 has a more uncomplicated, less tainted reputation than Thomas Jefferson. But maybe he shouldn't. Now, I didn't know a lot about Ralph Waldo Emerson, I confess. But that really stood out for me. I thought, wow, he's the transcendentalist, and he's kind of a groovy guy. In her history of white people, Nell Painter writes at length about Emerson, who is known as a critic of slavery.