Beautiful essay on Lincoln and democracy, Heather. Guess I have to bring Abigail Adams into this and say "Remember the ladies" which was in a letter she wrote on March 31, 1776, to her husband. In response, John concludes his letter to Abigail's plea to 'Remember the Ladies. ' Although his tone is playful, John dismisses Abigail's request, saying, “I cannot but laugh,” and “you are so saucy.” I like to remind people that the opposite of patriarchy is not matriarchy, it is egalitarianism. We the People, all of us this time! Please.
I opened a video production with that letter. The production celebrated the women who have worked tirelessly for the right to vote to encourage all women to vote in the last election.
Gailee, thank you for sharing your video, a truly professional, meaningful and powerful story. Have you shared this to a wide audience? PBS? It’s among the best I have seen about women’s vote. Onward!
Starting around the 6m20s mark - the car breaking sound and fast-rewind speaking…chillingly poignant, Gailee! Thank you for this powerful, short documentary. 💙
IMHO your “small effort” far surpasses the usual messages we laypersons could produce and deserves wider distribution, notwithstanding your critical eye. For starters, the graphic that women in the West were ahead of the East in supporting women’s suffrage was news to me and had an impact. Thank you for doing this project.
Thank you for your words. Because I took photos from the internet, many were not in hi rez. Trying to get original photos is difficult. But. This is something that we, as women, can create for social media. It costs nothing, and many can be reached.
Good reminder. Thanks. I think I came across the exchange first in an autobiography of John Adam's a long time ago, the reading of it, that is. The marble rolling around in my mind since then has been a construct of deservedness of one over others, be is by gender or race or wealth possessed or salvation or some other artifice. The White man deserves because he is White. The smartest deserve because they are, well, the smartest. Man deserves because of some appendage joyfully appreciated by men. The saved are just special among themselves. This inherent deservedness because of some attribute as fundamental to the pursuit of and defense of inequality to the ends of time. The marble, in my ninth decade, now causes me to conclude that the search for domination always come back to inherent deservedness, not the examination of what is true or worthy or just amidst our species.
Here’s the rub, I think. Many humans do not accept original download from Creator. ‘We are all in this together. There is enough to go around.’
Greed and hierarchy and caste born in believing there is not enough to go around. And making it so by the hoarding and denying of resources.
You are wise, Fred, in your choice of words “inherent deservedness”. Our greatest gift after separation from Creator.
And President Lincoln had it exactly right about deservedness. And the diff between being ruled and governance. Aware and wise commentator Cathy Learoyd often says…We the People, All of Us This Time!
Yes, we keep playing a zero-sum game -- the OR game -- when we could be making bigger and more pies -- the AND game. I love how the Native Americans measure wealth by a person's generosity to others and seeing the entire community thrive.
I cannot remember the actual saying, but I used the concept during an interview for a position with a school district which was so polarized, it felt then much like this country feels today. It goes something like this: rather than draw a line in the sand, I will draw a circle around and enclosing all of us.
Here is Peggy McIntosh talking about social justice - privilege is above that line and things like suppression are below it. One point she makes is there is no need to be shamed by being white but instead use it to fight inequality. We need to teach all history but not take it out of the context of its time.
Thank you, Cathy for sharing Peggy McIntosh's White Privilege "list." I first studied it in a Master's Class, Social and Political Context in 2000. It helped me to more fully understand racially motivated bias and discrimination opposed to the antiSemitism I had experienced. I also started to teach through the lens of Anti-bias education starting in preschool through college and beyond, based on the work of Louise Dorman Sparks http://www.antibiasleadersece.com/louise-derman-sparks/. Anti-bias education should be the foundation of all levels of teaching from preschool through college. Especially if you're in a state that has laws against teaching TRUTH. Then you'll have to rename it and participate in the "Teaching as a Subversive Activity" model of education. (Neil Postman 1969)
Thank you to Dr. Richardson for this beautiful and illuminating essay not only on the history of Lincoln but more importantly on the meaning and justification of the equality of all. I see one side of the political divide trying to make this same case for equality, kindness, and compassion for all, and another trying to make the case for societal divisions. It matters not what justification is used for such false divisions skin color, race, place of birth, language, religious beliefs or none, or who one loves - these are all false distinctions that only serve to ultimately imprison all of us in a discriminatory society. In such a society no one will be first all are by definition enslaved.
Either we are all free and equal or none are free and all are unequal. In such a system there will always be someone more powerful who enslaves others and bends them to their will.
I urge those who would advocate such a system and seek to wield such power that no condition is permanent. Those who would be masters and enslavers today may find themselves enslaved tomorrow.
Well said. It is the very last sentence in your comment that is surely being played out in the fear so many of us Whites harbor as the demographics of the nation shift away from that which safeguarded the deservedness of our caste.
Now then, the opposite of egalitarianism is elitism.
America's dominant patriarchal control of government's Ying/Yang system is the Great Deception where only 5% of the American electorate, (republicans), have devised a cunningly disguised "Right" to have their opinions dominate over the 95% of the others, (Democrats, Independents, et. al.). Republican heavily anointed mouths lie egalitarianism, while at every opportunity their little greasy open hands protect the 5% elitist's enrichment.
And:
Since it seems that for the last couple of hundred years American government has failed in many ways even today under the top heavy control of patriarchy's deception that the top down benevolence "showered" upon the other 95% has been revealed repeatedly to be total BS.
And:
Since the voice of republicans at every level of American governance is obviously dominated by its patriarchal control disguised as their faux-egalitarian interpretation of The Constitution which, instead has repeatedly proven to be in actuality Elitism's deceptive transformation of America's Democracy.
Now, Therefore:
It is now our hope and prayer that this November 2022, and thereafter forevermore the decidedly rewarding emergence of the much more adept Democratic matriarchal forces of governance will begin their overdue extermination of those lying republican elitist who have sought the destruction of America's egalitarian Democracy.
Yes George. To will among the 95% would you conclude that we must convince a large proportion that is not their meager cup that will be take from them should the elite not survive a fair election?
That 95%, which you seem to feel estranged from, will hopefully clearly vote their opinion in November guided by fact, as opposed to the deceitful lies amplified by bigoted old fat moneyed white men's control of the RP.
Now Fred, by your oxymoronic linkage of fair with elite, you seem to be one of those who refuse to acknowledge the reality that this last election was the most fair election in the history of American democracy...
One wonders, Fred, what good you hope to gain by attempting to promote the lie of deception's willful destruction of American Democracy by the republicans???
Clearly we have not understood the other's point. I thought I understood yours leading up to your conclusion to vote intelligently. I shared with my son the other day that I have become any angry White man, angry at how my fellow White people follow and swallow the lies promoted by the right to protect them from the left stealing their deserved though meager tin cup when in fact the policies and goals of my progressive peers are to ensure sustenance is served daily to the 99% who might vote for our candidates. The word will was supposed to be what in my question to you. Editing and spellchecker are the two banes or my writing in streams of intended wit. Happy Valentines Day, George.
If Abe’s wife were as outstanding as Abigail Adams, he might have been inclined to “Remember the Ladies.” Instead, Mary Lincoln was a cantankerous, dour lady who spent like a drunken sailor to Abe’s personal and political embarrassment. She may be the reason that I cannot recall a single photo of Abe in which he was smiling.
Mary Todd was long a tortured soul, (plagued by mental health maladies that money didn’t solve). Additionally, she suffered so much loss within her immediate family. What I’ve read has left me thinking her a staunch supporter of her husband during his presidential tenure.
Broken people often break things and others. 🤷🏼♀️
Ashley I agree that Mary Todd Lincoln ‘was long a tortured soul.’ That does not obviate that, according to Doris Kearns Goodwin, she was a pain in the butt to President Lincoln, who was dealing with monumental matters.
Love Mark Twain’s thought on the subject. “The easy confidence with which I know another man’s religion is folly teaches me to suspect that my own is also.” Started questioning, but didn’t land on Qanon, thank whatever God
I'm struck by a contrast in this illuminating commentary about equality and race: how openly the enslavers of Lincoln's day articulated their views about white supremacy compared to today's bigots. Now they communicate their bigotry via a veiled language of hints and vague innuendo. And by silently flashing white-power hand signals while smiling broadly, as if to say, "I'm declaring my racism oh so cleverly without saying a word." Of course there are slip-ups when they're caught in recordings using the N-word and other racial slurs. When confronted later they invariably knit their brows in faux distress and issue apologies everyone knows are insincere.
Trump summoned these cowards from the shadows. They attract like-minded people with whom they can share their hatred of others as long as none of those damn liberals are in earshot. You can be sure they'll never express and explain their bigotry publicly because they fear the harsh backlash that would follow. Or in unusual displays of "courage" they'll march around in matching polo shirts and khaki pants which fit much better than white hoods and sheets. But they're still cowards.
It's too bad they will never find themselves shipwrecked on the African coast and enslaved by dark-skinned people and, hopefully, have an epiphany.
