Moderation, both in the choice of content and in the tenor and tone of posts, should very much be our ideal.

I am not at all sure how one goes about enforcing it, however. 

I would be hesitant to support a blanket decision to ban discussion of Hemings/Jefferson, for example.  That subject is very much alive in widely read and well received books addressed to the non-academic market.  Annette Gordon-Reed's latest is merely the most recent example of books which treat the topic; so does Jon Kukla's last work on Jefferson's relationships with women.  These books and others like them both stimulate interest in the topic, and respond to an existing strong interest in Hemings/Jefferson among the wider reading public.  The topic is indisputably pertinent to Virginia history, and thus fits well with the purpose of this list-serv.

It seems to me that the issue is the tenor of the conversation, more so than the topic itself.  

All best,
Kevin
Kevin R. Hardwick, Ph.D.
Department of History
James Madison University

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