As list manager and moderator of Va-Hist, who neither manages nor
moderates, as all messages go directly from contributors to subscribers,
I always hope that conversations on controversial topics, or topics on
which thoughtful people may disagree, do not get personal.

We've done remarkably well in this regard on subjects about which people
feel strongly and do not entirely agree.

Imagery or historical themes that have resonances with painful or
controversial periods in our national history naturally bring out strong
opinions in the present, and we cannot expect everybody to view things
in the same light or to assign the same weight to the varied component
parts of the discussion.

Our friends Paul Finkelman and Kevin Hardwick give us an example of
thoughtful and well-informed examinations of historical events and
modern consequences and bring their different perspectives to the
evaluation of the evidence and the manner in which it is employed. That
leads them to give different weights to different parts of the history
and produces different ways of assessing the topics being discussed.
This is in the best tradition of historical scholarship. We learn from
each other as well as from our own study of the evidence. We disagree
sometimes because we are different people. Otherwise we wouldn't need a
list for discussions.

Discuss. Just don't cuss.

Brent Tarter
The Library of Virginia
[log in to unmask]

Visit the Library of Virginia's web site at http://www.lva.lib.va.us

To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions
at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html