No need to find an epiphany or two by being shipwrecked and enslaved. White people can work through Layla Saad's 28 questions to examine our individual participation in white privilege and the social institution of white supremacy. As one person doing the workbook, "Me and White Supremacy" wrote, "My sister asked 'haha what are you writing, how you participate in white supremacy?' as if it was a joke that I could ever be part of that system and I was like 'yes examining your participation in white supremacy is exactly the point' and she was like 'oh.'"
We have a mandate to walk the talk that all humans are created equal. If we are not part of the solution, we are part of the problem.
Please consider supporting your local bookseller. They need our money more than Bezos. When you click over to the website, select ‘Indibound’ to see a list of booksellers in your area who carry this important work.
Agree. I never help Amazon if I can help it and I never buy books there. We have Powell's here in Oregon and that's where I usually get my books. I finally finished my Christmas books this week.
YesYesYes. I mourn the loss of some of my favorites every where I have lived back in the U.S. Especially Santa Monica, CA. . Anyone living in Houston, TX, this was my sanctuary. https://www.brazosbookstore.com/ I'm so blessed that Donosti Librería is across the street from me. It was begun by a couple while Franco was in power. Now run by the sons. They speak no English but have shelves chock a block full of literature in Spanish, English, Portuguese, y poco Russian and will order whatever is wished for.
My local bookstore will order most any title I request if they do not have it in stock. May I also suggest using your public library (not useful for a workbook, I understand), that community center of ‘socialism’.
"Layla is an East African, Arab, British, Black, Muslim woman who was born and grew up in the West, and lives in Middle East. Layla has always sat at a unique intersection of identities from which she is able to draw rich and intriguing perspectives. Her work is driven by her powerful desire to become a good ancestor; to live and work in ways that leave a legacy of healing and liberation for those who will come after she is gone."
Short version: Republican operative Lee Atwater taught Reagan, Gingrich et al how to dog whistle racism. See link below to Atwater's How to Be a Racist Without Sounding Like a Racist. It was the GOP lingua franca until spouting overt racism propelled Trump to the White House.
The Republican Southern Strategy - to take in disgruntled white supremacists - weaponized racism to drive a wedge in the Democratic working class base. As President Lyndon B. Johnson said "If you can convince the lowest white man he's better than the best colored man, he won't notice you're picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he'll empty his pockets for you."
And indeed, Republicans convinced working class whites to give away their rights to organize, collective bargaining, fair wages, healthcare coverage, pensions - for the privilege of keeping their feet on the necks of their Black neighbors, in order to keep their own lily white empty heads above the roiling waters of intentional economic injustice.
See also Heather McGhee’s “The Sum of Us.” She tells this story and argues cogently that we need to move out of a zero-sum-game mentality. Some of her stories are jaw-dropping.
Interesting take on the matter MB. The smart bigots know that there is a substantial number of Whites who won't openly declare their racism but will look the other way, according to how it is handled.
"Let us remember: what hurts the victim most is not the cruelty of the oppressor but the silence of the bystander." Eli Wiesel
And in a sense this is true. Oppressors rely on bystanders. Those who think they are keeping their hands clean by sitting on them, actually have blood on them. (Such as those who couldn't 'conscience' voting for Clinton helped elect Trump.)
Then there are the bystanders as BC comments who approve of the oppressors. The picnickers at a lynching.
Then the bystanders who knowingly assist the oppressors. Those who sell lynchers the rope but don't personally tie the noose. Hannah Arendt termed this "the banality of evil" - thoughtlessly advancing one's self interest with no concern for the harm one is doing to others.
Then the bystanders Wiesel writes of, who frozen with fear and at immediate risk to their lives can do nothing to help the victims.
And for those of us who can act, immediately and at a distance, another thing Wiesel says "We live in the age of communication. Write letters to the editor. Speak to your congressman, to your senator. If you are young, especially young people are taken by this human rights activities. They should organize the universities."
And if you can still walk, march for justice as fairness and run for office.
One of the success stories of the Civil Rights Movement was we quieted the voice of hate, but changed not the minds of those who hold fast to their beliefs. Or, maybe we taught a code of carefulness and thought we suceeded?
There is continuing dispute as to the initiation of 'the Reign of Terror' in France, which I assume you refer to. The word 'terror' was thrown about a bit over a period of time. The term Reign of Terror itself was applied by those who took power after Robespierre's death and in reaction to his extremism. Robespierre was from generations of well off lawyers. His reign was a result of conflict between factions within the revolution's political structure.
My sense is that the revolutions we commonly speak of, are rarely an 'up by your bootstraps' proposition by the oppressed masses. Their architects and leaders are from privileged groups with their own self interests in mind and/or empathetic ears to the ground.
The aristocrats who forced the Magna Carta on an English monarch and Oliver Cromwell of the landed gentry, who oversaw the beheading of another. America's Founding Fathers. Vladimir Lenin from an upper middle class family. Mao son of the wealthiest peasant in town (although himself a self made man.) Fidel and Che from upper middle class families as was the earlier Simon Bolivar. The Young Turks were privileged and more problematically affiliated with the party which carried out the Armenian Genocide, for which the term Holocaust was first applied. Iran. Al-Queda. Have I missed some? Probably.
François-Dominique Toussaint Louverture, of Haiti's slave rebellion, was a free man born in slavery - seems to be an exception.
Yes even sleeping while Black can incur a government enforced death sentence by bigots in blue.
And there in nothing vague about bigots on the judicial bench legitimizing racism.
There is nothing vague about racist right wing religious extremists - elevated and celebrated by the Republican party and Republican voters - weaponizing a badge or a black robe to deny Black people their civil rights and even their lives.
Red Hats are the new white hoods. Often on the same head.
"Clarence Thomas who seems to forget he’s a Black man."
Equality means equal to decide your political affiliations and self interests. And to reject stereotypical expectations.
But Thomas is a particularly twisted sister. A product of affirmative action from admission to prep school to admission to Yale Law school to appointment to the high bench, Thomas is set on pulling the ladder up after him.
This is a man whose take on Malcom X is "Where does he say black people should go begging the Labor Department for jobs?"
Thomas' ideas of Black separatism and self sufficiency have a Black history, but Thomas is peculiar in rejecting civil rights legislation. Thomas does not see the law as any means to mitigating racism. He believes in the imaginary of 'separate but equal' He calls civil rights legislation 'the new slavery emasculating Black men.'
Thomas is an apostle of the saving grace of unregulated greed in its avatar of commerce and capitalism.
And we know what he thinks of Black women.Thomas' sexist attitude toward Black women was shared by the male leaders of the Black Power movement. Until Thomas met right wing religious extremist loopy Ginni Lamp, he was vehemently and loudly opposed to interracial sex and marriage.
So not just Scalia's petulantly silent sock puppet any more. It is worth reading and listening to Thomas in his own voice to fully appreciate how deforming racism against Black people fueled by Republican cant can be.
Important reads about Clarence Thomas. He espouses Black separatism and decries affirmative action as racial paternalism, advocating Black ascendance through capitalism with separate but equal. Thomas overgeneralizes his short term perceptions of integration, fails to acknowledge the oppressions and abuses of unfettered capitalism/big business, and it's not clear how "equal" is to be attained without some measure of government oversight. But that racism is always present--with that I can agree. His contradictions regarding sex and sexism are a whole other story.
ThankYou. Admirable summary - as usual EK. Complete and enviably concise. Yes and sexism was not just in the Black Power movement but in the Anti Viet Nam War movement also.
Tonight I must join the chorus thanking you for one of the best "Letters" you have written. Why have I never seen or heard of Lincoln's philosophical arguments for equality? Something seriously lacking in my US History text and the way I was taught? -- I agree with those previous comments proclaiming Lincoln as our best President. He saved this nation. We can't begin to honor him enough.
Honest Abe is by far my favorite President. On the ever less frequent occasions when I can spend a few days in my hometown, Washington DC, I make a point of visiting the Lincoln Memorial and re-reading his second Inaugural Address. Reminds me of what a worthy endeavor our country is.
FDR. Not my favorite human. In many ways, despicable. But he was exactly what we needed at the time. And he was a wordsmith.
Truman - not a sophisticated intellect - but wicked smart with an amazing sense of ethics. More like this, please.
Jimmy Carter. But the nation didn't like what he asked of us. Why should we, in the land of plenty, make sacrifices for the greater good? Could be the finest human to have worked in the Oval Office. (And I eschew religion.)
I am not sure how Ted Kennedy plays into this other than his privilege and arrogance being in stark contrast to Carter's life. (I am from MA and probably voted for Teddy several times - based on his positions, especially his healthcare efforts).
The "malaise speech" was actually a big success and Carter was applauded by those who saw him as one who asked us to have values beyond materialism. That's my idea of principled courageous leadership. Political naivety? For sure.
Reagan was politically clever and successful but he was a monster who preached "meism" and taught us to abandon our brothers and sisters in trouble. Nancy's "Just Say to No to Drugs" led to the deaths of thousands.
Instead of embracing a sense of common goals and community, America resumed the race to consume as much as possible as fast as possible. I think the process of iphone purchasing - every new iteration of a device that could be serviceable for many years - adding to the huge pile of electronic waste we have no idea of how to dispose of - is a perfect example of our selfish, obsessive culture that Carter asked us to question.
