“I've been reading about and writing about the Civil War period and it is so striking that slavery was never made right - [Abraham] Lincoln was killed, Reconstruction came along, and all of that inequity was frozen in place and carried forward rather smugly. So I think the burden is now upon us white people, to say that this systemic inequality offends us.” PeopleThinkingWritingMadeWarReadingWhitePeriodsSlaveryBurdenInequalityCivil WarFrozenAbrahamReconstruction Author:George Saunders
“Half the country seceded from the other half when Abraham Lincoln was elected because half the country couldn't abide his position on slavery. You would think 150 years later this had all become pretty historically incontestable. Yet millions continue to contest it in the face of history. Rather the denial of slavery and all its monstrous repercussions defines to one twin America what the country is and means, and therein is the DNA of those "alternative facts" that people believe when they can't stand to believe the truth.” PeopleThinkingYearsBelieveMeanCountryFactsAmericaFacesHalfMillionsPositionSlaveryAlternativesDenialTwinsContestsDnaMonstrousAbrahamOther HalfRepercussions Author:Steve Erickson
“The fact that an African American sits in the White House at the helm of government in the United States of America on this 150th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation represents both phenomenal political symbolism and a victory of faith in democracy that should not be lost on any American.” ShouldStatesFactsGovernmentAmericaPoliticalHouseLostWhiteUnitedUnited StatesDemocracyVictorySlaveryAfrican AmericanWhite HouseUnited States Of AmericaAbrahamPhenomenalSymbolismEmancipationProclamationHelmEmancipation Proclamation Book:Journey through the Power of the Rainbow: Quotations from a Life Made Out of Poetry Source: Journey through the Power of the Rainbow: Quotations from a Life Made Out of Poetry
“I apply the Abraham Lincoln test for moral casuistry: 'If slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong.' Well, then, if waterboarding does not constitute torture, then there is no such thing as torture.” IfsWellsDoeMoralTestsSlaveryTortureAbraham Book:Arguably Source: Arguably
“I read a funny story about how the Republicans freed the slaves. The Republicans are the ones who created slavery by law in the 1600's. Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves and he was not a Republican.” StoriesLawRepublicanSlaverySlaveAbrahamFunny Story Author:Marion Barry
“I believe that the flag of the Confederate States of America is a painful symbol and reminder of racial injustice and slavery which Abraham Lincoln denounced from here over 150 years ago.” YearsBelieveStatesAmericaI BelieveYears AgoSlaveryInjusticePainfulSymbolsFlagsRemindersAbrahamConfederate Author:Howard Dean
“Most historians agree that Abraham Lincoln was the most important man to ever occupy the White House because he abolished slavery and kept the states united through a bloody civil war.” MenImportantWarStatesHouseWhiteUnitedAgreeSlaveryCivil WarWhite HouseHistorianBloodyAbraham Author:Kitty Kelley
“The Republican Party, which John McCain led as our nominee in 2008, is going to become irrelevant if we become the party of intolerance and hate. The party founded by Abraham Lincoln was a party that fought slavery and intolerance at every level.” IfsHateLevelsPartyRepublicanSlaveryIntoleranceRepublican PartyIrrelevantAbrahamMccain Author:Ed Rollins