The great and the ghastly

First-ever guest post, 'badly flawed but important,' and 7 other things worth your time.

Trying something different today: Below is a guest post by Donald Graham, majority owner and chairman of Graham Holdings Company, and formerly the publisher and chairman of The Washington Post. It appeared first on his personal Facebook page this week. (Used with permission and thanks.)

The post is his take on the statue of Andrew Jackson in Lafayette Square near the White House, which protestors tried to tear down earlier this week.

How do we reckon with flawed history — deeply disappointing in some cases, amazing and admirable in others — especially when we think we’d do things very differently now, if we had the chance?

I don’t agree with every point he makes (and the implicit political message at the end is his, not mine). But, that’s fine. It’s the nuance and perspective, and an attempt to work through a hard problem that will never please everyone, that makes it worth reading.