Thanks, Bill. Our views of Carter depend on what we value. Americans seem to have little regard for their neighbors' welfare, individualism, "meism," gone awry, totally out of balance.
And the incredible irony for me is that it is the "evangelicals" - the highly religious among us - who support the selfish and the con artists. Jimmy still practices his faith - walks the talk. The others? Not so much.
Dr Richardson's essay is about Pres LINCOLN... and we should focus on that and his inspired leadership.
That being said, Jimmy Carter was an AWFUL President, his biggest failure being the Iranian hostage crisis... enabling Islamic extremism the appreance of "success" against the West.
Yes, Carter's post-Presidency retirement has been "productive" - but it's a one-man PR machine/obsession designed to re-habiliatate his awful Presidency.
Hmmm. The reality was that Carters admin had made the arrangements for the hostages to be released. They did the heavy lifting. Reagan, being the actor he was, smiled, entered the WH and took credit for the success.
Carter didn't create the Iran hostage crisis. Resentment towards the US went back to the 1950's when the CIA was involved with installing the Shah.
Carter didn't create the oil crisis. He tried to manage it. Just like Biden didn't create inflation.
Carter was indeed clumsy politically. He was unrealistic about how power was wielded in DC by the insiders. His Georgia imports were a mistake.
But Jimmy Carter had something called integrity as president. And he was honest with Americans. His successor planted the seeds for much of what is wrong with America today.
My father called FDR a derogatory Rosie and admitted that he had voted for FDR. He was drunk when he admitted this. I was brought up in a R household. Dad didn't like labor unions either. I noticed that in his later years he didn't say no to Social Security or Medicare. I recently read a bio of Eleanor and I was not impressed by FDR in that book. However, we did need a New Deal at that time. It was to include universal health care, but the AMA managed to scuttle that with the help of two political operatives who went on to help Rs many times.
My father - and my upbringing - was similar to yours, Michelle. My father's first admission of voting for a Democrat for President was in '68, for Humphrey. He was not drunk, and I think I mostly believed him at the time and still do now. While he never voted for FDR not Truman, he had a somewhat subtle relationship to their qualities, especially in retrospect. When in the navy once, his PBY squadron at parade rest, with FDR driving by (somewhere in the Pacific), he saluted the Commander-in-Chief, the only one of his unit to do so. (We were all Republicans, he said.) Then, according to Dad, FDR rose up a bit (to the best of his ability) and saluted back, personally, eyes on my Dad, who never forgot that. Truman he thought was a really bad president - until the '60s. Surrounded by sons who were active Democrats, he absorbed a lot of new insights that he accepted, and that helped change his views, and probably led to the choice he made in '68. I can surely say, though he died in '90, that he would have absolutely detested the "Trumpian" GOP and all its minions.
My father never changed his views and I am sure he looked upon my being a D as some kind of failure. He did listen to Rush and I can't help but wonder how he would feel about mafia don. I wish I could be certain that he would condemn death star and his minions, but I can't be.
Ha! Good one. But I have come to believe "intellect" is interesting but hardly helpful when faced with life and death issues...war and such. FDR deftly moved the nation to defeating Hitler. No small task because millions of Americans didn't care about Europe and the horrors unfolding.
That being said, as a person...he could be quite selfish and cruel.
But isn't life complex? As a fellow polio survivor he has my utmost respect in the fortitude department.
Yes, that's amazing there aren't many. I didn't think Lincoln's "deep" thought was all that deep. His line of reasoning was even mine years ago when I was still quite young. It doesn't take deep thinking to explain what Lincoln did. I think most people on this site have figured that out for themselves -- not to take away from Lincoln, of course, but just to say it seems self evident to me. There will always be someone smarter than you, or faster than you, or more clever than you, or . . . . And therefore they can/will defeat you in the next contest. Or as we were all taught in some form, "What goes around comes around."
It would be a great contribution to our nation if scholars of American history were to question US Supreme Court justices about their historical knowledge of the ideals established in our Founding documents rather than politicians vetting judicial nominees about their positions on current issues.
Clearly, we have judges who have positions without regard for our founding ideals and purpose, which Abraham Lincoln was quite dedicated to deep thought, which he articulated for everyone to consider and act upon accordingly.
I am not sure he could answer any questions of this nature. I am also sure his wife is whispering in his ear. He is totally unworthy to be on the Court.
At last - Heather finds cause - and touches the suppressed feeling in every decent American tonight.
Is it enough? No. It’s not. But it’s a damn good start.
Reading this post - brings tears. If only today’s leaders of the party of Lincoln could find Lincoln’s mirror. If only they could read Abraham Lincoln’s speeches and feel what he felt.
If only they could feel what I do, every time I think of my sick racist country - and cry.
If only my fellow Americans could ask what matters: was the white milk from the Black breast that raised your family just right? Did the love that child felt for that mothering not teach the white child something important? It goes from there… why did the Negro mothers submit so willingly to the white sons of the plantation enslavers? Why? Ask why.. ask what the lighter skin bought those poor enslaved Black mothers… it’s called passing, abd it’s not good. And so, economic slavery emerges - as good much stronger and more able Black men were often ignored in favor of the young insipid son of an evil white man.
“submit so willingly”???? When anything else risked death, beatings, family separation? There is no such thing as consent in such circumstances. You might as well say that a man robbed at gunpoint submitted willingly when handing over his wallet.
My thoughts too. OK, Sally Hemming made a deal with Jefferson while they were in Paris. She was his wife's half sister and had a slave holding grandfather as well. Consent is not the right word here to describe what happened to many many black slave women.
Agreed-consent is not the right word at all. Slaves were legally classified as property-not people. The law gave slave owners the “absolute right” to control their slaves.
Slaves were wealth first and foremost. Young white men, slave owners and overseers routinely raped Black women for pleasure and to increase their wealth.
“No property can be vested more profitability than in young healthy negro women. They will, by breeding, double their value every five years. Mulattoes are surer than pure negroes. White men were motivated to rape black women because ‘mixed blood’ demands a considerable higher price than pure black”. (From: Slavery and the internal Slave Trade in the U.S. 1841, p. 33). New Orleans was a good case in point-there was a whole system of classifying women according to how much “white blood” they possessed.
If most people really understood the way slavery was practiced in America, I think we could agree that racism has to go if we’re ever going to live up to the country’s ideals. This is why CRT is so threatening to some of the people in power who have whipped ignorant folks into a frenzy about it.
History revealed can be a powerful force for change. HCR is a national treasure for shining a spotlight on the past so we can understand our present in ways that help us to create a more perfect union for the future. Praying that real change is possible..
Sally did get Jefferson to agree to free their children on his death. Until then, people visiting Monticello saw slaves who looked like Jefferson working in his nail factory. The New Orleans story I cited is so racist that I can never look at Mardi Gras the same again. These balls I referenced were the white balls run by white men with a lot of secrecy involved. I once read something about emptying a room by announcing one was an octoroon.
I have a reiki sister who was brought up in a wealthy white family in New Orleans and she had a black woman who took care of her. Only later in life did she realize that the woman often ignored her own family to take care of her. My friend has a fascinating story to tell about the New Orleans society she was part of including being a queen at one of the balls. Her daughter made a documentary about this aspect. It is eye opening.
Lincoln is one of those beings I would have loved to walk and talk with. Your post gives me the sensation that you have done exactly that, dear Heather
We are still trying to prove that people can govern themselves. The problem this time is irrational belief in cults and conspiracy theories. If large numbers of voters believe that the elections are all rigged and that everything Donald Trump says is true and that Hillary Clinton is running a child prostitution ring out of the basement of a pizza restaurant in Washington D.C. - then how can they (and us) be governed? If we cannot agree on which facts are true, how can we govern ourselves?
I am not so sure the majority of the insurrectionists and Trump supporters have irrational beliefs. I think some do, but I suspect the majority are trying to fulfill an agenda. They know what is a fact and what is not, but choose to change what is perceived as fact to suit their agenda. As a country, we need to address why they have this agenda.
I have two college educated sisters. Trump supporters who made the trip to Dallas to “meet Jesus”… that’s what they told me. Here’s some of the things they believe. We’ve been lied to about everything. There was no moon landing. The earth is flat. Trump won the election and will be reinstated. There is no such thing as white privilege. In fact, whites have been harmed by affirmative action. I blame religion. And the concept of Faith , belief in things unseen. It’s the only way I’ve been able to make sense of what they go on about.
I have a trump supporting sister-in-law who thought it was a really good idea that we go to the moon when trump said that was his plan. She said we had never been to the moon before. This came out of the mouth of a college educated 40+ year old.
