It was; slaves were learning useful skills, more and more owners were freeing them, and more and more states were abolishing the system as time went on. If they had then taken on Eastern European immigrants as low paid labor, the entire system would have been gone and the system would have slowly been ended and blacks integrated as productive citizens, not forced to fend for themselves pretty much right away while adjusting to freedom. It would have also preseved Southern Culture and values and independence rather than smashing it with a bullet and shattering a process that was ending the system while not traumatizing the culture.
It’s the desire for cheap labor htat started this, as usual.
I have told all my kids that I am proud of them that they find topics that go against the normal cultural grain, and that they hold their ground. I see the biggest divide with them and their peers in the liberal/conservative issues (we live in a very liberal area), and also the moral aspects of things.
But pretty cool when a friend asks “How come you don't swear?”