As a Democratic party activist, I regularly attend or am invited to attend fundraising events for the party called, Jefferson-Jackson Dinners. I'm sure that many of you have had a similar experience. The question that comes to mind is why do we as a party continue to use the name of a sociopathic, racist, promoter of genocide as one of the founding lights of our party? For a (slightly) more nuanced discussion limbo on down below the orange squiggle.
In all honesty, from a modern perspective both the names attached to our party's signature event are problematic. However, I'm willing to give Thomas Jefferson a bit of a pass on his high crimes and misdemeanors. Although he was complicit in, and a beneficiary of, the odious system of chattel slavery, he wasn't an active promoter of racial hatred.
For Andrew Jackson, no such defense is possible. He was an unvarnished supporter of slavery and a major slave owner. His temperament was authoritarian and he scoffed at the rule of law. He famously said of a Supreme Court decision, "the Chief Justice has made his ruling, now let him enforce it." The worst crime, of course, is his active promotion of the genocide of native Americans.
Now for the nuance. Jackson was not a unique character in his age. Instead, his election was a reflection of the culture of the time. Jacksonian democracy was responsible for one of the important political advances of the 19th Century, the elimination of property qualifications restricting the right to vote. This, in turn, reflected the egalitarian temper of the times.
However, that eqalitarianism was very circumscribed. Specifically, it was limited to adult, white males. African-Americans, free or enslaved, were not considered equal to white men. Women, of any age or color, were considered as no more than property. Hispanics were likewise tagged as inferiors, worthy of neither respect nor the rights of freeborn white men. Of course, Native Americans fared far worse than any of these groups since they were targeted for extermination.
If this catalog of bigotry seems familiar, compare it with the ravings of the contemporary Tea Party Republicans. That's right, the last remaining Jacksonian democrats are today identifying as Republican. And their poisonous racism, sexism, and assorted other bigotries continues to disfigure our republic.
On that basis, it seems we ought to update our party's signature fund-raising dinner. Instead of Jefferson-Jackson, how about Jefferson-Roosevelt-Obama? This name reflects and honors the founder of our party. It also acknowledges the founder of the modern American order and the first African-American President who represents the promise of the best that America offers. As the party seeking true equality of opportunity for all, it seems the least we can do.