In my high school American History class in 1988, my teacher was leading a discussion on the pre-Civil War Fugitive Slave Act. He explained that under the terms of the legislation, a slave who had escaped from Alabama and Ben found later in Michigan could be sent back to his former owner in Alabama. At this point, an extremely confused (and non-blonde) girl in the back of the class raises her hand and asks in a hesitant, halting manner, “Does Alabama still have slaves?”
