No, I think if you're going to use slavery, that you should address it directly and not use it as set dressing or continue to use because canon dictates you do. I think such things should be examined and you should look whether or not you're just using it for some bit of flavor. For example, there are Delta Green scenarios that use things like child abuse and animal abuse, but also those scenarios go deep in addressing them and make them the focus of such things.
As it stands, I think D&D really doesn't do this sort of thing well and using such things really won't be done well in D&D, especially with the audience it is trying to reach. I think it misses the point of the game and what it is, to be honest.
Yes, but the point is that we're prioritizing the comfort of older players rather than newer ones... or really, not even the "comfort" of older players as much as their demands to keep settings "accurate".
I don't believe I did say that!
I just don't think it's in Wizards's best interests to do so because I don't think they have the chops to do so and their audience is so broad that it's just not a good idea in the same way that I don't want them exploring sexual assault as a setting aspect. Instead, I think that they should smartly consider removing superfluous usages of things like slavery and remove them because if the only reason to keep them around is for "setting accuracy", we've basically conceded how useless they are in actual gameplay.