The hobby is surely passing me by

[BobbyStrawberry]

Imagine for a moment that you are a black man. You take your son or daughter out and they ask you who Thomas Jefferson is and why there's a big statue of him in a public space. Would you want to ignore the fact that because of his race and privilege and black people's race and lack thereof, Jefferson was legally able to own people for no other reason than because they happened to look like you and your son?

Slavery and its effects are a crucial part of US history and continue to impact the daily lives of black Americans in ways many white Americans have difficulty understanding or acknowledging. The argument for taking down a Jefferson statue is not to whitewash history, but in fact just the opposite–to end the practice of publicly honoring white racists, which in itself whitewashes the horrors of slavery and racism that are intertwined with the accomplishments of celebrated white men such as Jefferson.