“… there is a physical difference between the white and black races, which … will forever forbid the two races living together upon terms of social and political equality”
Abraham Lincoln (1809-65)
Abraham Lincoln (1809-65)
curious people | curious events | curious juxtapositions | iconoclasts | ambiguity | whatever
In proper context, this statement takes on a different hue than is supposed here. It was made during political debate with a formidable opponent where he emphasized the
ReplyDeletemoral right of the negro to be free. It was politically expedient at the time to make more palatable the stark reality of this contention for a largely ignorant and racially prejudiced audience by saying as he did in the speech “I have no purpose to introduce political and social equality between the white and black races”. It was clever politically at the time.