George Washington owned slaves. Should we rename the state?

Posted on September 25, 2016 by Jim deMaine

Sounds a bit wacky doesn’t it in this article from Crosscut? Rename our State? How about all the other sites, schools, parks, and our nation’s capitol? Well, as stated in Crosscut, slavery was America’s “original sin” and George Washington owned slaves, as did many in that era including Thomas Jefferson. It’s hard for a white writer to enter this debate. But at least talking about race, our new National African-American Museum on the, yes, the National Mall in Washington DC is healthy. And we do need to understand our past in order to pave the way for the attempts at a post-racist society. A huge undertaking with many awkward steps, but the ceremony at the new museum brought focus the steps we must continue to take. See two Presidents below.

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1 Response to George Washington owned slaves. Should we rename the state?

  1. Michael Caplow says:
    September 25, 2016 at 4:43 PM

    Reading one of the comments I was directed to:
    “Seattle earned his reputation at a young age as a leader and a warrior, ambushing and defeating groups of tribal enemy raiders coming up the Green River from the Cascade foothills, and attacking the Chimakum and the S’Klallam tribes living on the Olympic Peninsula. Like many of his contemporaries, he owned slaves captured during his raids.”

    Should the city be renamed.

    George Washington is associated with much that is admirable, whereas the Confederate flag stands for segregation, slavery and little else.

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