Letter to principal of a school using booklet whitewashing slavery

Dear Mr. Stephenson:
I read a story on the net a few days ago about how you are using some unusual and controversial source material in the 623-student Cary Christian School you run for students from kindergarten all the way through 12th grade. The 43-page booklet that put you into the national spotlight is called "Southern Slavery as it Was." Based upon the quotes I saw, it is a startling revisionist polemic for the proposition that slavery was no more offensive than a ride on "Pirates of the Caribbean" at Disneyland. Here are some excerpts from the booklet:

• "Slavery as it existed in the South was not an adversarial relationship with pervasive racial animosity. Because of its dominantly patriarchal character, it was a relationship based upon mutual affection and confidence." (page 24)
• "There has never been a multi-racial society which has existed with such mutual intimacy and harmony in the history of the world." (page 24)
• "Slave life was to them a life of plenty, of simple pleasures, of food, clothes, and good medical care." (page 25)
• "But many Southern blacks supported the South because of long established bonds of affection and trust that had been forged over generations with their white masters and friends." (page 27)
• "Nearly every slave in the South enjoyed a higher standard of living than the poor whites of the South--and had a much easier existence." (page 30) [more]