Any attempt to judge our history by today's standards -- out of the context in which it occurred -- is at best problematic and at worst dishonest.For example, consider the following quotations:"So far from engaging in a war to perpetuate slavery, I am rejoiced that slavery is abolished.""[T]here is a physical difference between the white and black races which I believe will forever forbid the two races living together on terms of social and political equality."By today's standards, the person who made the first statement, Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, would be considered enlightened. The person who made the second,...
