Right. No one here is defending slavery or sorry to see it abolished.
The problem is that liberty can’t be conditional. Either we are self-governing or we are not. As soon as central governments presume to regulate morals by force, there is no individual liberty - only tyranny.
We can see it happening right now with the January 6th show trials. The central government is attempting to criminalize their political opposition (MAGA) by presuming moral high ground.
We are being called white supremacists, violent insurrectionists, traitors. Make no mistake, they put us on par with slave holders.
They are wrong - but it almost doesn’t matter whether they are right or wrong about us - they simply do not have the right to judge us. Period.
The problem is that liberty and equality are antonyms.