A trend where once‑canonical center‑left figures (e.g., FDR) are being reinterpreted by today's progressive critics primarily through their moral failings (race, refugees, internment), producing a selective repudiation that changes who is acceptable as an ideological ancestor. The argument reframes legacy debates from scholarly reassessment into active political boundary‑setting within the left.
— If elites and activists repudiate foundational figures, it reshapes coalition memory, educational curricula, and political claims‑making about acceptable policy inheritances.
Steve Sailer
2025.12.03
100% relevant
Steve Sailer’s argument that FDR—a 20th‑century center‑left hero—is fading into 'vague disrepute' for redlining, internment of Japanese‑Americans, and refugee policy is a concrete example of this dynamic.
← Back to All Ideas