KING: Thomas Jefferson was ahorrible man who owned 600 human beings, raped them, and literally worked them to death

Thomas Jefferson shoulldnot be celebrated in any way. He should not have statues, or be on money, or even have a monument celebrating his positive contributions.(RembrandtPeale/AP)Earlier this week, a room connected to theMonticello home of Thomas Jefferson wasdiscovered to have been the living quarters for Sally Hemings. As the newsbroke of the discovery,many headlines referred to Hemings as Jefferson's mistress. But she was not a mistress.Mistress implies consent. Thomas Jefferson owned Sally Hemings. She was his legal property. Thomas and Martha Jefferson owned Sally from the time she was an infant. She could not leave. She was notfree. Both Martha and Thomas Jefferson refused to free Sally Hemings their entire lives. Hemings remained enslaved at Monticello into her 50s.When a man has sex with a human being heowns, consent is forced, no matter the circumstance. This is doubly true of any enslaved African livingat Monticello — where whippings and punishments have been well-documented.Hemings, and others enslaved there, had nosincere choice but to serve those who claimed ownership over them or suffer theconsequences. This fundamental principle is the bedrock of slavery. It does not exist without it.KING: Why the United States is not the best country in the worldFurthermore, the term mistress would not apply to Sally Hemingseven if she was an everyday white womanfrom another town. Jefferson was a widower at the time hebegan having sex with Hemings. The word"mistress" is the term commonly used to describe a person in a consensual extra-marital affair. That is not what happened in this situation.To romanticize Sally Hemings as a mistress to Thomas Jefferson is to romanticize the horrible institution of slavery.The 600 human beings forced into slavery by Thomas Jefferson were forced to be there from birth until death — many never even leaving the confines of the land that entire time.Over 400 human beings that were immediately forced into slavery were born at Monticello — many there long enough to see generations of their families forced into slavery. Jefferson's nail factorywas exclusively staffed by enslaved children. Their living conditions were deplorable. Over the course of Jefferson's life he sold at least 175 men, women, and children to other owners — ripping apart families and loved ones.