were said to have been responsible didrnnot spare the homes of black people,rnthough they did, mysteriously, jump overrnthat of the French consul. The mayor ofrnColumbia observed three Union soldiersrnshoot to death a black man they consideredrninsolent. When he reported this tornSherman he was told, “We don’t haverntime for court martials and such.” DuringrnSherman’s progress blacks, like whiterncivilians, were left without food and shelter,rnand black women were much morernvulnerable than white women were tornrape and murder. Jordan’s book is notrnthe only one in this field of revisionism.rnThe journal of Confederate History a fewrnyears ago published as an entire issue arnsymposium on “Black Southerners inrnGray”; while Professor Edward C. Smithrnof American University, an African-rnAmerican, has produced two video tapernlectures on the same subject.rnPrior to the war there were almost arnhalf-million free blacks in the UnitedrnStates, more than half of whom livedrnin the South. Historians have long notedrnthat many of these were prosperous, andrnsome were slaveowners. The situationrnhas usually been explained as one of arnfew blacks having nominal ownershiprnof relatives. There was some of that, butrnalso abundant evidence, as marshaledrnby Koger for South Carolina (and forrnLouisiana by Gary Mills, Forgotten People:rnCane River’s Creoles of Color, 1977)rnthat many participated in the Southernrneconomy as masters of slave labor in exactlyrnthe same way as their white neighbors.rn(At the time of the averted DenmarkrnVesey insurrection in Gharieston inrnthe 1820’s, 72 percent of free blackrnhouseholds in the city held slaves.) All ofrnthis is not to provide a defense of slavery,rnbut it does provide the grounds for a lessrnsimplistic and moralistic rendering ofrnour ambivalent history.rnIn the 1970’s, it was fashionable to attributernAmerican racial problems to “thernlegacy of slavery.” Is it not curious that,rnthe further away we have moved in timernand location from the regime of the OldrnSouth, the worse these problems havernbecome? How simple it was, in the daysrnbefore the Watts riots, to attribute allrnproblems to the benighted South. If onlyrnthe South were corrected with an ironrnhand, then all would be well. That was arnfalse and destructive rationale, as shouldrnbe evident to all. It is said that there isrnnow a net in-migration of black Americansrnback to the South, reversing the patternrnof most of this century. There isrnalso evidence that the South (except forrna few international metropolises likernAtlanta, New Orleans, and Dallas) enjoysrnmore racial peace and progress thanrnelsewhere in the Union.rnIt appears that Americans are in thernprocess of rethinking some of the fundamentalsrnof race relations that have beenrnheld sacrosanct for the past half century.rnThese historical works are both a productrnof and a contribution to that rethinking,rnwhich yet has far to go.rnClyde Wilson is a professor of Americanrnhistory at the University of SouthrnCarolina.rnThere are many ways to give to educational and charitable organizations such as The Rockford Institute,rnpublisher of Chronicles: A Magazine of American Culture. Most people make direct gifts, which result in arn”charitable deduction” from their taxable incomes.rnAnother option is to establish a Charitable Remainder Trust. Assume, for example, that a person boughtrnstock years ago at a cost of $20,000 that is now worth $50,000 and pays 3 percent in dividends. One way tornlock in the current value, avoid capital gains tax, and derive more income would be to create a CharitablernRemainder Unitrust. Pay-out percentages could be set at from 5 percent to 8 percent, and the funds placed inrnsecure income-producing investments. If the trust earns more than the agreed pay-out, the additional money isrnadded to the trust so that its size increases. Upon the death of the donor or his beneficiary, the trust wouldrnbecome the property of the Institute or other charities of the donor’s choice. Estate taxes are eliminated andrnthere is a sizable charitable deduction in the year the trust is established. The amount of the charitablerndeduction depends on the age of the donor and the income retained.rnLegacy Program, The Rockford Institute, 934 North Main Street, Rockford, IL 61103rn1 1 Please send me general information on “Planned Giving” options.rnI I Please send me information on the Institute’s Charitable Remainder TVust Fund.rnNAME_rnCITY_ STATErnADDRESS.rn_ ZIP PHONErnIf you have a specific asset, such as stocks, that you are considering for a contribution, and if you would like the Institute to evaluate the financial taxrnimplications for your gift, please include the following information:rnSS# . SS # (SPOUSELrnCOST OF ASSET ESTIMATED MARKET VALUE_rnAPRIL 1996/31rnrnrn