The Sins of Thomas Jefferson 1

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1 The Sins of Thomas Jefferson 1 In August of 2009 Pete Leary, Chair of the UUFR Denominational Affairs Committee, forwarded to committee members a special notice for Thomas Jefferson District Leaders from the TJD Board which announced, first, that the revised district vision is: Grounded in our covenantal tradition, we are a vibrant faith community of healthy congregations who grow through service, connection, and right relationships; thereby transforming ourselves and the world. The second announcement was: this vision of healthy congregations growing through service, connection and right relations inspired us to a new district name: Toward Justice District. This is how we want to be known as Unitarian Universalists in our communities. Toward Justice, it was explained, is a reference to the Unitarian Theodore Parker's famous quote, "the arc of the universe is long...and it bends toward justice." Something about that didnʼt fit well in my frame of reference. Hereʼs what I remembered best about Thomas Jefferson: 1. He was loyal to King George until the Tea Act, then he supported the Boston Tea Party because the Tea Act provided a benefit to a transnational corporation. Jefferson was opposed to laws which favored the privileged and powerful. 2. He wrote the Declaration of Independence. It contains the sentence, 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. I love that sentence because it uses the word endowed. You may recall that at the conclusion of the October 27 service, Not Just Another Pretty Faith, I described Unitarian Universalism as the Western religion which emphasizes...the inclusiveness of our common endowment over the separateness of identity creeds... From my frame of reference the Declaration of Independence establishes in our political culture the idea that we the people - every one of us - is endowed with political rights. Itʼs so similar to the way Unitarian Universalism established in our religious culture, through our Fourth Principle, the idea that we are endowed with religious rights. Itʼs almost as if Jefferson was channeling the God of Unitarian Universalism when he selected that word. 3. Jefferson was responsible for the Bill of Rights, which enumerates the political rights we all are endowed with. Furthermore, when the second President, John Adams, violated the Bill of Rights in the way he administered the Alien and Sedition Act, it was Thomas Jefferson who got himself elected so he could fix that problem. 4. Jefferson wrote the Virginia Statute of Religious Freedom, the first establishment in our culture of the separation of church and state.

2 The Sins of Thomas Jefferson 2 5. Jefferson edited the Gospels, taking away the parts he did not think truly represented Jesus. Those were my top 5 then. When I researched this main address I discovered that George Mason and James Madison had significant roles in the writing of the Bill of Rights and the Statute of Religious Freedom, but in our culture we have linked Jefferson more frequently to these writings. Indeed, in our language, we use Jeffersonian and Hamiltonian to refer to positions on Constitutional issues which differ with regard to where the power should be placed. Hamilton wanted to keep power away from what he called, the rabble while Jefferson wanted to spread it around. From my point of view Thomas Jefferson had a significant role in bending the arc of the universe towards justice. But, then again, Iʼm an iconoclast, so I thought Iʼd better see what other people thought. I surveyed 28 people here in Raleigh. 3 at UUFR, 6 in my working-class neighborhood, 11 on the NC State campus, and 9 outside Senator Haganʼs office building, on a cold December night, standing vigil for healthcare reform. What do you remember most about Thomas Jefferson? 18 remembered that he was a President. 13 remembered him for the Declaration of Independence. 6 remembered him as a Father of our country. 4 remembered that he had sex with a slave and 1 remembered that he owned slaves. 4 remembered that he designed Monticello or that he was an architect and 1 remembered that he lived at Monticello. 4 remembered that he was a farmer or gardener if you count the one who remembered that he grew hemp on his farm. 3 remembered that he is known for his thinking and 1 remembered that he was a Renaissance Man. 2 remembered that he was a deist and 2 remembered his bible. 2 remembered that he is on the $20 bill

