In an email discussion with two friends, criticism was levelled at an organization which has an image of Margaret Sanger on their web site, and it was said that one should “be careful about your ‘heroes’ — Margaret Sanger was a strong proponent of eugenics.” I responded that my list of heros might include Hiro Protagonist and Hiro Nakamura.
Although I like both of these fictional characters and the works in which they appear, obviously I was being flippant in suggesting that they would be on my list of heros.
I think far too many people are called heroes by the media today. For example, I don’t consider sports players to be heroes, even if they do make the difference between winning and losing a game or even a season. My own definition of hero would be someone who, at significant risk of serious personal injury or death to himself or herself, rescues another person, or attempts to do so. I also wouldn’t normally consider people who are expected to do such things in the normal performance of their paid jobs to be heroes, except in cases where they clearly go beyond the call of duty.
I might extend my definition of hero to include some situations in which it is less clear exactly what the risk to the hero is, and in which the action taken isn’t the rescue of a specific person. For instance, I think some forms of civil disobedience qualify. One that comes to mind is Rosa Parks‘ refusal to relinquish her seat on the bus to a white man.
With regard to whether Margaret Sanger should be considered a hero, or even a role model, I think it is obvious that many people that do admirable things also do things that we disagree with. I doubt that there are many people who would be considered positive role models in all situations by all people.