Why would any one say "sad but undeniable" my family was slave owners. It is sad, that you do not understand that owning slaves was the modern equivalvent of saying "my family owned a mechanical cotton picker, a gas oven, a weed eater, a dish washer, an automated milking machine", etc. Slaves, at that time were implements! It just so happened they were people. Politicians and Clergy made valiant attempts to justify slavery, so your ancestors would not feel bad about it. All in all, many of the slaves were saved from a worse life back in Africa. While I do not justify the ownership of slaves, black, yellow, brown or white, to be sorry about it is to say "I'm sorry my ancestors were successful." Ron Hughes