This is the dumbest thread I have ever seen. What possible difference does it make? It is a beautiful hymn. I am sick of people who feel that we have to apologize for things our ancestors did and pander to whatever group it is that is whining and blaming acts committed hundreds of years ago for their own shortcomings. Slavery was a bad thing but I had nothing to do with it and I owe no one an apology for it. Political correctness or what ever it is called today, is ruining this country. We are what we are today, not what our ancestors were.