Carla - you speak of the elephant in the room, in my opinion. Religion. Man's uninformed answer to the purpose of our existence and how we can continue an existence after death. Since the dawn of our species, it has distorted our interpretation of reality, and given power to people who would misuse it. That continues today. It has also, arguably, been a vehicle for compassion (not always). A way to push back the more selfish and cruel part of our nature. But for better or for worse, it is an alternate reality that requires faith for belief in it. It is the opposite of skeptical inquiry. And look what kind of trouble it is getting our species (and all other species for that matter) into. Covid denial, climate denial, evolution denial, science denial, and on and on. Outside of pure simple greed and soullessness, rabid religious belief is the big reason humankind is off the rails. Trump knew that when he embraced the religious right. I actually have trouble with the "all men are created equal" thing. It is true that all are or should be born equal. But going from there, some grow up more well suited than others to be our leaders or to chose our leaders. Either by choice or not. Those who embrace dangerous alternate versions of reality (the Kellyanne Conway's of this world) or display heartless authoritarian behavior (Trump, Hitler, Jong-Un) have no business anywhere near the levers of control. It's a conundrum.
The conundrum I keep coming up against, when I (rarely) attempt to communicate with my sisters, if we’ve been lied to about everything, how can you embrace religion so tightly? It’s been perverted for thousands of years to control the masses. Heresy … I’m told …
But we don't want to throw the baby out with the bath water. There are many progressive leaders and people who recognize that "religion" cannot deny scientific fact, and they build their faith in God from there. Science and "religion" aren't at odds with one another. As Einstein said, "Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind."
There is great comfort in the belief that, "Daddy will take care of everything and you are special." And if any little doubts creep in, these can be vanquished with the seeking of confirmation bias.
Republican pols know and their agenda is no secret - power, just total power. The power that chump flung around like it was his forever. Of course, this was a republican goal long before chump
Magnificent column. Thank you. The only other President that I rank in Lincoln’s stature was FDR. He guided the country through the Depression, changed the social and economic structure - albeit today it is being undermined and reversed - for the better and while imperfect in his handling, managed to lead us to fight Hitler, Japan and Mussolini in a time when isolationism was very dominant. When one sees how powerful the plutocratic forces of fascism and autocracy remain in this country today, it is even more remarkable to ponder how much FDR accomplished and contributed.
FDR with his wife's good work in working communities, input, and encouragement.......one must also give proper credit to Eleanor 's contribution to be historically correct!
In HCR's LFAA and video chats, she has had plenty to say about the distinct contributions of Frances Perkins to the social safety net brought about during the FDR administration. (Hey, Substack gods, please give us a search function!)
Slavery is mentioned in the Constitution only in the 13th amendment (to abolish it).
New York Avenue Presbyterian Church always sends a wreath to display at the Lincoln Memorial in honor of their Sunday School teacher.
I am older than Ruby Bridges. I recall being assigned Lincoln's debates for extra credit reading in high school. When the press became media, we lost many of the skills to explain debates to the masses.
So glad to have found you, Kim. It snowed in NYC, so it is a beautiful gray and white day. As we honor Abraham Lincoln, Maya Angelou's understanding is poignant at this time.
This is so powerful and resonates on so many levels. Thank you, Fern. Downloaded the Nook e-book of "Oh Pray My Wings..." as well as Mele Girma's sung version of "Alone."
Oh, Fern, dear one, that is heartbreaking. and liberating...
Leave it to you to give us treasures of interpretation.
Miss Maya just socks it to us in real time.
We are seeing 26 degree nights with morning frosts, then up to 50 in the sunlit days. Of course, the rain is returning tomorrow.
the gardens are layered with bone meal, blood meal, worm castings (i.e., poop) and compost, all ready to leach into the soil in preparation for planting. It is looking really fertile these days.
I'm engaged in a project for our local food bank: setting seeds for our local 13 gardens in the new grant-funded greenhouse. I'm as happy as a pig in poop...
We can't make it out alone, but we surely can create community together with lots of love and care.
Don't slip on the snow--I lived on Broadway across from the Jewish Theological Seminary when I went to Teachers College--those were some slippery snows!
It was beautiful, not very slippery and not deep. Just like you to be looking out for those slippery streets. Your garden sounds spectacular and your mood that of proud farmer/gardener. Cheers!
Ashley, so good to see you. I have been writing to a friend and just finished with, 'Being calm is crucial'. Of course, we live in various states of mind, however, to think clearly, to plan, and work through very difficult situations - calmness is a friend. Speaking of pals, I am very fortunate to have a dear subscriber friend named Ashley. Salud!
Sean Wilentz addresses this question exhaustively in his book, No Property in Man. Did artful drafting by the framers of the Constitution sanction or merely accommodate slavery?This has been debated since the ratification conventions in the thirteen state legislatures, where the perspectives of advocates for or against ratification determined the answer. This debate ebbed and flowed for more than three score years and was decided only after tens of thousands of Americans of all colors gave the last full measure of devotion in the war that made it possible to enact the Thirteenth Amendment abolishing slavery. What a shame that some eight score years later White Supremacy remains the single greatest impediment to approaching the ideals articulated by Lincoln at Gettysburg.
A shame indeed. Speaking of giving the last full measure of devotion, I recommend the Netflix documentary Winter on Fire (2015) regarding Ukrainians' resistance fight from Nov 2014 - Mar 2015. Their commitment to freedom and keeping a democracy for their children has so many lessons for how to fight for the common good in present times.
We’ll said-even with the 13th amendment though they included “involuntary servitude” for crimes committed. Hence convict leasing, mass incarceration and over policing in Black communities because “involuntary servitude” is profitable.
Yes-the word slavery doesn’t explicitly appear in the constitution but constitutional compromises included designating Black people as 3/5 human; not ending legal importation of slaves until 1808; requiring fugitive slaves (property) to be returned to their “owners”; forming militias to suppress slave rebellions; and giving voting power to an electoral college. The American system of slavery was well supported by the original constitution and the courts.
What is mentioned in the Constitution (Article 1, Section 2, Clause 3) is very specific and states "Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other Persons." Noting that Indigenous persons are excluded, and that free "persons" include those "bound to service for a term of years" are included, leaving slaves defined as "other Persons".
True. But why not write the word slavery? But they didn't. And there was a reason the word slavery wasn't written in our Constitution until we abolished it.
The framers of the federal Constitution intentionally avoided the words “slave” and “slavery” in Article I Section 2, which apportioned representation and taxation among the states. Nor did they use these words in granting Congress power to prohibit the international slave trade in Article I Section 9. They must have been deemed ambiguity essential for selling ratification to both slave states and free states.
Beautiful essay on Lincoln and democracy, Heather. Guess I have to bring Abigail Adams into this and say "Remember the ladies" which was in a letter she wrote on March 31, 1776, to her husband. In response, John concludes his letter to Abigail's plea to 'Remember the Ladies. ' Although his tone is playful, John dismisses Abigail's request, saying, “I cannot but laugh,” and “you are so saucy.” I like to remind people that the opposite of patriarchy is not matriarchy, it is egalitarianism. We the People, all of us this time! Please.
I opened a video production with that letter. The production celebrated the women who have worked tirelessly for the right to vote to encourage all women to vote in the last election.
Here is the video on Youtube: Enjoy! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yu8l_huH93c
Fabulous and a must see!
You are so kind.
I'm humbled beyond words.
Is the video viewable online? I'd like to see it!
I just saw this. And that you took the time to find it.... no words.
Gailee, thank you for sharing your video, a truly professional, meaningful and powerful story. Have you shared this to a wide audience? PBS? It’s among the best I have seen about women’s vote. Onward!
Agreed!!
Starting around the 6m20s mark - the car breaking sound and fast-rewind speaking…chillingly poignant, Gailee! Thank you for this powerful, short documentary. 💙
Thank you for your words.
I don't think it is professional enough. It is just my small effort.
IMHO your “small effort” far surpasses the usual messages we laypersons could produce and deserves wider distribution, notwithstanding your critical eye. For starters, the graphic that women in the West were ahead of the East in supporting women’s suffrage was news to me and had an impact. Thank you for doing this project.
Thank you for your words. Because I took photos from the internet, many were not in hi rez. Trying to get original photos is difficult. But. This is something that we, as women, can create for social media. It costs nothing, and many can be reached.
Good reminder. Thanks. I think I came across the exchange first in an autobiography of John Adam's a long time ago, the reading of it, that is. The marble rolling around in my mind since then has been a construct of deservedness of one over others, be is by gender or race or wealth possessed or salvation or some other artifice. The White man deserves because he is White. The smartest deserve because they are, well, the smartest. Man deserves because of some appendage joyfully appreciated by men. The saved are just special among themselves. This inherent deservedness because of some attribute as fundamental to the pursuit of and defense of inequality to the ends of time. The marble, in my ninth decade, now causes me to conclude that the search for domination always come back to inherent deservedness, not the examination of what is true or worthy or just amidst our species.
Here’s the rub, I think. Many humans do not accept original download from Creator. ‘We are all in this together. There is enough to go around.’
Greed and hierarchy and caste born in believing there is not enough to go around. And making it so by the hoarding and denying of resources.
You are wise, Fred, in your choice of words “inherent deservedness”. Our greatest gift after separation from Creator.
And President Lincoln had it exactly right about deservedness. And the diff between being ruled and governance. Aware and wise commentator Cathy Learoyd often says…We the People, All of Us This Time!
