Thomas Jefferson's Notes

When I looked at the picture on page 86 I felt pride. I felt pride in the fact that our country had some really powerful, self-actualized leaders. And then I read “Notes on the State of Virginia”.
This piece shocked me on two accounts. One, I did not know Thomas Jefferson was racist. Two, I did not know Abraham Lincoln was racist. I even went online and googled the part about good ol’ Abe wanting to make a colony for African Americans in Central America and unfortunately that is true. My first question is who had the ovaries (gonads, juevos, etc.) to say all men are created equal then put the phrase into effect? In reading NOTSOV I’m inclined to think it wasn’t Jefferson. Jefferson is portrayed as a leader in the civil rights of everyone (all minorities). The question to be addressed is why do we make him out to be a guide for equality when everyone was blinded with racism if he was actually incredibly racist? I think there are many answers to this question. A simple one is he did write The Declaration of Independence, who wouldn’t figure him to honestly believe all men are created equal. Another is he was a founding father for this country, of course all the white males in our government are going to just skip over the part that he actually owned 200 slaves! (I looked this up too). Why do we celebrate Thanksgiving could fall in the same category of this question, or Independence Day for that matter. Hey! I have an idea! Let’s celebrate dining with the Native Americans, whom we will later make practically extinct, and the fact that we refused to pay our taxes. I also believe much is lost in history when it comes to how real we portray actual people. Thomas Jefferson was a human being, not just the writer of The Declaration of Independence. He had feelings, emotions, and a personality that will be lost history books about important documents and events.