What a sad commentary from this person. He obviously does not acknowledge the fatal beatings, the rape of enslaved women, and the unjustifiable racism of slave owners -- to suggest that a life like this is "better than Africa" is a slap in the face to descendants of slaves. In a message dated 1/3/02 8:05:33 AM Central Standard Time, [email protected] writes: > 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." >