Yes, we keep playing a zero-sum game -- the OR game -- when we could be making bigger and more pies -- the AND game. I love how the Native Americans measure wealth by a person's generosity to others and seeing the entire community thrive.
I cannot remember the actual saying, but I used the concept during an interview for a position with a school district which was so polarized, it felt then much like this country feels today. It goes something like this: rather than draw a line in the sand, I will draw a circle around and enclosing all of us.
Well said. There is enough to go around ... especially when we share and first take only our share.
Here is Peggy McIntosh talking about social justice - privilege is above that line and things like suppression are below it. One point she makes is there is no need to be shamed by being white but instead use it to fight inequality. We need to teach all history but not take it out of the context of its time.
https://www.ted.com/talks/peggy_mcintosh_how_to_recognize_your_white_privilege_and_use_it_to_fight_inequality?language=en
https://nationalseedproject.org/images/documents/peggy/Peggy_McIntosh_White_People_Facing_Race.pdf
Thank you, Cathy for sharing Peggy McIntosh's White Privilege "list." I first studied it in a Master's Class, Social and Political Context in 2000. It helped me to more fully understand racially motivated bias and discrimination opposed to the antiSemitism I had experienced. I also started to teach through the lens of Anti-bias education starting in preschool through college and beyond, based on the work of Louise Dorman Sparks http://www.antibiasleadersece.com/louise-derman-sparks/. Anti-bias education should be the foundation of all levels of teaching from preschool through college. Especially if you're in a state that has laws against teaching TRUTH. Then you'll have to rename it and participate in the "Teaching as a Subversive Activity" model of education. (Neil Postman 1969)
Like Asimov's Foundation, where the "other end of the galaxy" is the center.
Thank you to Dr. Richardson for this beautiful and illuminating essay not only on the history of Lincoln but more importantly on the meaning and justification of the equality of all. I see one side of the political divide trying to make this same case for equality, kindness, and compassion for all, and another trying to make the case for societal divisions. It matters not what justification is used for such false divisions skin color, race, place of birth, language, religious beliefs or none, or who one loves - these are all false distinctions that only serve to ultimately imprison all of us in a discriminatory society. In such a society no one will be first all are by definition enslaved.
Either we are all free and equal or none are free and all are unequal. In such a system there will always be someone more powerful who enslaves others and bends them to their will.
I urge those who would advocate such a system and seek to wield such power that no condition is permanent. Those who would be masters and enslavers today may find themselves enslaved tomorrow.
Well said. It is the very last sentence in your comment that is surely being played out in the fear so many of us Whites harbor as the demographics of the nation shift away from that which safeguarded the deservedness of our caste.
Oy! I simple love the word ‘egalitarianism’ and what it represents and means. Thank you, Cathy! Salud.
Now then, the opposite of egalitarianism is elitism.
America's dominant patriarchal control of government's Ying/Yang system is the Great Deception where only 5% of the American electorate, (republicans), have devised a cunningly disguised "Right" to have their opinions dominate over the 95% of the others, (Democrats, Independents, et. al.). Republican heavily anointed mouths lie egalitarianism, while at every opportunity their little greasy open hands protect the 5% elitist's enrichment.
And:
Since it seems that for the last couple of hundred years American government has failed in many ways even today under the top heavy control of patriarchy's deception that the top down benevolence "showered" upon the other 95% has been revealed repeatedly to be total BS.
And:
Since the voice of republicans at every level of American governance is obviously dominated by its patriarchal control disguised as their faux-egalitarian interpretation of The Constitution which, instead has repeatedly proven to be in actuality Elitism's deceptive transformation of America's Democracy.
Now, Therefore:
It is now our hope and prayer that this November 2022, and thereafter forevermore the decidedly rewarding emergence of the much more adept Democratic matriarchal forces of governance will begin their overdue extermination of those lying republican elitist who have sought the destruction of America's egalitarian Democracy.
VOTE INTELLIGENTLY!
Yes George. To will among the 95% would you conclude that we must convince a large proportion that is not their meager cup that will be take from them should the elite not survive a fair election?
NO Fred.
Absolutely NOT Fred.
That 95%, which you seem to feel estranged from, will hopefully clearly vote their opinion in November guided by fact, as opposed to the deceitful lies amplified by bigoted old fat moneyed white men's control of the RP.
Now Fred, by your oxymoronic linkage of fair with elite, you seem to be one of those who refuse to acknowledge the reality that this last election was the most fair election in the history of American democracy...
One wonders, Fred, what good you hope to gain by attempting to promote the lie of deception's willful destruction of American Democracy by the republicans???
Clearly we have not understood the other's point. I thought I understood yours leading up to your conclusion to vote intelligently. I shared with my son the other day that I have become any angry White man, angry at how my fellow White people follow and swallow the lies promoted by the right to protect them from the left stealing their deserved though meager tin cup when in fact the policies and goals of my progressive peers are to ensure sustenance is served daily to the 99% who might vote for our candidates. The word will was supposed to be what in my question to you. Editing and spellchecker are the two banes or my writing in streams of intended wit. Happy Valentines Day, George.
I see Fred...typos do confuse...and a lovely Saint Valentine's Day to you and all of your loved ones.
Agreed.
Excellent add to Dr. Richardson's amazing essay.
If Abe’s wife were as outstanding as Abigail Adams, he might have been inclined to “Remember the Ladies.” Instead, Mary Lincoln was a cantankerous, dour lady who spent like a drunken sailor to Abe’s personal and political embarrassment. She may be the reason that I cannot recall a single photo of Abe in which he was smiling.
Hiya, dear Not-Doc Wheelock!
In my limited knowledge:
Mary Todd was long a tortured soul, (plagued by mental health maladies that money didn’t solve). Additionally, she suffered so much loss within her immediate family. What I’ve read has left me thinking her a staunch supporter of her husband during his presidential tenure.
Broken people often break things and others. 🤷🏼♀️
Ashley I agree that Mary Todd Lincoln ‘was long a tortured soul.’ That does not obviate that, according to Doris Kearns Goodwin, she was a pain in the butt to President Lincoln, who was dealing with monumental matters.
Monumental pain in the toosh — I’ll definitely defer to you, Prof, and the uber legitimate scholar Doris KG!!
Yup.
Thank you!
Love Mark Twain’s thought on the subject. “The easy confidence with which I know another man’s religion is folly teaches me to suspect that my own is also.” Started questioning, but didn’t land on Qanon, thank whatever God
I'm struck by a contrast in this illuminating commentary about equality and race: how openly the enslavers of Lincoln's day articulated their views about white supremacy compared to today's bigots. Now they communicate their bigotry via a veiled language of hints and vague innuendo. And by silently flashing white-power hand signals while smiling broadly, as if to say, "I'm declaring my racism oh so cleverly without saying a word." Of course there are slip-ups when they're caught in recordings using the N-word and other racial slurs. When confronted later they invariably knit their brows in faux distress and issue apologies everyone knows are insincere.
Trump summoned these cowards from the shadows. They attract like-minded people with whom they can share their hatred of others as long as none of those damn liberals are in earshot. You can be sure they'll never express and explain their bigotry publicly because they fear the harsh backlash that would follow. Or in unusual displays of "courage" they'll march around in matching polo shirts and khaki pants which fit much better than white hoods and sheets. But they're still cowards.
It's too bad they will never find themselves shipwrecked on the African coast and enslaved by dark-skinned people and, hopefully, have an epiphany.
No need to find an epiphany or two by being shipwrecked and enslaved. White people can work through Layla Saad's 28 questions to examine our individual participation in white privilege and the social institution of white supremacy. As one person doing the workbook, "Me and White Supremacy" wrote, "My sister asked 'haha what are you writing, how you participate in white supremacy?' as if it was a joke that I could ever be part of that system and I was like 'yes examining your participation in white supremacy is exactly the point' and she was like 'oh.'"
We have a mandate to walk the talk that all humans are created equal. If we are not part of the solution, we are part of the problem.
https://www.meandwhitesupremacybook.com/
Layla Saad is a stunning woman in every way.
Thanks for that reference, I checked and see it is easily available among other suppliers: Amazon, I'll definitely get it.
Please consider supporting your local bookseller. They need our money more than Bezos. When you click over to the website, select ‘Indibound’ to see a list of booksellers in your area who carry this important work.
Good point. This is a great way to buy local: https://bookshop.org/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIkp75h-f89QIVdRvUAR1KQgFhEAAYASAAEgKubfD_BwE
Thank you for the link. I will start using it and spread the word.
Thank you.
Agree. I never help Amazon if I can help it and I never buy books there. We have Powell's here in Oregon and that's where I usually get my books. I finally finished my Christmas books this week.
Powell’s is my all time favorite indie bookstore. If I can’t get what I want there, I order from Bookshop.org.
McLovin, I verbally 'heart' you. While others burn books, we can be supporting local booksellers.
The local book store in Austin, the Book People, even had Ruth Bader Ginsberg socks last summer - meaning not to be facetious, but just saying...
Excellent point!
Good idea! Thanks.
