UofSC history professor encourages people to celebrate President’s Day

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WOLO) – It’s President’s Day, a day that honors George Washington and Abraham Lincoln’s birthdays.

University of South Carolina History Professor Woody Holton says today is not a day of mindless celebration or an extra day off work or school.  He encourages people to celebrate the day by reading and learning about past presidents. 

“To read about them but to read the bad as well as the good. We’ve never had a perfect president yet. We celebrate Washington more than anybody on President’s Day but of course he owned hundreds of fellow human beings and knew it was wrong. He wrote very eloquently denouncing slavery and yet he continued to own slaves,” says Holton. 

Professor Holton says President’s Day is also an opportunity for people to think about what their own patriotism means. 

“We’ve got a big issue going on right now in South Carolina. Right now there are five bills in the South Carolina legislator that all amount to the same thing and that is to suppress the teaching of African American history for instance about the slave ownership of presidents like Washington and Jefferson, our first and third presidents,” says Holton.

Holton says it’s important to acknowledge that presidents are complexed people with various strengths and weaknesses.

“Here’s my point we have a debate about if it is patriotism to sweep the bad stuff under the rug and pretend that our founding fathers were perfect and even if that means banning books, that’s what one side says. And the other side says true patriotism is opening your eyes and face the truth and even expose students and kids in elementary school to the whole truth,” says Holton.

Professor Holton challenges people to learn about the good and the bad of the country’s history and its leaders. “As Jefferson once said, ‘we’re not afraid to follow the truth wherever it may lead.”