[Grand Old Partisan]

I'd like to believe there is more proof than some DNA examination. No one at the time ever mentioned that a rebel crewman was black? That should have been astounding back then and there.

[PeaRidge]

"I'd like to believe there is more proof than some DNA examination."

And so did the O. J. jury when they were provided the proof.

"No one at the time ever mentioned that a rebel crewman was black? That should have been astounding back then and there."

If you knew something about the South of the period, you would realize that your statement is more astounding than the presence of a negro soldier or sailor.

You have at some point got to realize that in 1860, whites and blacks worked side by side. There was very little violence. Each had his job and family.

There was racism everywhere. North and South. Among blacks and whites, and Indians. Jews and Catholics were berated in New England and New York. The Irish were hated practically everywhere they lived. That was the thinking of the time.

When Lincoln brought the war to the South, negroes went off to fight. Some wore uniforms, some didn't. Some carried rifles, some drove wagons, or built railroads. Some were officially in the war, some were not.

The presence of a black man in the Hunley was a normal event. By being surprised, you reveal your racist bias against the South, then and now. You are no historian.