Thomas Jefferson Couldn’t Conceive of a Black Poet, Painter, or Sculptor
There is None so Blind. . .
Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello and the President's House (White House), while he was there, served the finest French cuisine in the land. The chefs who prepared it were Black people. At Monticello, there were Black artisans of all kinds: masons, carpenters, brewers, joiners, carriage builders, and weavers. Music was Jefferson’s passion, yet he could only appreciate the music he was familiar with, showing disdain for the enslaved people's songs and dances all around him. Jefferson played several instruments, but looked down on those carved by those he enslaved.
Perhaps it was because he thought music and poetry should be about love. Most of what he saw was an expression of misery. What joy did Jefferson bring to the enslaved boys who were whipped in his nailery or the women subjected to forced breeding and rape.
“Many millio…