3 The Sins of Thomas Jefferson 3 and 1 remembered that he is on the $5 bill One each remembered: First Secretary of State, 2nd Vice President, Ambassador to France, Went to Europe, Fond of France, Fond of ice cream, Bill of Rights, Constitution, Penned books of law, He got ideas from John Locke, Involved with Lewis and Clark, Memorial in DC, Clinton named after him, He flew a kite with a string, and Donʼt know him. Not everything remembered was correct. The fellow who flew a kite with a string is, can you guess? Ben Franklin. And, Jefferson does appear on US currency. Is it the $20 bill? Is it the $5 bill? Is it the $10 bill? Is it the $50 bill? Is it the $1 bill? Itʼs the $2 bill!!! I have no verification that Jefferson was fond of France or fond of ice cream, but more importantly, the survey did not verify that Jeffersonʼs name generates the response which the TJD Board anticipates. The Thomas Jefferson District Boardʼs announcement seemed to suggest that we could not be known as supporters of bending the arc of the universe towards justice if we kept the name of Thomas Jefferson. I asked what evils of Thomas Jefferson (if any) are influencing the Boardʼs position on the new name. Sure enough, there are some specific reasons why the TJD Board wants to disassociate with Thomas Jefferson. They are, as indicated by the title of this service, the Sins of Thomas Jefferson. Sin No.1: Jefferson was a slave holder. Sin No. 2: Jefferson was conflicted over the issue of slavery. Sin No. 3: Jefferson wrote legislation for the forced relocation of Indians. A vote regarding the name change will be taken at the TJD Annual meeting on April 30, Before voting, delegates must consider whether these sins of Thomas Jefferson are serious enough to justify eliminating his name from the district. The arc of the universe is long. It may be bending towards justice, but watching it bend is like watching the grass grow. The arc of the universe bends towards justice incrementally. In Jeffersonʼs day it bent a little bit, and I have spoken about his contributions towards its movement. Are Jeffersonʼs sins egregious enough to overpower the good he did? The sins of Jefferson were consistent with the culture of his day. Delegates must consider whether they, or their congregations, are committing the same sin of acquiescence to our cultureʼs values. If that is the case, then a vote to disassociate from Thomas Jefferson is a vote not towards justice, but towards hypocrisy.

4 The Sins of Thomas Jefferson 4 Sin No. 1: Jefferson was a slave holder. Some would say that Jefferson was a product of his times. Some would say that he needed his slaves and his plantation in order to be wealthy enough to serve as President of the early US. In those days it cost a lot of money to be President, and the experience impoverished both Jefferson and Madison. Of course, in order to participate in the formation of the government Jefferson had to be a landowner, and in his day his home state of Virginia had about half the slave population of the US. Jeffersonʼs opponents insist that slavery is simply unacceptable. No one may be excused. Well, itʼs pretty easy not to be a slave holder today. However, slavery has not disappeared. There are more slaves alive today than there were in Jeffersonʼs day. Here in America, although it is illegal to actually own slaves, nonetheless the Coalition of Immokolee Workers refers to current farmworker conditions as, modern-day slavery, and a UU Justice Action Network this December 10 reported that, UU congregations in southwest Florida cluster and interfaith allies are working together with Interfaith Action of Southwest Florida to support the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) in stopping slavery and poverty in the tomato fields. Their current action is focused on getting Publix Supermarkets to come to the table to talk about the tomatoes they buy. So, the modern-day equivalent of being a slave holder is being a stockholder in companies like Publix Supermarkets. And, itʼs likely that all of the major grocery chains resell produce grown under slave-like conditions. Of course, this farmworker situation exists because people who buy produce from the major grocery chains are willing to pay for modern-day slavery. By extension, people who buy meals at restaurants without ensuring that the food was grown somehow other than under slave-like conditions are also almost certainly paying for the maintenance of slave-like conditions. People who point the finger at Thomas Jefferson for the sin of acquiescence to the culture of his day need to remember the old adage, Beware of pointing your finger, because when you do there are three fingers pointing back. I trust that delegates who are paying for modern-day slavery will avoid voting to condemn Jefferson. Jeffersonʼs opponents may counter that slavery involved forcing people to work. They personify Jefferson as the holder of the whip, enforcing the consequences of disobedience. Jeffersonʼs supporters, however, remember Jefferson as the rare slave holder who taught his slaves to read, and who would have freed all his slaves when he died if he hadnʼt become impoverished by serving his country.