Which website are you referring to?
https://www.indiebound.org/search/book?keys=me+and+white+supremacy
YesYesYes. I mourn the loss of some of my favorites every where I have lived back in the U.S. Especially Santa Monica, CA. . Anyone living in Houston, TX, this was my sanctuary. https://www.brazosbookstore.com/ I'm so blessed that Donosti Librería is across the street from me. It was begun by a couple while Franco was in power. Now run by the sons. They speak no English but have shelves chock a block full of literature in Spanish, English, Portuguese, y poco Russian and will order whatever is wished for.
My local bookstore will order most any title I request if they do not have it in stock. May I also suggest using your public library (not useful for a workbook, I understand), that community center of ‘socialism’.
Yes! Thank you.
I go to the Amazon website to get information, such as ISBN numbers, about books that I want to buy, then order from my local bookstore.
The meandwhitesupremacybook link is to purchase directly from the author.
Thank You Ellie!
"Layla is an East African, Arab, British, Black, Muslim woman who was born and grew up in the West, and lives in Middle East. Layla has always sat at a unique intersection of identities from which she is able to draw rich and intriguing perspectives. Her work is driven by her powerful desire to become a good ancestor; to live and work in ways that leave a legacy of healing and liberation for those who will come after she is gone."
I will order it. Thank you.
Short version: Republican operative Lee Atwater taught Reagan, Gingrich et al how to dog whistle racism. See link below to Atwater's How to Be a Racist Without Sounding Like a Racist. It was the GOP lingua franca until spouting overt racism propelled Trump to the White House.
The Republican Southern Strategy - to take in disgruntled white supremacists - weaponized racism to drive a wedge in the Democratic working class base. As President Lyndon B. Johnson said "If you can convince the lowest white man he's better than the best colored man, he won't notice you're picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he'll empty his pockets for you."
And indeed, Republicans convinced working class whites to give away their rights to organize, collective bargaining, fair wages, healthcare coverage, pensions - for the privilege of keeping their feet on the necks of their Black neighbors, in order to keep their own lily white empty heads above the roiling waters of intentional economic injustice.
https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/exclusive-lee-atwaters-infamous-1981-interview-southern-strategy/
See also Heather McGhee’s “The Sum of Us.” She tells this story and argues cogently that we need to move out of a zero-sum-game mentality. Some of her stories are jaw-dropping.
Yes! ThankYou.
Hear Heather McGhee, on several CSpan episodes, including a BookTalk on The Sum of Us:
https://www.c-span.org/video/?516936-3/washington-journal-heather-mcghee-discusses-book-the-sum-us
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heather_McGhee
Thank you!
She used to appear frequently on MSNBC but no more, alas. Hers is a wise voice.
I have this book. Agree on the move.
Thank you!
Thank you again, Lin for your additional info today!
I will share your work, if you don't mind.
Steal this book. Public domain.
Excellent - Thanks, lin.
lin.
Great link. Thanks.
You are a fount.
Lin, amazing comment, amazing link.
Interesting take on the matter MB. The smart bigots know that there is a substantial number of Whites who won't openly declare their racism but will look the other way, according to how it is handled.
"Let us remember: what hurts the victim most is not the cruelty of the oppressor but the silence of the bystander." Eli Wiesel
And in a sense this is true. Oppressors rely on bystanders. Those who think they are keeping their hands clean by sitting on them, actually have blood on them. (Such as those who couldn't 'conscience' voting for Clinton helped elect Trump.)
Then there are the bystanders as BC comments who approve of the oppressors. The picnickers at a lynching.
Then the bystanders who knowingly assist the oppressors. Those who sell lynchers the rope but don't personally tie the noose. Hannah Arendt termed this "the banality of evil" - thoughtlessly advancing one's self interest with no concern for the harm one is doing to others.
Then the bystanders Wiesel writes of, who frozen with fear and at immediate risk to their lives can do nothing to help the victims.
And for those of us who can act, immediately and at a distance, another thing Wiesel says "We live in the age of communication. Write letters to the editor. Speak to your congressman, to your senator. If you are young, especially young people are taken by this human rights activities. They should organize the universities."
And if you can still walk, march for justice as fairness and run for office.
Some akin to “I’m not a racist, but…”
One of the success stories of the Civil Rights Movement was we quieted the voice of hate, but changed not the minds of those who hold fast to their beliefs. Or, maybe we taught a code of carefulness and thought we suceeded?
Well said!
Brilliant closing sentence!
Oppression doesn't just 'happen.' It takes a lot of work by the oppressors and a lot of nothing by everyone else.
"The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity."
- William Butler Yeats
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43290/the-second-coming
"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."
(Edmund Burke, 18th Century)
There is continuing dispute as to the initiation of 'the Reign of Terror' in France, which I assume you refer to. The word 'terror' was thrown about a bit over a period of time. The term Reign of Terror itself was applied by those who took power after Robespierre's death and in reaction to his extremism. Robespierre was from generations of well off lawyers. His reign was a result of conflict between factions within the revolution's political structure.
My sense is that the revolutions we commonly speak of, are rarely an 'up by your bootstraps' proposition by the oppressed masses. Their architects and leaders are from privileged groups with their own self interests in mind and/or empathetic ears to the ground.
The aristocrats who forced the Magna Carta on an English monarch and Oliver Cromwell of the landed gentry, who oversaw the beheading of another. America's Founding Fathers. Vladimir Lenin from an upper middle class family. Mao son of the wealthiest peasant in town (although himself a self made man.) Fidel and Che from upper middle class families as was the earlier Simon Bolivar. The Young Turks were privileged and more problematically affiliated with the party which carried out the Armenian Genocide, for which the term Holocaust was first applied. Iran. Al-Queda. Have I missed some? Probably.
François-Dominique Toussaint Louverture, of Haiti's slave rebellion, was a free man born in slavery - seems to be an exception.
Yes even sleeping while Black can incur a government enforced death sentence by bigots in blue.
And there in nothing vague about bigots on the judicial bench legitimizing racism.
There is nothing vague about racist right wing religious extremists - elevated and celebrated by the Republican party and Republican voters - weaponizing a badge or a black robe to deny Black people their civil rights and even their lives.
Red Hats are the new white hoods. Often on the same head.
"Clarence Thomas who seems to forget he’s a Black man."
Equality means equal to decide your political affiliations and self interests. And to reject stereotypical expectations.
But Thomas is a particularly twisted sister. A product of affirmative action from admission to prep school to admission to Yale Law school to appointment to the high bench, Thomas is set on pulling the ladder up after him.
This is a man whose take on Malcom X is "Where does he say black people should go begging the Labor Department for jobs?"
Thomas' ideas of Black separatism and self sufficiency have a Black history, but Thomas is peculiar in rejecting civil rights legislation. Thomas does not see the law as any means to mitigating racism. He believes in the imaginary of 'separate but equal' He calls civil rights legislation 'the new slavery emasculating Black men.'
Thomas is an apostle of the saving grace of unregulated greed in its avatar of commerce and capitalism.
And we know what he thinks of Black women.Thomas' sexist attitude toward Black women was shared by the male leaders of the Black Power movement. Until Thomas met right wing religious extremist loopy Ginni Lamp, he was vehemently and loudly opposed to interracial sex and marriage.
So not just Scalia's petulantly silent sock puppet any more. It is worth reading and listening to Thomas in his own voice to fully appreciate how deforming racism against Black people fueled by Republican cant can be.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/04/books/review/the-enigma-of-clarence-thomas-corey-robin.html
https://www.newyorker.com/culture/essay/clarence-thomass-radical-vision-of-race
Important reads about Clarence Thomas. He espouses Black separatism and decries affirmative action as racial paternalism, advocating Black ascendance through capitalism with separate but equal. Thomas overgeneralizes his short term perceptions of integration, fails to acknowledge the oppressions and abuses of unfettered capitalism/big business, and it's not clear how "equal" is to be attained without some measure of government oversight. But that racism is always present--with that I can agree. His contradictions regarding sex and sexism are a whole other story.
ThankYou. Admirable summary - as usual EK. Complete and enviably concise. Yes and sexism was not just in the Black Power movement but in the Anti Viet Nam War movement also.
Yes. Exactly. Perfect example.
Tonight I must join the chorus thanking you for one of the best "Letters" you have written. Why have I never seen or heard of Lincoln's philosophical arguments for equality? Something seriously lacking in my US History text and the way I was taught? -- I agree with those previous comments proclaiming Lincoln as our best President. He saved this nation. We can't begin to honor him enough.
Honest Abe is by far my favorite President. On the ever less frequent occasions when I can spend a few days in my hometown, Washington DC, I make a point of visiting the Lincoln Memorial and re-reading his second Inaugural Address. Reminds me of what a worthy endeavor our country is.
Not too many of his successors have had that capacity for fundamental thought and his ability to explain, inspire and lead by his seeming simplicity.
FDR. Not my favorite human. In many ways, despicable. But he was exactly what we needed at the time. And he was a wordsmith.
Truman - not a sophisticated intellect - but wicked smart with an amazing sense of ethics. More like this, please.
