The insignificance of slavery

In a follow-up to yesterday's news that Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell had decided, in a racially-motivated pander to his base, to bring back Confederate History Month, today he's explaining why he didn't bother to mention slavery in his official proclamation:

McDonnell said he did not include a reference to slavery because "there were any number of aspects to that conflict between the states. Obviously, it involved slavery. It involved other issues. But I focused on the ones I thought were most significant for Virginia."

Well, sure. Because there were only a half-million slaves in Virginia at the time the Civil War broke out, so that wouldn't be at all significant compared to the sacrifices made by those who fought to guarantee their continued slavery.