What do Thomas Jefferson and the late General Colin Powell have in common? They were both the first. Jefferson was the first Secretary of State under George Washington and Powell was the first Black person to hold that position. Of course, their backgrounds could not have been more different. Jefferson owned over 600 people, five his own children; and Powell was the son of Jamaican immigrants.
Many people seek to denigrate Jefferson for being a slaveholder, but Powell was proud to be his “admiring successor,” even as he knew that it had taken “the sacrifices made by Dr. King and so many others to make Jefferson’s dream possible for people like me.”
Addressing new Americans at a naturalization ceremony at Monticello, the Virginia plantation where Jefferson enslaved hundreds, Powell acknowledged they were standing on the scene of deep injustices. “Yet, with unfeigned emotion, he repeated the Declaration’s stirring phrases and told his audience that Jefferson left us so very, very much.” (Washington Post, Oct. 19, 2021, Opinion: In honor of a complicated patriot, make Fort Powell a reality).
As the first Black to chair the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Powell was not an apologist for Jefferson’s enslaving and racism. Rather, he insisted that the Declaration, inspiring to millions for centuries, not enslaving, defined Jefferson’s principal legacy.
President Truman’s order ending segregation in the Armed Forces in 1948 was a major step to making the armed forces fairer and more inclusive, crucial words in today’s society. That policy allowed Powell to serve at the pinnacle, along with many first Black senior enlisted and officers: people like Master Chief April Beldo, Admiral Samuel Gravely, Admiral Lillian Fishburne and Chief Master Sgt. Lawanda Jackson. They have made their mark in our nation’s efforts to live up to Jefferson’s declaration.
As we honor all our Veterans this month, we applaud the military for its justice and inclusion.
