I honestly can’t remember when I first learned about Abraham Lincoln.  I’m sure snippets of his life showed up in the Scholastic flyers that were distributed in school – it seems in those days they only taught us about the American presidents that graced various forms of currency.

As I have gotten older, I find that my understanding of history is tainted; what was taught in school was just the crib notes of the man’s life and the circumstances surrounding the Civil War that a committee decided were acceptable to disseminate to the youth of the time.

Don’t think for one moment that I’m a historian – I’m not. But over the years, I’ve been surprised by how much I was never taught – and perhaps how much we will never really know. 

Legacy

Lincoln is known for freeing the slaves with the Emancipation Proclamation. The rightness of that act cannot be sincerely debated. 

Some will try to say that the black slaves wanted to be slaves…. such ignorant tripe. I live in the south and a woman I met about a month ago let me know that her family had slaves and when their home was burned out and family slaughtered by the northern soldiers, some of their slaves saved the life of her ancestor and remained as her servant.

I have also heard that since their families in Africa sold them into slavery – it was well and good that they remained slaves for life.

I cannot begin to comprehend how people think that any of these statements makes sense. 

“How many legs does a dog have if you call the tail a leg? Four. Calling a tail a leg doesn’t make it  a leg.”

A. Lincoln

Black Lives Matter

Black Lives Matter is a global movement advocating for non-violent civil disobedience in protest against incidents of police brutality and all racially motivated violence against Black people. The movement has been in the news this spring after the tragic death of George Floyd on May 25th. Mr Floyd died after a police officer knelt on his neck for nine minutes during which time he repeatedly said he couldn’t breathe. Bystanders’ insistence for the police to help was ignored. All of this horrible incident was recorded and can be viewed online.

Backlash to this event has led to the removal of many confederate statues across the south. Historians say that the statues have always been rooted in white supremacy; they were erected en masse in the late 19th Century, years after the Civil War ended, specifically to remind African Americans that white people held power.

In their fervor, some protesters have taken aim at monuments of Lincoln. I can believe two completely different theories: 1) Americans are ignorant of who Lincoln is and what he accomplished in his life (please refer to my opening paragraph) and 2) White Supremacists are angrily retaliating.

The Jerk

While I was drawing this piece, the movie The Jerk (released in 1979) came to mind; specifically, the naivety of the main character, Navin (played by Steve Martin) claiming: “I was born a poor black child.”

I should note: I was born a white girl in a white family in the great white northern part of New York State where we had white Christmases and white Jesus. I do not in any way understand the plight of people of color in the US. I have been a mere observer, much like this Lincoln sparrow observing the Lincoln memorial.

I continue to live my life quietly trying not to be a racial jerk – furthermore, I firmly believe, “All men are created equal”  – for this reason, I am a resounded Lincoln Sparrow.

“Be sure you put your feet in the right place and then stand firm.”

A. Lincoln