Free Republic

Thomas Jefferson's birthday in mid-April is currently recognized as a city holiday in Charlottesville, VA. But if it was up to Mayor Nikuyah Walker, she'd change it to “Liberation and Freedom Day.” The alternative holiday, which she proposed at a city council meeting last month, would instead celebrate the emancipation of slaves in Charlottesville and Albemarle County. Walker is one of several people advocating for the change because it's well known that Jefferson, the third president of the United States and drafter of the Constitution, was also a slave owner. Some citizens are up in arms over her suggestion, accusing...

Last week, Charlottesville, Virginia Mayor Nikuyah Walker proposed ending recognition of Thomas Jefferson’s birthday as an official city holiday. Instead, she wants the city to celebrate the emancipation of local slaves a month earlier, as “Liberation and Freedom Day.” The proposal will be brought before the city council at either its June 17 or July 1 meeting, reports The Daily Progress, a local newspaper.Charlottesville is the home to the University of Virginia, one of the United States’s premiere research and educational institutions, which Jefferson personally designed, founded, and led after serving as the U.S. president. It is Jefferson who...