromises and struggles that led to the document we know as the U.S. Constitution. Some of the framers, particularly the Anti-Federalists, led by Patrick Henry, saw the Constitution as defective and demanded amendments be added that contained specific guarantees of personal freedoms and rights and clear limitations on the federal government&#8217;s power. They swore that they would never ratify the Constitution unless it contained a Bill of Rights.
The second episode is titled &#8220;A Constitution for All.&#8221; One major emphasis of this episode is the examination of the Supreme Court decisions that undermined racial justice both for slaves and later ex-slaves for a century after the Civil War. Several constitutional scholars discuss how the courts and states ignored and weakened the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments, known collectively as the Civil War Amendments, which were designed to ensure equality for recently emancipated slaves. There is also discussion of Bill of Rights guarantees to people accused of a crime. There is more exploration into the Bill of Rights guarantees of free speech, religious freedom and the notion that &#8220;due process of law&#8221; be part of any proceeding that denies a citizen &#8220;life, liberty or property.&#8221; This forced the government to compensate citizens when it takes private property for public use.
Episode three, &#8220;Our Constitution at Risk,&#8221; examines the many ways that our Constitution is under assault today. It points out that the framers would be shocked by how all three branches of government have grown as a result of what we the people demand from our elected representatives. There&#8217;s a discussion about how some of our Bill of Rights guarantees mean absolutely nothing today, namely the 9th and 10th Amendments, which reaffirm personal liberty by specifically limiting the federal government to its &#8220;enumerated powers.&#8221;
&#8220;A More or Less Perfect Union&#8221; is not just a bunch of academics and constitutional experts preaching. It features interviews with everyday Americans weighing in with their visions on the rule of law, the branches of government and the debate over originalism. There&#8217;s a companion book titled &#8220;Voices of Our Republic,&#8221; edited by Ginsburg. It is a collection of thoughts about the Constitution from judges, journalists, and academics. It includes the thoughts of Supreme Court Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Neil Gorsuch and Sandra Day O&#8217;Connor, publisher Arthur Sulzberger, professor Alan Dershowitz, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, and historians Joseph Ellis and Ron Chernow, along with Jack Nicklaus, Gene Simmons and many others.
The most important audience for &#8220;A More or Less Perfect Union&#8221; is high school and college students. For it is they who stand a good chance of losing the liberties that made our nation the greatest and freest on earth.
Walter E. Williams is a professor of economics at George Mason University. To find out more about Walter E. Williams and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate webpage at www.creators.com.

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