History Commons^™

Reexamining The Racial Record Of Abraham Lincoln, Jonathan Scott Holloway, William E. Gienapp, Gabor Boritt, Allen C. Guelzo

Civil War Era Studies Faculty Publications

Since his death in 1865 Abraham Lincoln has been universally honored in black America. In many black homes and businesses, his photograph often hangs in honor next to the one of Martin Luther King Jr. But a new book by Ebony editor Lerone Bennett Jr. contends that Lincoln was a crude bigot who told demeaning darky jokes, had an unquenchable thirst for minstrel shows, consistently used the word "nigger," and supported efforts to ship Negroes back to Africa.

As Jack E. White pointed out in a recent Time magazine article, this book largely has been ignored by the mainstream press. …