Our Spotless Heroes

History has a way of crowning certain people as saints, geniuses, or saviors and then polishing their image until all the rough edges disappear. Textbooks, statues, and national holidays rarely mention the full truth: even the most celebrated figures were deeply flawed human beings.

Take Mahatma Gandhi: remembered as the father of nonviolent resistance, yet during his time in South Africa he expressed racist views toward Black Africans and conducted disturbing experiments with celibacy.

Or Christopher Columbus, honored as the “discoverer” of the New World, whose expeditions actually opened the door to slavery, exploitation, and the near-erasure of Indigenous civilizations.

Mother Teresa, canonized as a saint, devoted her life to the poor in Calcutta, but her critics argue she prioritized religious conversion and allowed needless suffering by denying proper medical care.

Even figures often portrayed as moral beacons had shadows.

Albert Einstein, the genius physicist, revolutionized science but lived a complicated personal life marked by infidelity and poor treatment of women in his family.

Martin Luther King Jr., a champion of civil rights, faced accusations of infidelity and plagiarism. His personal flaws don’t erase his monumental achievements, but they remind us he was human.

Winston Churchill, Britain’s wartime hero, also supported imperialism, presided over policies that worsened the Bengal famine, and made statements today recognized as racist.

Popes and kings across centuries claimed divine authority while sanctioning wars, crusades, and brutal inquisitions. Their legacies of faith are inseparable from their legacies of blood.

The truth is this: every “hero” has a hidden side. That doesn’t mean their achievements should be discarded. Gandhi still inspired independence movements. MLK still pushed America closer to equality. Einstein still reshaped our understanding of the universe. But if we only tell the spotless version, we risk creating myths instead of history.

The lesson isn’t to cancel great figures of the past, but to recognize them fully. They were human; brilliant, courageous, visionary at times, but also flawed, selfish, and sometimes harmful. By acknowledging both sides, we strengthen their legacy and make it honest.

Because in the end, pretending our heroes had no flaws is the greatest disservice to their legacy.

Thanks for reading. Abrazos.

Diego Rojas