[John Robertson]

"Yes, but we will never know what the TRUTH of this matter is."

That's CLASSIC moral relativism. Did you train at DU? Will we ever know the truth? Maybe not. But the dissemblers want the issue framed as, This is what we say the situation must be...now you disprove it--prove a negative.

"The 'facts' in the article above are no more definitive than the claims of the other side."

Actually, you're right on this...until you apply logic, reason and common sense. They're not "facts," they're facts. And the other side has made many an unfounded claim. A careful reading can lead one to a reasonable inference: while there is no definitive proof that Jefferson had children with Hemmings, it is still possible. Unproven, but possible.

"Neither side has anything but allegations and vague statistics."

Okay, I get it now. You're just here to piss people off. You don't really have anything intelligent to offer.

"Does either position make Thomas Jefferson less of a great man, indeed a Renaissance Man, and patriot?"

Yes, the side of the race dissemblers and hustlers does make him less of a great man--because attached to the "fact" of his fathering the kids with Hemmings is a whole train car of baggage: he was a hypocrite, a racist, a liar, and that therefore makes him, and his part in founding the country, less legitimate--less great.

Here's what's what: According to the best historical and DNA research, one of a minimum of 25 men in the Thomas Jefferson family fathered at least one child that we know of by Sally Hemmings.

If you read that as, Founding Father Thomas Jefferson made babies with one of his slaves...well, you don't know how to read.

[Servant of the 9]

Yes, the side of the race dissemblers and hustlers does make him less of a great man--because attached to the "fact" of his fathering the kids with Hemmings is a whole train car of baggage: he was a hypocrite, a racist, a liar, and that therefore makes him, and his part in founding the country, less legitimate--less great.

No, both sides are premising their arguments on the belief that if Jefferson did father children on his slave he was a hypocrite and a racist.
I reject that.
Whether or not he had a black concubine, he was living an honest and moral life within the mores of the time and place.
He cannot be judged by a standard that was completely unknown during his life.

Did he deny it during his lifetime? Yes.
If what he said was untrue, he was acting as a gentleman to protect his privacy and dignity. Calling that a lie is simplistic.

So9