See, whether George Washington owned slaves or not, whether he was gay or not, whether he beat Martha or not, whether he was a Deist or a Mason or not, whether he was from Virginia or Massachusetts or Barnsley or Kilarrney Back is wholly irrelevant to the point at issue and you know it, gordon. We're judging one thing and one thing only, Washington's effectiveness as a war fighter and commanding officer, not his moral culpability for owning another human & exploiting their labour.
It's true that Americans do squirm in their seats when the issue of some of the Founding Fathers being slave owners is raised.
I live in Massachusetts, not South Carolina. It's not swept under the rug here, but neither is it fixated on. I think people are ashamed by it but really don't know how to process it. What are we saying really? A bunch of white guys had some great ideas and did some amazing things at the same time they did some inhuman things and held some abhorrent beliefs. Welcome to humanity?