Slavery wasn’t that long ago. I recently talked to a friend whose great-grandfather was a slave. This letter from a former slave to his former master brings the whole mess into focus for me. Former slave Jourdan Anderson’s closing line cinched it for me.

Say howdy to George Carter, and thank him for taking the pistol from you when you were shooting at me.

Kottke has an update that shows Mr. Anderson lived into the 20th century and along with his wife, Mandy, had many children.