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Letter: Some thoughts on Jefferson

Editor, Gazette-Journal:

First of all, I am in favor of removing monuments when they are intended signs of oppression. A noted abolitionist said: “No man has been given so much for doing so little.” He was referring to Thomas Jefferson, one of our founding fathers.

Shortly after being one of our founders and a president, he became almost invisible, except for his promotion of slavery. He said and preached that there were three important commodities: first was land; third were the crops from the land, and yes, second were slaves.

At any time there were 100 to 125 slaves at Monticello, with over 600 slaves passing through Monticello. When Jefferson died, his will freed only one slave. The others were sold at auction. For instance, one family had three daughters who were decimated when the daughters were sold to three different buyers.

When will we remove the Jefferson Memorial from Washington, D.C.? When will we remove the stone face of Jefferson from Mount Rushmore? When wi...

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