There’s an idea growing in the United States that our founding was illegitimate.

The idea goes that we were established by evil white men who selfishly built this country for their own gain, on the backs of slaves imported from Africa. And because of that slavery, everything that has been built, and the traditions that have evolved are born of sin and need to be eradicated.

Basically, whether they know they are saying this or not, their idea is we need to wipe the slate clean and start over. And doing that will make us pure because they believe, in their hearts, they are pure.

But what they don’t realize is that the brilliance of our founding documents is that they were built with the foundational idea that men are imperfect. People are not angels. And they can’t be trusted within the power of government.

It’s why this country was founded on the idea that the highest power is not anything built or founded by men, like government, it was an almighty god to whom we are all equally inferior.

They knew the government can easily be used a tool by corrupt people for goals not in the best interests of the whole. They understood that the idea the government works for the people can quickly turn into the government working for themselves, often at the expense of the people.

Things were different 250 years ago. It was different times. And were they alive today, there’s no doubt the founders could see the inherent evil in slavery. Some did at the time.

But one of the things that make this country great is the freedom to share and debate ideas. And sometimes, we fight for them. This country had one of the most divisive civil wars in history. Hundreds of thousands of Americans lost their life deciding whether or not slavery, and the inherent racism that goes with it, were right for this country.

And justice won out.

We had this conversation, and we decided it correctly. That doesn’t mean the collective hearts and minds changed overnight. But we’ve never had less racism in this country, in our history, than we do now.

Unfortunately, these same people who think we’re illegitimate are the same people trying to stifle debate and silence conversation. They think they are pure and above the temptation of all people.

I’m here to tell you they’re wrong.

This country remains the home of the free. Despite the daily assault on our freedoms, they are still built into our laws and worth fighting for.

I’ve always wondered, if someone cured cancer, and then was discovered to be a child rapist, would we throw away the cure because the person who discovered it was a rapist?

The founding documents, ideals, and concepts of this country are nothing short of brilliant. Through ideas like separation of powers and competing branches of government, they build a framework that prevented the government, and by association, any individuals, from gaining and using too much power.

And the foundation of this country should not be thrown away because some of our founders owned slaves.