Every year in states across the nation, the Democratic Party holds annual fundraising feasts named the “Jefferson-Jackson Dinner” in honor of the third and seventh U.S. Presidents Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson. During election seasons, these dinners are considered high-profile events for having presidential candidates as attendees.
Jefferson authored the Declaration of Independence and helped create the Democratic-Republican Party, which evolved into the Democratic Party. Andrew Jackson was one of the Democratic Party’s founders and served as the first Democrat U.S. President.
But Democrats now find the two important figures unworthy of honor because Jefferson and Jackson owned slaves and because Jackson played a chief role in removing Indians from their homelands. In their minds, the names Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson are now synonymous with slave ownership and the slaughter of Native Americans rather than the two of them being acknowledged for the roles they played in our nation’s early formation.
To assuage their shame for being associated with the two men, Democrats in several states have decided to rename these get-togethers. Iowa Democrats are the latest who have decided to drop Thomas’ and Andrew’s names from their party’s parties. The statement by Iowa Democratic Party Chair Andy McGuire reads, in part:
Today the Iowa Democratic Party’s State Central Committee voted to begin the process to change the name of the annual Jefferson-Jackson Dinner following the 2015 Dinner.
The vote to change the name of the Jefferson-Jackson Dinner comes after much debate and discussion among our activists and grassroots leaders around the state. This was not a decision that was made lightly. The vote today confirms that our party believes it is important to change the name of the dinner to align with the values of our modern day Democratic Party: inclusiveness, diversity and equality.
The IDP has not yet decided on a new name for the dinner.
Jeremy Kennedy, the Executive Director for Maine’s Democratic Party, had a similar sentiment.
“I think this is an important decision,” Kennedy said. “I would be mistaken if I said to you it was easy for us to decide what the right thing to do was. If we were to take a deep look at a lot of our historical figures, there is probably a mix of people who made and make great impacts on our state and country and world who probably weren’t always in line with what we view today as our moral standards. We’re not trying to erase history.”
Not an easy decision. Not a decision that was made lightly. Not trying to erase history.
Just to note, this is absolutely an attempt to erase history. Along with the recent attempt to rid Andrew Jackson’s likeness from the $20 bill, removing his and Jefferson’s names from a key event is the Democrats’ way of saying they are ashamed of their origins. Though Democrats have been feeling guilt for a while, this move was hastened by the growing racial animosity in recent times and exacerbated by the despicable act of one dark-hearted young man in Charleston. Liberals have been on a real kick of phasing out flags, faces, and names lately.
It doesn’t sound like changing the name was much of a difficult decision for some. Connecticut Dems took a whole two minutes to debate their dinner’s name change, and the decision to change the name was unanimous, according to an article in the Atlantic.
President of the Connecticut NAACP Scot X. Esdaile brought up an interesting point:
If the Republican Party is going to be challenged on the Confederate flag, then the Democratic Party needs to be challenged on their issues, too.
He’s right. Whatever progressives’ feelings may be regarding Jefferson and Jackson, they should at least be consistent with their history eraser. This action seems particularly strange, seeing how great of a role the two men played in the founding of our country, as well as the founding of the party that now appears to be disowning them.
As for our currency, many people who were keeping track of the news probably know by now that Andrew Jackson is staying on the $20 bill for the time being. But Alexander Hamilton’s visage will not be appearing on the ten-spot for long. His face will be replaced by a woman’s in 2020. News outlets reported a few days ago that people participating in a Marist poll chose Eleanor Roosevelt as Hamilton’s replacement. Still no official word on whose face will replace Hamilton’s.
What offenses did Alexander Hamilton commit to deserve the expulsion of his likeness from our currency? How far will progressives take their initiative to eliminate every name and symbol that offends them?
Very soon, I expect progressives to call for an immediate end to Planned Parenthood’s Margaret Sanger Awards. After all, Sanger was a racist eugenicist who once wrote, “We don’t want the word to go out that we want to exterminate the Negro population…”
Well, that’s not a very nice thing to say. Any day now, progs will begin to vilify her and remove all references to her on awards and wherever else they can.
Any day now…
