Quote by John Shelton Reed
I do believe states' rights was a sound doctrine that got hijacked by some unsavory customers for a while - like, 150 years or so. I'm professionally obliged to believe that knowledge is better than ignorance, but some kinds of forgetting are OK with me.
Summary
This quote suggests that while the concept of states' rights was once valid, it has been misused and manipulated by certain individuals over the course of approximately 150 years. The speaker acknowledges their professional duty to value knowledge over ignorance, but expresses a tolerance for selective forgetting. This implies that there may be situations where it is acceptable to let go of certain aspects or interpretations associated with the concept of states' rights, potentially due to negative associations or misuse.