Monday, January 19, 2009

The Care and Feeding of History

Hmmm...: "Lincoln likely would have been appalled. How could he not? He was a 19th century white man who famously said in 1858 that '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.''

How do you reconcile that with all those cartoons of Lincoln congratulating Obama? You don't. You simply recognize it for what it is: yet another illustration of how shallow our comprehension of history is, yet another instance where myth supersedes reality."

Yet, if Lincoln had lived from then to now I suspect that he would be pleased with the fact of President Obama.

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