← Autodidact Archive · Original Dissent · Franco
Thread ID: 8267 | Posts: 4 | Started: 2003-07-19
2003-07-19 20:55 | User Profile
Thomas Jefferson's Disappearing Words
Do written words normally disappear--you know, one minute they are visible, and the next minute they aren't? We didn't think so either, but sometimes words do disappear, as we describe here.
If you visit the Thomas Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C., you will see a famous quote by Jefferson on that memorial, etched in stone. The quote is about Black people. Here are the words inscribed on that memorial:
"Nothing is more certainly written in the book of fate than these people are to be free. Establish the law for educating the common people...."
Big deal, you ask? The problem with that quote is that a lot of text is missing from Jefferson's original comments, just after the word "free." Here is what Thomas Jefferson actually wrote:
"Nothing is more certainly written in the book of fate than these people are to be free. Nor is it less certain that the two races, equally free, cannot live in the same government. Nature, habit, opinion has drawn indelible lines of distinction between them...." [1]. Big difference there! Note how the flavor of the first quote is the opposite of the flavor of the second quote. And no, this misquote of Jefferson is not a simple mistake. The views of Jefferson concerning race have been deliberately altered for public opinion purposes about the subject of race.
Do you trust a government that would knowingly alter our Founders' own words?
[1] "Autobiography," by Thomas Jefferson, published in 1829, page 1. Thankfully noted in David Duke's 1999 book "My Awakening," with photos, pages 38-39, hardcover; see also Here [mentioning Jefferson's words]
2003-07-20 05:25 | User Profile
*Originally posted by godlesscapitalist@Jul 19 2003, 23:16 * **
"Nothing is more certainly written in the book of fate than that these people [blacks] are to be free. [u]Nor is it less certain that the two races, equally free, cannot live in the same government. Nature, habit, opinion has drawn indelible lines of distinction between them.[/u]" --Thomas Jefferson: Autobiography, 1821. ME 1:72 **
My all-time favorite Jefferson quote.
2003-07-20 19:14 | User Profile
My point was made. The Jefferson quote was changed. Why argue about it?
2003-07-20 20:58 | User Profile
Most blacks are aware of the Father's views and quotes on race, but I can't say the same for the common white American. Teddy Roosevelt had some "politically incorrect" words regarding race too.