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Notes -
Re Rufo I think he is just making the point that “Noah was a righteous man of his time.” That is, Jefferson should be judged in the context of his society. In that context, he was probably in the center on this issue. But what Robinson is trying to do is use modern views to go back in time to discredit what Jefferson did (which was quite valuable).
That might be what Rufo was trying to do, but it's not that hard to just say something like: "Sure he was racist but if you somehow believe this should diminish the lasting impact his efforts have had in securing a beacon of liberty the world continue to be envious of, I would vehemently disagree with that."
Entrenching himself on the "was he racist?" line just accepts Robinson's potential framing.
I think Rufo is saying “he wasn’t Racist judged by his contemporaries and his ideas that he actually is famous for are not non fact racist and continue to have vitality today.”
Agreed Rufo could do a better job
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