5 The Sins of Thomas Jefferson 5 In Jeffersonʼs day the people at the bottom of the economic hierarchy were denied something valuable: freedom. Today the people at the bottom are denied another something valuable: health care. If Jefferson sinned by denying freedom to his workers, the equivalent sin today is to deny health care to our workers. The responsible delegate will ensure that his or her congregation is providing full healthcare coverage for all of its workers before casting a vote, to be sure that there are not three fingers pointing back. I know that I will not vote to condemn Jefferson. I know that my own congregation provides full health care only for some of its workers. Sin No. 2: Jefferson was conflicted over the issue of slavery. Jefferson knew that there was something wrong with slavery, but he still participated in it. He lacked the moral integrity to do something like what Edward Coles did. Coles, sold his plantation in Virginia, moved to what is now Illinois, emancipated his slaves, purchased land for them, and set them up as farmers and free men. We know Jefferson had reservations about slavery. He wrote legislation to abolish slavery, but couldnʼt get it passed. During his administration the importation of slaves was abolished. And yet, he didnʼt give up the privileges and the opportunity afforded him by being a slave holder. In our time we are conflicted over the issue of global warming - our term for the expected climate crisis which will be the result, we believe, of the emission of greenhouse gasses by, among other things, the burning of fuel for transportation. The Pentagon estimates that the climate shift will disrupt the growing of food around the world, and between the resulting starvation and the wars over food supplies the human toll will be about a billion people. Many of us favor legislation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, just as Jefferson favored legislation to end slavery. Before we condemn Jefferson for not giving up the privileges and opportunity afforded him by being a slave holder we must ask whether we have given up the privileges and opportunity afforded us by owning our private vehicles and flying in airplanes. Itʼs difficult to perceive ideas which are outside of our cultureʼs frame of reference. One time I was chatting with a fellow at our college reunion, and I told him that I believe that if a billion people go around flying in airplanes and the result is a billion people die from the climate crisis, that means that every person who flies a bunch must take responsibility for another personʼs demise. He then told me how much he loved our collegeʼs glee club, and he was planning to fly to Japan to hear them when they sing there soon. As another example, when I told a Jefferson detractor in a different conversation that we should push the UUA to conduct General Assemblies over the internet so we can respect the seventh principle, she didnʼt support the idea because, I want my hugs.

6 The Sins of Thomas Jefferson 6 From another perspective Edward Coles, the hero who sold his slaves, referenced above as a foil for Jefferson, did not grow up a slave holder. He inherited slaves. Sin No. 3: Jefferson wrote legislation for the forced relocation of Indians. Today, we are not forcibly relocating Indians. Today, we are forcibly relocating West Virginians. In West Virginia, mountaintops are being dynamited, blown into valleys, so we can extract the coal underneath. The coal is then shipped to power plants, where it is burned to produce the electricity we use in the South. West Virginians are losing their homes, and it is being paid for by all of us whenever we pay our electric bill. Of course, we donʼt need to pay those bills. The technology is available to produce all the electric power we need simply by installing solar power panels. If we are going to assert that we should disassociate from Thomas Jefferson because he participated in the forced relocation of Indians, will we also assert that we should disassociate from people who are paying for the forced relocation of West Virginians? --- My message today is that things look different from a different frame of reference. And, itʼs not appropriate to judge someone from a different time, from a culture with a different frame, by todayʼs standards. As I recall, once upon a time it was suggested that the District have a celebration during a Jefferson centennial or whatever year, and that the celebration be a grand Ball, where people would dress in period costumes. As I recall, the question, What shall I wear if Iʼm Black, a ball and chain? caused considerable consternation. I understand that being on the hot seat can change oneʼs frame of reference. And I know, for sure, that it wasnʼt Thomas Jefferson who suggested the period costumes. Perhaps from the TJD Boardʼs frame of reference it would be a relief if the delegates vote to disassociate from Thomas Jefferson. From my frame of reference it would be a tragedy. Thank you for the opportunity to speak to you today Bo Chagnon