(Commentary by Bob Gibson, communications director and senior researcher at UVA’s Cooper Center for Public Service) When tours of Monticello began for the public in 1924 and up until 1951, the men conducting them were Black and dressed as enslaved servants, according to a new book that addresses how current American society reflects the nation’s legacies from slavery. In “How the Word Is Passed,” Clint Smith tells readers important stories from Thomas Jefferson’s plantation home and other sites where Black Americans’ experiences remain largely untold.