[Armed Civilian]

You have learned at the knee of revisionist history, not at the knee of those who fought.

[Scott Mahrle]

I don't care who's knee you're talking about. Knees are knees, but they don't change the essential facts:

Whatever the intentions either side had for fighting the war, its most important effect was to grant freedom to people held in bondage. To wish for a diiferent conclusion is to place a higher importance on other effects.

I can understand that the personal circumstances of some slaves may not have been bettered as a result of the war, but that does not justify leaving others in bondage. And, particularly for a man in Mr. Winbush's position, to dismiss the rights of these others to be free in light of a historical understanding of the war's effects is wrong. And I can understand why black members of his audience would be offended by it.