My ancestors probably played a leading role in one of the first and worst racist atrocities in history. I still benefit materially from the wealth they accumulated. Their photographs, more than a century old, hang in my foyer. My ancestors were slave owners.

When I was seven, I was taught to accept what Rudyard Kipling called the "white man’s burden" as my own. Kipling referred to the responsibilities inherent in racial superiority to kill or control "Half-devil and half-child" inferior peoples.

Such facile, fetid hubris underlies our current war in Iraq, the absurd comments of Geraldine Ferraro, and the radically nihilist bent Newt Gingrich inspired in conservative American politics---an obscene, destructive gambit that tragically informs the candidacy of Sen. Hillary Clinton.

The story of the Camilla Massacre---and my genetic salvation---starts below.