Helen Keller:

[wnylib]

12. My post was not a judgment of Keller.

I was just pointing out that even people we admire as heroes in some aspects of their lives are still human enough to have other qualities that we don't like. That does not diminish Keller's achievements or the values that she stood for and promoted most of her life. She did, after all, change her views on eugenics, to be more in line with her basic values.

I also don't excuse some past movements or views with the explanation that "times were different then than today." During slavery, there were people who opposed it as far back as the colonial and revolutionary period. Anyone with a conscience and the capacity for empathy could see the cruelty of slavery. Same with eugenics.

Hubris allows people to make such terrible judgments as deciding to play God with other people's lives.

I am glad that Helen Keller realized her mistake in judgment and changed her views. It makes her even more admirable.