I'm not claiming that often ulterior motives aren't at play. Our origin story is complicated at best. I don't see the benefit of telling false stories just to make people feel better about their ancestry. CC should be in the history books. He was a seminal Western explorer but also how he ended up. Not sure what you learned in history but when I was in primary/secondary school CC was a very positive figure. Cortez was given the full context and other non-Anglo explorers were viewed in full context. The move now simply adds that same context on CC that was stripped from our history books by people that also had ulterior motives. Put it all out there and let the reader make a decision for themselves. Let the reader know that Robert E. Lee defended AA's while also owning slaves. He may not have been as bad as the massive plantation owners but he was still in "the club".
We shouldn't white wash history in hopes of creating heroes. History should be laid out in full context, always. There are bonified heroes in our history and elevating people who have a mixed past should be beneath those.
Last edited: Oct 13, 2021