We can theorize about the non-violent path to emancipation, and the speedy path to legal equality.

But it's counterfactual. It took severe violence plus 100 years to get there. Plus another 60 (yikes) to get to where we are today.

That's horrible! But nothing about that reality suggests to me that there was a less-violent or speedier way to get there. Governments are made of people.

Getting there was a worthwhile goal. I don't think there's a "but at what cost?" debate here.

So it sure doesn't feel "efficient", but it might be the "most efficient possible" in the human world.

Sometimes, progress is measured by funerals.