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Central Illinois Gazette

Another take on Lincoln, Obama and African-Americans

Posted by: Tom Kacich

Monday, January 19, 2009 1:43 PM

A few readers took issue with Leonard Pitts' column Sunday in which he got into Abraham Lincoln's complicated relationship with African-Americans. Here's an even better review, from an op-ed in today's New York Times ...

"Lincoln had a very complex relationship with blacks. Abolition was a fundamental part of Lincoln’s moral compass, but equality was not. While he was an early, consistent and formidable foe of slavery, Lincoln had much more ambivalent feelings about blacks themselves, especially about whether they were, or could ever be, truly equal with whites.

"For example, on Aug. 14, 1862, he invited five black men to the White House to convince them to become the founders of a new nation in Panama consisting of those slaves he was about to free. A month before emancipation became law, he proposed a constitutional amendment guaranteeing financing for blacks who wished to emigrate to Liberia or Haiti.

"Degrading words, deplored by most white abolitionists, like “Sambo” and “Cuffee,” found their way into Lincoln’s descriptions of blacks; he even used “nigger” several times in speeches. He also liked to tell “darkie” jokes and had a penchant for black-faced minstrel shows. The Lincoln of pre-White House days was a long way from the Great Emancipator; “recovering racist” would be closer to the truth.

"Except for his barber, William Florville, and William Johnson, a servant from Springfield, Ill., Lincoln didn’t know many of what he referred to as “very intelligent” black people before he moved to the White House. (In 1840, only 116 blacks lived in Springfield, and they were domestics, laborers or slaves.) In fact, if we add up the amount of time he spent with black people who were not servants even after he became president, it probably would not amount to 24 hours.

"The truth is that successful blacks were almost total strangers to Lincoln, born as he was on the frontier and raised in a state settled by white Southerners. From this perspective, then, Lincoln most probably would have been shocked, perhaps horrified, by Mr. Obama’s election. Like the majority of Northern whites, Lincoln had a vision of America that was largely a white one.

"Once in office, though, he met with more black leaders than any president before him, including Sojourner Truth (whom he unfortunately addressed as “Aunty”), Henry Highland Garnet and Martin R. Delany, even if he never invited one to a formal meal. But we also know that Lincoln could recognize exceptional people, regardless of race.

"As president, he became quite taken with one black man, Frederick Douglass, who initially seems to bear much in common with Barack Obama. Both Mr. Obama and Douglass had one black and one white parent; both rose from humble origins to become famous before age 45; both are among the greatest writers and orators of their generations; and both learned early to use words as powerful weapons. Lincoln, seeing this masterly orator of mixed-race ancestry, would most likely first have been reminded of his exceptional friend, Douglass."

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/19/opinion/19gates.html?_r=1&dpc