So a fellow from a county named for the forgettable Franklin Pierce in a state named for slaveholder George Washington wants the school district in Spokane to rename a school because Woodrow Wilson was a racist. Tacoma’s Dan Hasty also wants Wilson High School in his town renamed, but apparently the Washington and Jefferson elementary schools in his city have escaped his political antennae. If there’s an important distinction between owning slaves and being racist, it’s lost on us. The problem in overlaying today’s standards of racial justice on bygone figures is that it erases important history and context. Did President Wilson do anything that bears remembrance? Yes, much more than President Pierce, as a matter of fact/Spokesman-Review Editorial Board. More here.

Question: Do you agree/disagree that we should be careful how we judge historical figures?

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