Lincoln Isn't Evil. Neither Is the West. Stand Up to the Lies
bariweiss.substack.com
bariweiss.substack.com
The line about repeating "you are free" is straight out of 1984. In a truly free society the question and self affirmations would not be needed.
I think the end result of that line of thinking is the end of celebration of those who have achieved positive things. I think we have to distinguish between people who achieved good (and definitely in comparison to their contemporaries) and pushed things forward, but who weren't perfect when judged by anachronistic modern standards; and those who's primary achievements are now rightly viewed in a more skeptical light. If we don't all we end up doing is just condemning everyone that came before, and if we are honest we could condemn the contemporaries we want to celebrate too, because sooner or later some later generation will come up with a test they will fail.
For the record, I also flagged the OP.