Opinion

Moving the Jefferson statue from City Hall — and erasing history — is a big mistake

One of our nation’s gravest sins was the unconscionable owning of slaves. That practice has left a legacy of racial disparities and discrimination. Yet our unvarnished past, for better or worse, is a prologue to the future: Learning from it can help shape our course forward.

Unfortunately, Mayor Bill de Blasio has sought to have a statue of Thomas Jefferson booted from City Hall, where it has stood for 187 years, because America’s third president owned slaves. This accomplishes nothing and could actually do more harm than good. Yet on Monday, the panel he tapped to make the decision voted to move the figure from its current location by year’s end, though it’s not clear where.

Thomas Jefferson was an American statesman, lawyer, architect, musician, philosopher and Founding Father. He was an author of the Declaration of Independence. At a dinner for Nobel Prize winners, President John Kennedy joked, “I think this is the most extraordinary collection of talent, of human knowledge, that has ever been gathered together at the White House, with the possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone.”

Jefferson was responsible for the deal that created the Louisiana Purchase and thereby doubled the size of the United States. He founded the University of Virginia.

According to the Borgen project, Jefferson and other Founding Fathers addressed issues we still consider important today: He supported poor houses to help people in need and believed in better health care. Though he praised self-reliance, he also knew people sometimes need help.

And, of course, it was Jefferson who wrote that all men are created equal with the right to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

Yes, Jefferson owned 400 slaves on his property and another 200 on other properties. He also had a relationship with Sally Hemings, a mixed-race enslaved woman with whom he fathered at least six children.

a statue of Thomas Jefferson, right, stands in New York's City Hall Council Chamber
The Thomas Jefferson statue will be removed from City Hall by the end of the year. AP Photo/Richard Drew, File

Clearly, he had great achievements and flaws. But removing a statue doesn’t change history. Rather, its presence can trigger useful discussion, while hiding it destroys that opportunity.

Should we take the chapter about the presidency of Thomas Jefferson out of the books? Should we ban books about him? That would be crazy: Children need to learn about people who contributed so much to this country, flaws and all.

Perhaps the mayor should have a contest for students and ask them to write an essay about their views of Jefferson and whether removing a statue solves any problems or simply silences a debate about what history presents to us. I want my sons to have a rounded view of history. I hope I have taught them to make their own calculations of the good and the bad.

Through 1865, according to Wikipedia, 12 presidents owned slaves. Should we look to see if there are statues of them somewhere — including George Washington, James Madison, James Monroe, Andrew Jackson, Martin Van Buren, William Henry Harrison, John Tyler, James Polk, Zachary Taylor, Andrew Johnson and Ulysses Grant — that need to be moved?

Statue of Thomas jefferson in the City Council chamber.
Removing a statue doesn’t change history. William Farrington

Some of them freed their slaves; others didn’t. Some achieved greatness in their periods, which made this a greater country. What the norm is at one point in time is not necessarily, in retrospect, justifiable. Yet erasing this period of time does not educate our citizens.

Sweeping the history of flawed presidents under the rug shuts out significant chapters of broader US history. The freedom to speak and discuss, the First Amendment, is the essence of our democracy. Yet free speech is enhanced by educated speech. Facts matter. On the basis of facts, I believe that Thomas Jefferson’s statue should remain in City Hall.

Democracy demands enlightened citizens. It is a blessing and a burden. Unfortunately, some of our leaders appear to believe that our citizens are not capable of handling complicated issues and thus cannot be enlightened. That’s arrogant and elitist.

Fact is, we’ve come a long way since the terrible evils of slavery. We’ve elected an African-American president, Barack Obama, and numerous minority lawmakers. The city is about to elect its second African-American mayor, Eric Adams, who I believe will be a great mayor. Yet that kind of enlightened view from voters will be less likely if we keep erasing history.

Andrew Stein, a Democrat, is a former New York City Council president, Manhattan borough president and state Assembly member.