White Guilt
It appears that many White people are concerned about feeling guilty about racism. Whenever I write about one of my favorite topics, Thomas Jefferson, I often am accused of trying to make our current generation feel guilty for something that happened over 250 years ago. Why should anyone feel guilty about what Jefferson did way back then? Whatever he did is ancient history. It has nothing to do with us. So why even bring it up? No reminders, no guilt!
Before we get into the guilt thing, I will explain my interest in Thomas Jefferson. Most of us know he wrote the Declaration of Independence. This document includes powerful ideas that are foundational to the American perception of morality.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
Jefferson did not write “all White men.” He wrote “all men.” From his writings it appears he meant just that, all men are created equal. And yet, he kept slaves and relied on their labor for his livelihood during his entire lifetime.
Jefferson was a smart guy. He knew keeping slaves was wrong. He felt guilty. He wrote about freeing his slaves. He never did. His slaves were sold to pay off his debts. Jefferson built Monticello so his slaves would be mostly hidden from his guests. He even installed a dumbwaiter in his dining room so fewer slaves would be present in the dining room during mealtime. And there was his hidden concubine, Sally Hemings, and their children, who he treated like the slaves they were. All of this and much more is on the Monticello website.
How did such a smart person, who asserted strong feelings about human rights, reconcile keepings hundreds of slaves, sanction whippings, and selling slaves even when it meant breaking up families? Why did he do this even when he knew it was terribly wrong?
Jefferson was not a country bumpkin. He was probably the most well-read man in America at the time and certainly owned the most extensive library of literature in America. He knew exactly what he was doing and he knew he was transgressing on the unalienable rights of the people he was holding in captivity. Ignorance cannot be an excuse. So what excuses might Jefferson have had for keeping slaves throughout his lifetime?
If we can understand the sources of Jefferson’s duplicity, we might gain greater understanding of the duplicity of so many in the present day. This is not about guilt. This is about understanding human nature.
If we wish to understand ourselves we must study history. Real history, not the made up history of previous generations. We must understand history before we can hope to change history.
If we only wish to feel guilty we can reflect on how we are contributing to such things as racism today, or sexism, or global warming. There is plenty of guilt to go around, but it need not originate from telling the truth about Thomas Jefferson or slavery or Jim Crow or racism as it exists today.
