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@mekkaokereke@hachyderm.io · 3 years ago

Still not talking about Black history. Still talking about white US history.

Q: Why do so many Black folk call Abraham Lincoln a white supremacist? He freed the slaves! Why don't Black folk have pictures of Lincoln up in their house? Are they ungrateful?

A: Because Abraham Lincoln was a white supremacist, and one of the worst kinds. He was an "I know Black folk aren't inferior, but hey man, it's an 'us or them' thing, and I choose us to be in the superior position."

1/N

mekka okereke :verified:

@mekkaokereke@hachyderm.io replied · 3 years ago

Abraham Lincoln, 1858:
"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. 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 from living together"

mekka okereke :verified:

@mekkaokereke@hachyderm.io replied · 3 years ago

"on terms of social and political equality. And inasmuch as they cannot so live, while they do remain together there must be a 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.”

- Abraham Lincoln, 1858

mekka okereke :verified:

@mekkaokereke@hachyderm.io replied · 3 years ago

Don't talk to me about who invented the Super Soaker, or who put peanut butter in everything, or who drew Washington DC...

...when we're graduating millions of high school kids without telling them that Abraham Lincoln was, by his own words, an unapologetic white supremacist.

And a white supremacist that *knew* that Black folk weren't inferior, and *knew* that slavery was wrong, but would have kept slavery anyway if he could do that and keep the union together.

mekka okereke :verified:

@mekkaokereke@hachyderm.io replied · 3 years ago

"My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or to destroy slavery. If I could save the union without freeing any slaves I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would also do that.”

Abraham Lincoln, 1862

This is a moral failure. Don't expect me to cheer for this, or to put Abe's poster up in my bedroom.

Daniel Lakeland

@dlakelan@mastodon.sdf.org replied · 18 hours ago

@mekkaokereke

Happy that I learned most of this history in High School, but also very aware that was the MAJOR exception compared to others of my age.

What is the best source to introduce US racist history to current high school kids? Other than getting them on Mastodon following you?

mekka okereke :verified:

@mekkaokereke@hachyderm.io replied · 3 years ago

Folks like to make a big deal of the fact that Frederick Douglass is the most photographed person of his century. We talk about his "friendship" with Lincoln, and their many "conversations." But we usually stop there. We don't like to go into what the topic of those conversations was...

Douglass was warning Lincoln that he should pay more attention to reducing racism, and preventing Southern forces from committing war crimes against Black prisoners. And Abe was largely ignoring him.

Historical photographs of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass.

mekka okereke :verified:

@mekkaokereke@hachyderm.io replied · 3 years ago

Most people can accept that Obama's policies were better for most US people than either Bush's policies or Trump's. The data is quite clear.👍🏿

Many people can see that MLK's policies were better for the US people than Lyndon B Johnson's. Johnson had to be dragged to do the right things.

It's much harder for people to see that Frederick Douglass's policies would have been better for the US than Abraham Lincoln's. Because some folk associate mythic infallibility to the US's earliest politicians.🤷🏿‍♂️

2 media

Photograph of Obama with Trump looking in the background.

Photograph of MLK with Lyndon B Johnson looking in the background.

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