Not so fondly remembered

One can be forgiven and still admired only if one’s “misbehaviors” were not necessarily misbehaviors in their time

Though what we admire them for may be immutable, what we don’t can sometimes be as shifting as the desert sands. I’m talking about great people here. We call them heroes. Sometimes we refer to them as founding fathers. Whatever label we attach to them, they are the people we choose to emulate, to teach to our kids about, and to hold as the standard to which we aspire.

Take the case of George Washington, for example. For many Americans, he would probably be the person they would say best embodies what the United States of America is all about. A patriot through and through, he was admired for his singular courage to go against the mighty England, and through seemingly impossible odds was able to rally a new country to break away from its colonial master.

And yet, not all about George Washington was “heroic” by today’s standards. Perhaps most objectionable

But lest some unlucky event should happen unfavorable to my reputation, I beg it may be remembered by every gentleman in the room that I this day declare with the utmost sincerity, I do not think myself equal to the command I am honored with. GEORGE WASHINGTON

of all, he was a slave owner, something that in today’s America few people could even imagine, much more tolerate.

One can assume that if he were alive today, he wouldn’t merit even the slightest consideration as a hero. But people accept that in his time, slavery was the norm, and that he could not be expected to behave so differently to the standard of the times. In his case, accommodation is made for the accepted practices of the period in which he lived.

The problem arises when those we consider to be great turn out to less-than-ideal compared to the standards we hold them to, during the time in which they lived.

Let’s take for instance the case of America’s favorite dad, Bill Cosby.

His portrayal of Dr. Huxtable in the long-running television series “The Cosby Show” endeared him to the hearts of generations of Americans. He had a very wholesome image in the show, and one that transferred across to his off-screen persona. Dr. Huxtable and Bill Cosby became one and the same person. Superdad. America’s modern- day parental hero.

Imagine the shock, therefore, when Americans discovered-–to their horror-–that he had abused countless women over the years. Not one, not two, but dozens of women over the years. Women of different ages, races and backgrounds. He was not just a mischievous prankster, but a serial sex abuser. As far away from the wholesome Dr. Huxtable character that he played as you can get.

But if Washington is still revered today despite his slave-owning status, why is Bill Cosby not accorded the same treatment? Well, in Washington’s time, slavery was not necessarily a bad thing. But in Cosby’s, sexual abuse is already anathema, as it is today. One can be forgiven and still admired only if one’s “misbehaviors” were not necessarily misbehaviors in their time.

Which is why I will hazard a guess that the current US President may not be so fondly remembered by history as he would like to think. Misogyny and utter disregard for women, after all, are already unacceptable norms of behavior by today’s social standards.

And so long after his much-touted tax-reform bill shall have been forgotten, his utter disrespect and boorish behavior towards women shall live on in America’s collective memory.