Slavery existed at the time the White House was constructed. So why is this inportant other than as a point of historical fact? The Colloseum, Pyramids, Greek Parthenon and temples, Aztec and Mayan temples, the Taj Mahal, the Russian Winter Palace — these and more were all built by slaves. An estimated 20 million serfs (slaves) lived in Russia at the time of the US Civil War. Many more architectural wonders of the world were built by forced labor: Versailles, the Vatican, the Forbidden City are a few. If we attempt to erase anything in our past that has in any way been touched by slaves or slave holders, we would abandon Socrates, Sun Tzu, Homer, Euripedes, Pythagores, Democritus… slavery has at some time been a part of every sociey on Earth.

Michele Obama has never been touched by slavery. She has never experienced nor directly witnessed it. She ignores or does not express discomfort with current societies in the world that openly and violently subjugate women, gays, Christians. She is correct in relating how the White House was built. She is stupidly arrogant in her attempt to elicit outrage today for something that was done more than 200 years ago.