Jimmy Carter. But the nation didn't like what he asked of us. Why should we, in the land of plenty, make sacrifices for the greater good? Could be the finest human to have worked in the Oval Office. (And I eschew religion.)
Bill. Carter, while a decent man, was an awful leader. Reread the malaise speech and Ted Kennedy’s biography if you did not live it yourself.
I respectfully disagree. I lived it.
I am not sure how Ted Kennedy plays into this other than his privilege and arrogance being in stark contrast to Carter's life. (I am from MA and probably voted for Teddy several times - based on his positions, especially his healthcare efforts).
The "malaise speech" was actually a big success and Carter was applauded by those who saw him as one who asked us to have values beyond materialism. That's my idea of principled courageous leadership. Political naivety? For sure.
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2021/10/jimmy-carter-energy-crisis-malaise-speech-biden-supply-chain.html
Reagan was politically clever and successful but he was a monster who preached "meism" and taught us to abandon our brothers and sisters in trouble. Nancy's "Just Say to No to Drugs" led to the deaths of thousands.
Instead of embracing a sense of common goals and community, America resumed the race to consume as much as possible as fast as possible. I think the process of iphone purchasing - every new iteration of a device that could be serviceable for many years - adding to the huge pile of electronic waste we have no idea of how to dispose of - is a perfect example of our selfish, obsessive culture that Carter asked us to question.
Thanks, Bill. Our views of Carter depend on what we value. Americans seem to have little regard for their neighbors' welfare, individualism, "meism," gone awry, totally out of balance.
And the incredible irony for me is that it is the "evangelicals" - the highly religious among us - who support the selfish and the con artists. Jimmy still practices his faith - walks the talk. The others? Not so much.
Depends on your definition of awful.
Dr Richardson's essay is about Pres LINCOLN... and we should focus on that and his inspired leadership.
That being said, Jimmy Carter was an AWFUL President, his biggest failure being the Iranian hostage crisis... enabling Islamic extremism the appreance of "success" against the West.
Yes, Carter's post-Presidency retirement has been "productive" - but it's a one-man PR machine/obsession designed to re-habiliatate his awful Presidency.
Hmmm. The reality was that Carters admin had made the arrangements for the hostages to be released. They did the heavy lifting. Reagan, being the actor he was, smiled, entered the WH and took credit for the success.
Carter didn't create the Iran hostage crisis. Resentment towards the US went back to the 1950's when the CIA was involved with installing the Shah.
Carter didn't create the oil crisis. He tried to manage it. Just like Biden didn't create inflation.
Carter was indeed clumsy politically. He was unrealistic about how power was wielded in DC by the insiders. His Georgia imports were a mistake.
But Jimmy Carter had something called integrity as president. And he was honest with Americans. His successor planted the seeds for much of what is wrong with America today.
I read somewhere that FDR's family called him "feather duster," an apparent reference to his intellect .
My father called FDR a derogatory Rosie and admitted that he had voted for FDR. He was drunk when he admitted this. I was brought up in a R household. Dad didn't like labor unions either. I noticed that in his later years he didn't say no to Social Security or Medicare. I recently read a bio of Eleanor and I was not impressed by FDR in that book. However, we did need a New Deal at that time. It was to include universal health care, but the AMA managed to scuttle that with the help of two political operatives who went on to help Rs many times.
My father - and my upbringing - was similar to yours, Michelle. My father's first admission of voting for a Democrat for President was in '68, for Humphrey. He was not drunk, and I think I mostly believed him at the time and still do now. While he never voted for FDR not Truman, he had a somewhat subtle relationship to their qualities, especially in retrospect. When in the navy once, his PBY squadron at parade rest, with FDR driving by (somewhere in the Pacific), he saluted the Commander-in-Chief, the only one of his unit to do so. (We were all Republicans, he said.) Then, according to Dad, FDR rose up a bit (to the best of his ability) and saluted back, personally, eyes on my Dad, who never forgot that. Truman he thought was a really bad president - until the '60s. Surrounded by sons who were active Democrats, he absorbed a lot of new insights that he accepted, and that helped change his views, and probably led to the choice he made in '68. I can surely say, though he died in '90, that he would have absolutely detested the "Trumpian" GOP and all its minions.
My father never changed his views and I am sure he looked upon my being a D as some kind of failure. He did listen to Rush and I can't help but wonder how he would feel about mafia don. I wish I could be certain that he would condemn death star and his minions, but I can't be.
Ha! Good one. But I have come to believe "intellect" is interesting but hardly helpful when faced with life and death issues...war and such. FDR deftly moved the nation to defeating Hitler. No small task because millions of Americans didn't care about Europe and the horrors unfolding.
That being said, as a person...he could be quite selfish and cruel.
But isn't life complex? As a fellow polio survivor he has my utmost respect in the fortitude department.
What does the expression “feather duster” mean?
Curious as well! Maybe like “featherbrain?” Say it wasn’t so!!
Yes, that's amazing there aren't many. I didn't think Lincoln's "deep" thought was all that deep. His line of reasoning was even mine years ago when I was still quite young. It doesn't take deep thinking to explain what Lincoln did. I think most people on this site have figured that out for themselves -- not to take away from Lincoln, of course, but just to say it seems self evident to me. There will always be someone smarter than you, or faster than you, or more clever than you, or . . . . And therefore they can/will defeat you in the next contest. Or as we were all taught in some form, "What goes around comes around."
To paraphrase Justice Brandeis: We can have a super-wealthy class or we can have democracy, but not both.
Boy, are we screwed
I know that you know, we can overcome. Again.
Always been a closet optimist
It would be a great contribution to our nation if scholars of American history were to question US Supreme Court justices about their historical knowledge of the ideals established in our Founding documents rather than politicians vetting judicial nominees about their positions on current issues.
Clearly, we have judges who have positions without regard for our founding ideals and purpose, which Abraham Lincoln was quite dedicated to deep thought, which he articulated for everyone to consider and act upon accordingly.
Clarence first
I am not sure he could answer any questions of this nature. I am also sure his wife is whispering in his ear. He is totally unworthy to be on the Court.
Yes!
What an amazing and valuable issue. Thank you for this fine piece of scholarship!
At last - Heather finds cause - and touches the suppressed feeling in every decent American tonight.
Is it enough? No. It’s not. But it’s a damn good start.
Reading this post - brings tears. If only today’s leaders of the party of Lincoln could find Lincoln’s mirror. If only they could read Abraham Lincoln’s speeches and feel what he felt.
If only they could feel what I do, every time I think of my sick racist country - and cry.
If only my fellow Americans could ask what matters: was the white milk from the Black breast that raised your family just right? Did the love that child felt for that mothering not teach the white child something important? It goes from there… why did the Negro mothers submit so willingly to the white sons of the plantation enslavers? Why? Ask why.. ask what the lighter skin bought those poor enslaved Black mothers… it’s called passing, abd it’s not good. And so, economic slavery emerges - as good much stronger and more able Black men were often ignored in favor of the young insipid son of an evil white man.
It’s time America.
Get them off their knees.
Mighty NFL enslavers: Hear me. Feel them.
Act.
It’s time.
“submit so willingly”???? When anything else risked death, beatings, family separation? There is no such thing as consent in such circumstances. You might as well say that a man robbed at gunpoint submitted willingly when handing over his wallet.
My thoughts too. OK, Sally Hemming made a deal with Jefferson while they were in Paris. She was his wife's half sister and had a slave holding grandfather as well. Consent is not the right word here to describe what happened to many many black slave women.
Agreed-consent is not the right word at all. Slaves were legally classified as property-not people. The law gave slave owners the “absolute right” to control their slaves.
Slaves were wealth first and foremost. Young white men, slave owners and overseers routinely raped Black women for pleasure and to increase their wealth.
“No property can be vested more profitability than in young healthy negro women. They will, by breeding, double their value every five years. Mulattoes are surer than pure negroes. White men were motivated to rape black women because ‘mixed blood’ demands a considerable higher price than pure black”. (From: Slavery and the internal Slave Trade in the U.S. 1841, p. 33). New Orleans was a good case in point-there was a whole system of classifying women according to how much “white blood” they possessed.
If most people really understood the way slavery was practiced in America, I think we could agree that racism has to go if we’re ever going to live up to the country’s ideals. This is why CRT is so threatening to some of the people in power who have whipped ignorant folks into a frenzy about it.
History revealed can be a powerful force for change. HCR is a national treasure for shining a spotlight on the past so we can understand our present in ways that help us to create a more perfect union for the future. Praying that real change is possible..
Sally did get Jefferson to agree to free their children on his death. Until then, people visiting Monticello saw slaves who looked like Jefferson working in his nail factory. The New Orleans story I cited is so racist that I can never look at Mardi Gras the same again. These balls I referenced were the white balls run by white men with a lot of secrecy involved. I once read something about emptying a room by announcing one was an octoroon.
I have a reiki sister who was brought up in a wealthy white family in New Orleans and she had a black woman who took care of her. Only later in life did she realize that the woman often ignored her own family to take care of her. My friend has a fascinating story to tell about the New Orleans society she was part of including being a queen at one of the balls. Her daughter made a documentary about this aspect. It is eye opening.
