Ebony magazine's Lerone Bennett Jr. has written a history of Abraham Lincoln that calls for a reexamination of the racial attitudes of the 16th president of the United States. The `Great Emancipator,' argues the author, was actually a white supremacist.
Abraham Lincoln "was a racist who opposed equal rights for black people, who loved minstrel shows, who used the N-word, who wanted to deport all blacks," according to Lerone Bennett Jr., whose new book, Forced Into Glory: Abraham Lincoln's White Dream (Johnson Publishing Co., $35) examines Lincoln's record. "There has been a systematic attempt to keep the American public from knowing the real Lincoln and the depth of his commitment to white supremacy."
While the book may be shocking to readers accustomed to viewing the nation's 16th president as the "Great Emancipator," Bennett denounces that view as the "Massa Lincoln" myth. "We're dealing with a 135-year-old problem here," says Bennett, executive editor of Ebony magazine. "It's one of the most extraordinary efforts I know of to hide a whole man and a whole history, particularly when that man is one of the most celebrated men in American history."
Forced Into Glory is creating a stir inside and outside academia. The book is a "full-scale assault on Lincoln's reputation," wrote Eric Foner, a professor of history at Columbia University, in the Los Angeles Times. According to Time magazine columnist Jack E. White, Bennett's book "rips off the cover" of attempts by historians to hide "the unflattering truth about Lincoln's racist ideals."
Drawing on historical documents, Forced Into Glory chronicles Lincoln's racial beliefs and his actions toward blacks and slavery:
* Lincoln publicly referred to blacks by the most offensive racial slur. In one speech, Lincoln said he opposed the expansion of slavery into the territories because he didn't want the West "to become an asylum for slavery and n--s"
* Lincoln was, in the words of one friend, "especially fond of Negro minstrel shows," attending blackface performances in Chicago and Washington. At an 1860 performance of Rumsey and Newcomb's Minstrels, Lincoln "clapped his great hands, demanding an encore, louder than anyone" when the minstrels performed "Dixie." Lincoln was also fond of what he called "darky" jokes, Bennett documents.
Abraham Lincoln "was a racist who opposed equal rights for black people, who loved minstrel shows, who used the N-word, who wanted to deport all blacks," according to Lerone Bennett Jr., whose new book, Forced Into Glory: Abraham Lincoln's White Dream (Johnson Publishing Co., $35) examines Lincoln's record. "There has been a systematic attempt to keep the American public from knowing the real Lincoln and the depth of his commitment to white supremacy."
While the book may be shocking to readers accustomed to viewing the nation's 16th president as the "Great Emancipator," Bennett denounces that view as the "Massa Lincoln" myth. "We're dealing with a 135-year-old problem here," says Bennett, executive editor of Ebony magazine. "It's one of the most extraordinary efforts I know of to hide a whole man and a whole history, particularly when that man is one of the most celebrated men in American history."
Forced Into Glory is creating a stir inside and outside academia. The book is a "full-scale assault on Lincoln's reputation," wrote Eric Foner, a professor of history at Columbia University, in the Los Angeles Times. According to Time magazine columnist Jack E. White, Bennett's book "rips off the cover" of attempts by historians to hide "the unflattering truth about Lincoln's racist ideals."
Drawing on historical documents, Forced Into Glory chronicles Lincoln's racial beliefs and his actions toward blacks and slavery:
* Lincoln publicly referred to blacks by the most offensive racial slur. In one speech, Lincoln said he opposed the expansion of slavery into the territories because he didn't want the West "to become an asylum for slavery and n--s"
* Lincoln was, in the words of one friend, "especially fond of Negro minstrel shows," attending blackface performances in Chicago and Washington. At an 1860 performance of Rumsey and Newcomb's Minstrels, Lincoln "clapped his great hands, demanding an encore, louder than anyone" when the minstrels performed "Dixie." Lincoln was also fond of what he called "darky" jokes, Bennett documents.
