Let's deal with a more serious one, like racism. I would grant you that Marx, Lincoln, and Tom Paine all opposed slavery, in contrast with "Long Tom," but they all expressed definitely racist notions.
BTW, in his later years Jefferson wrote things suggesting opposition to slavery. Of course he hypocritically continued to keep slaves, and in contrast to George Washington, did not free them on his death. This may have reflected his personal financial profligacy as much as any moral/political failing. I wonder if his softening attitude about slavery might not have reflected his relationship with Sally Hemings? I also note that his most virulently racist writings, _Notes on Virginia_ which you quoted from, predate his relationship with Ms. Hemings.
I'm afraid I go with "he was a complicated man," but certainly his continued participation in the slavery system is what he can be held most accountable for in a critical manner. Barkley Rosser On Tue, 3 Nov 1998 10:11:24 -0500 Carl Remick <cremick at rlmnet.com> wrote:
> Re Max's: "Quite right. The specifics of this case aside, we
> could just as easily dismiss Marx for being a sexist
> or overly fond of hamburgers, or any other figure from
> the past for some deviation for contemporary left mores."
>
> Quite wrong. Talk about ludicrous comparisons: "overly fond of
> hamburgers"! Slavery ranks with genocide as a uniquely awful crime.
>
> Carl Remick
-- Rosser Jr, John Barkley rosserjb at jmu.edu