Monday of this week was Presidents’ Day. It comes during February when we also observe Black History Month. The one person who serves as a link between these two commemorations is Abraham Lincoln. Presidents’ Day is in February because this is the month in which both George Washington and Abraham Lincoln were born. As mentioned in a previous post, February is Black History Month because it originally started as Negro History Week that celebrated the birthdays of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln. While Abraham Lincoln is generally regarded as one of the greatest Presidents under whose leadership slavery ended, his greatness related to racial progress was the result of years of growth. At the start of the Civil War in 1861, President Lincoln focused on preserving the union as the reason and goal of the war. Although he opposed slavery personally, he was willing to allow its continuation if the rebellion ended. The famous Emancipation Proclamation did not happen until 1863. Even then it did not include freeing enslaved people in the border states of the Union. Yet Lincoln’s commitment to ending slavery grew through the influence of the heroic actions of the US Colored Troops as well as challenges by Black leaders including Frederick Douglass. By the time of his assassination in April 1865, he advocated for voting rights for the Black veterans who helped save the Union. I believe that Lincoln’s greatness was not some inherent and stagnant quality. Rather it was his willingness to acknowledge and grow beyond the accepted prejudices of his day both personally and as the President of our nation. This is his legacy for our time in which we are still on the journey toward racial justice and equality. How are we as individuals, followers of Jesus, and as a society committed to acknowledging the reality of racial injustice and working to more fully realize the fulfillment of our shared principle of liberty and justice for all? Take a few minutes to watch the videos posted below. The first one features the renowned scholar and writer Eric Foner as he summarizes Lincoln’s growth related to race. The second one lifts of the relationship between Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass.
