Was anyone else as late as we were in learning that...

[malaise]

38. Over these years more than a few of them have promoted the view that slaves were happy singing folks

There’s a reason why slave laws still exist. Four states removed them from their constitutions but not Louisiana.
This was last year
https://lailluminator.com/2022/11/17/the-story-behind-why-louisiana-voted-against-a-ban-on-slavery/

Last week, Louisiana voters struck down an amendment to its constitution that would have prohibited slavery and involuntary servitude.

The four other states where slavery was on the ballot – Alabama, Oregon, Tennessee and Vermont – approved similar referenda. Louisiana was put in the national spotlight for rejecting the change.

Trevor Noah did an entire sketch on “The Daily Show,” mocking Louisiana for voting “against ending slavery.” Correspondent Roy Wood Jr., who is Black, pretended to stand just over the state’s border, joking, “I’m safer here in Mississippi, which is something no Black man has ever said.”