In order for French teachers to learn and teach that Victor Hugo was also a racist
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However, Victor Hugo like all people in the past and today was not perfect. It is wrong to tell someone's history -whether they would have liked it or not- as demonized or romanticized as they were not perfect nor were they truly evil (as evil is a term that varies from perspective to perspective and thus does not truly exist the same for the idea of good.)
Perfection is physically impossible for everyone it is what ironically makes us perfect as we at least care to fix what we break and mend who we hurt. Victor Hugo was a man of his time who broke his own philosophy more than once -something we all can relate to- by subscribing to many of the heinous and inexcusable ideology of his time whether it be sexism, racism, classism, etc. Victor Hugo, like all historical figures, deserves to have his history told from all angles good and bad, even if people learn to hate him. It is important that we know peoples past without demonization or romanticization because both make it out to be as if it is impossible to sink or rise to their level but that is not true. All it takes is the wrong step and anyone can become the villain of their story; all it takes is the right step and anyone can become the hero of their story, either way, only time will tell which you become in the eyes of future generations who will come to judge you as you judge past figures. This is why it is important for us to acknowledge the real history of historical figures both good and bad because if we pretend that evil people or good people exist or existed without taking into account their own sins then by drawinf that line of good or evil for ourselves, we could end up overlooking our own actions basing them or sizing them next to the actions of a historical figure and thus trick ourselves into believing that we could never be just like them as our actions are not the same; the sins we commit are measured and judged by a forced perspective, a veil that must be removed for us to grow as a people. Victor Hugo's story MUST be told honestly even if he grows to be unloved by the people.