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8:31pm July 25, 2014

lichgem:

I was thinking about the quote I’ve seen by Abraham Lincoln that basically revealed he didn’t give a damn about enslaved black people, he was just trying to undermine the South, and I remembered something I read in middle school about him:

That a freed black woman came to him, thanking him, and he “rebuked her,” and how the text obviously made it sound like this was SUCH a big demonstration of his good character, that he REFUSED to accept thanks for his actions, etc, etc.

And even back then, before I knew anything about anything, I remember thinking, that doesn’t make him look good, that makes him an asshole, because he yelled at that lady. That lady must have felt like crap. But as usual, it’s not the recipients of his actions that matter, it’s how cool he looks to white historians.

Notes:
  1. dusty-soul reblogged this from withasmoothroundstone
  2. something-i-dunno reblogged this from withasmoothroundstone
  3. bodacious-energizedprotodermis reblogged this from withasmoothroundstone
  4. dolls-n-lifeviews reblogged this from withasmoothroundstone
  5. just-another-nerd37 reblogged this from withasmoothroundstone
  6. fullyarticulatedgoldskeleton reblogged this from respectissexy and added:
    Too dizzy to parse this fully right now; reblogging to save for later.
  7. arctic-hands reblogged this from withasmoothroundstone
  8. respectissexy reblogged this from withasmoothroundstone and added:
    Actually, there is a second part of the quote where Abraham Lincoln follows this up with: “I have here stated my purpose...
  9. withasmoothroundstone reblogged this from fullyarticulatedgoldskeleton
  10. alliecat-person said: As a historian I have to say, though, that a lot of the stuff about Lincoln and slavery gets circulated without the context that his views on slavery & race did change throughout his lifetime. Or so says this award-winning book that I need to finish.