Today in Blackness: Dispelling the Lincoln Myth

A quote from the much-revered President Abraham Lincoln from a speech he delivered in 1858, three years before he became President and just seven years before his assassination:

“I will say, then, that I am not, nor ever have been, in favor of bringing about in any way the social and political equality of the white and black races—that I am not, nor ever have been, in favor of making voters or jurors of Negroes, nor of qualifying them to hold office, nor to intermarry with white people; and I will say in addition to this, that there is a physical difference between the white and black races which I believe will forever forbid the two races living together on terms of social and political equality. And inasmuch as they cannot so live, while they do remain together there must be the position of superior and inferior, and I, as much as any other man, am in favor of having the superior position assigned to the white race.”

One hundred and fifty years later America’s first black president, Barack Obama, was sworn into office with his hand on Lincoln’s Bible.

Read Henry Louis Gates’ whole article, “Was Lincoln A Racist?” here. Interesting stuff.

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