WaPo: Va. Gov. McDonnell Gets Slavery's History Right and Remedies a Wrong

IT TOOK GUTS for Gov. Robert F. McDonnell (R) to issue a blunt and humble apology for his ham-handed attempts last spring to minimize the importance of slavery in the history of Virginia and the Civil War. In doing so on Friday -- in an eloquent speech at Norfolk State University, Virginia's oldest public historically black college -- Mr. McDonnell disassociated himself not just from his own offensive remarks but from some in his conservative Republican base who leaped to defend and embrace a dishonest, immoral view of American history.

Mr. McDonnell was lampooned nationwide in April after he proclaimed Confederate History Month but airbrushed history by omitting any reference to slavery. He then compounded the damage by arguing that slavery was a sort of side issue in the Civil War as far as Virginia was concerned. The governor's efforts at damage control, which included an edited version of the proclamation referring to the "abomination" of slavery, fell on mostly deaf ears....