Why These Respected Historical Figures Were Horrible People

They say history books are written by the winners. But some of the winners in your history books were actually pretty big losers. Here's a look at why these respected historical figures were actually horrible people.

Woodrow Wilson is considered by many to be one of America's greatest progressive presidents: he passed the first child labor laws, established the Federal Trade Commission, and codified the eight-hour day. Wilson shored up antitrust laws, helped end World War I, and at least allowed women's suffrage, even if he didn't outright support it. So he was indeed a pretty progressive president.

Assuming you were white.

Yes, unfortunately Wilson was also an irredeemable, unapologetic racist. In his book A History of the American People, Wilson called Black Americans, quote, "an ignorant and inferior race," saying of the Emancipation,

"It was a menace to society itself that the negroes should thus of a sudden be set free and left without tutelage or restraint."

And his policies reflected this belief. As president, he actually re-segregated the federal government. According to historian Sheldon Stern, Wilson even personally fired all but two of the Black supervisors in federal service, replacing them with white people. According to historian Lloyd Ambrosius, during the postwar Versailles conference Wilson killed a proposal for racial equality in the League of Nations, ensuring racism could thrive not just nationally, but also globally.

Oh, and there was also the fact that he publicly championed the Ku Klux Klan, leading to a massive nationwide surge of open racism that led to decades of turmoil, strife, and tragedy. Not only did he hold a private screening of the pro-Klan film The Birth of a Nation at the White House, the film actually includes a quote from Wilson saying,

"There had sprung into existence a great Ku Klux Klan, a veritable empire of the South to protect the Southern country."

So when you hear the words "institutionalized racism," remember to credit Woodrow Wilson for institutionalizing it.

Watch the video for more about Why These Respected Historical Figures Were Horrible People!

#History #Presidents

Woodrow Wilson: Institutionalizing racism | 0:00
Henry Ford: Anti-Semite | 1:45
John Lennon: Domestic abuser | 3:18
Roald Dahl and the racism factory | 4:36
Coco Chanel's Nazi past | 5:43
Teddy Roosevelt: Ruthless imperialist | 6:55
Che Guevara : Bloodthirsty executioner | 8:17
Thomas Edison's elephant execution | 9:18
P.T. Barnum exploited slave labor | 10:25

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