Documentary name, please?!
I think it was a loan and I don't have it any more.
Gotcha. If you talk to that reiki sister again…
This is one of the best essays you've done. I have no doubt that I'll find myself quoting from it.
Nicely done, Dr. H !!
How fitting to let our eyes rest on that remarkable visage at the close of the essay...
Lincoln is one of those beings I would have loved to walk and talk with. Your post gives me the sensation that you have done exactly that, dear Heather
Perfect logic. All of it should have been clear to me from grade school onward. Now it is. Thank you.
And thank you, Abraham Lincoln.
Me too
We are still trying to prove that people can govern themselves. The problem this time is irrational belief in cults and conspiracy theories. If large numbers of voters believe that the elections are all rigged and that everything Donald Trump says is true and that Hillary Clinton is running a child prostitution ring out of the basement of a pizza restaurant in Washington D.C. - then how can they (and us) be governed? If we cannot agree on which facts are true, how can we govern ourselves?
I am not so sure the majority of the insurrectionists and Trump supporters have irrational beliefs. I think some do, but I suspect the majority are trying to fulfill an agenda. They know what is a fact and what is not, but choose to change what is perceived as fact to suit their agenda. As a country, we need to address why they have this agenda.
I have two college educated sisters. Trump supporters who made the trip to Dallas to “meet Jesus”… that’s what they told me. Here’s some of the things they believe. We’ve been lied to about everything. There was no moon landing. The earth is flat. Trump won the election and will be reinstated. There is no such thing as white privilege. In fact, whites have been harmed by affirmative action. I blame religion. And the concept of Faith , belief in things unseen. It’s the only way I’ve been able to make sense of what they go on about.
Propaganda works
Yup.
I’m sorry, Carla…that must challenge your relationship.
It does. They’re my sisters. I love them. But cannot support their beliefs.
I have a trump supporting sister-in-law who thought it was a really good idea that we go to the moon when trump said that was his plan. She said we had never been to the moon before. This came out of the mouth of a college educated 40+ year old.
What can be said?!
Logic for cults is a useless strategy. Ike knew that
Carla - you speak of the elephant in the room, in my opinion. Religion. Man's uninformed answer to the purpose of our existence and how we can continue an existence after death. Since the dawn of our species, it has distorted our interpretation of reality, and given power to people who would misuse it. That continues today. It has also, arguably, been a vehicle for compassion (not always). A way to push back the more selfish and cruel part of our nature. But for better or for worse, it is an alternate reality that requires faith for belief in it. It is the opposite of skeptical inquiry. And look what kind of trouble it is getting our species (and all other species for that matter) into. Covid denial, climate denial, evolution denial, science denial, and on and on. Outside of pure simple greed and soullessness, rabid religious belief is the big reason humankind is off the rails. Trump knew that when he embraced the religious right. I actually have trouble with the "all men are created equal" thing. It is true that all are or should be born equal. But going from there, some grow up more well suited than others to be our leaders or to chose our leaders. Either by choice or not. Those who embrace dangerous alternate versions of reality (the Kellyanne Conway's of this world) or display heartless authoritarian behavior (Trump, Hitler, Jong-Un) have no business anywhere near the levers of control. It's a conundrum.
The conundrum I keep coming up against, when I (rarely) attempt to communicate with my sisters, if we’ve been lied to about everything, how can you embrace religion so tightly? It’s been perverted for thousands of years to control the masses. Heresy … I’m told …
Religion discourages questions, science requires them. No brainer to me
But we don't want to throw the baby out with the bath water. There are many progressive leaders and people who recognize that "religion" cannot deny scientific fact, and they build their faith in God from there. Science and "religion" aren't at odds with one another. As Einstein said, "Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind."
There is great comfort in the belief that, "Daddy will take care of everything and you are special." And if any little doubts creep in, these can be vanquished with the seeking of confirmation bias.
They think Trump's gorgeous. And if they think that, it's hard to see a remedy. They are fans, and fans don't reason.
Hahaha, idolizing the ugliest man alive, only an insane cult can be so deluded
Fan=fanatic.
Read Fred Exley’s A Fan’s Notes...
Republican pols know and their agenda is no secret - power, just total power. The power that chump flung around like it was his forever. Of course, this was a republican goal long before chump
Magnificent column. Thank you. The only other President that I rank in Lincoln’s stature was FDR. He guided the country through the Depression, changed the social and economic structure - albeit today it is being undermined and reversed - for the better and while imperfect in his handling, managed to lead us to fight Hitler, Japan and Mussolini in a time when isolationism was very dominant. When one sees how powerful the plutocratic forces of fascism and autocracy remain in this country today, it is even more remarkable to ponder how much FDR accomplished and contributed.
FDR with his wife's good work in working communities, input, and encouragement.......one must also give proper credit to Eleanor 's contribution to be historically correct!
And he even survived a republican cult “The Business. Coup of 1933.” Yes, he had his troubles on top of troubles. Mostly led by rich, old white men.
In HCR's LFAA and video chats, she has had plenty to say about the distinct contributions of Frances Perkins to the social safety net brought about during the FDR administration. (Hey, Substack gods, please give us a search function!)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frances_Perkins
Slavery is mentioned in the Constitution only in the 13th amendment (to abolish it).
New York Avenue Presbyterian Church always sends a wreath to display at the Lincoln Memorial in honor of their Sunday School teacher.
I am older than Ruby Bridges. I recall being assigned Lincoln's debates for extra credit reading in high school. When the press became media, we lost many of the skills to explain debates to the masses.
What a profound statement: "When the press became media."
That's It! We now longer have a "free press." We have a bought media.
"When the press became media..."
True, that.
So glad to have found you, Kim. It snowed in NYC, so it is a beautiful gray and white day. As we honor Abraham Lincoln, Maya Angelou's understanding is poignant at this time.
Alone
Maya Angelou - 1928-2014
Lying, thinking
Last night
How to find my soul a home
Where water is not thirsty
And bread loaf is not stone
I came up with one thing
And I don't believe I'm wrong
That nobody,
But nobody
Can make it out here alone.
Alone, all alone
Nobody, but nobody
Can make it out here alone.
There are some millionaires
With money they can't use
Their wives run round like banshees
Their children sing the blues
They've got expensive doctors
To cure their hearts of stone.
But nobody
No, nobody
Can make it out here alone.
Alone, all alone
Nobody, but nobody
Can make it out here alone.
Now if you listen closely
I'll tell you what I know
Storm clouds are gathering
The wind is gonna blow
The race of man is suffering
And I can hear the moan,
'Cause nobody,
But nobody
Can make it out here alone.
Alone, all alone
Nobody, but nobody
Can make it out here alone.
From Oh Pray My Wings Are Gonna Fit Me Well By Maya Angelou. Copyright © 1975 by
Has anyone set that to music? It reads like lyrics.
Ruth, You are right; it is as singing the 'blues'.
"Alone" in song by Mele Girma:
https://youtu.be/-2EU0IN3s6U
Ellie, You are better than a magician more like the best gold miner. Thank you.
The magic is the generous searchability of the Internet--yet to be found on Substack!
This is so powerful and resonates on so many levels. Thank you, Fern. Downloaded the Nook e-book of "Oh Pray My Wings..." as well as Mele Girma's sung version of "Alone."
Some cliches, such as 'close to the bone', can't be improved upon.
Oh, Fern, dear one, that is heartbreaking. and liberating...
Leave it to you to give us treasures of interpretation.
Miss Maya just socks it to us in real time.
We are seeing 26 degree nights with morning frosts, then up to 50 in the sunlit days. Of course, the rain is returning tomorrow.
the gardens are layered with bone meal, blood meal, worm castings (i.e., poop) and compost, all ready to leach into the soil in preparation for planting. It is looking really fertile these days.
I'm engaged in a project for our local food bank: setting seeds for our local 13 gardens in the new grant-funded greenhouse. I'm as happy as a pig in poop...
We can't make it out alone, but we surely can create community together with lots of love and care.
Don't slip on the snow--I lived on Broadway across from the Jewish Theological Seminary when I went to Teachers College--those were some slippery snows!
It was beautiful, not very slippery and not deep. Just like you to be looking out for those slippery streets. Your garden sounds spectacular and your mood that of proud farmer/gardener. Cheers!
Dear Fern,
Thank you for sharing this painful truth Maya gave us in melancholic beauty.
“ The race of man is suffering
And I can hear the moan…”
💙😫💙
Now, carry on with actions, we must!
Ashley, so good to see you. I have been writing to a friend and just finished with, 'Being calm is crucial'. Of course, we live in various states of mind, however, to think clearly, to plan, and work through very difficult situations - calmness is a friend. Speaking of pals, I am very fortunate to have a dear subscriber friend named Ashley. Salud!
Thank you, oh thank you! As we make it out here alone.
Sean Wilentz addresses this question exhaustively in his book, No Property in Man. Did artful drafting by the framers of the Constitution sanction or merely accommodate slavery?This has been debated since the ratification conventions in the thirteen state legislatures, where the perspectives of advocates for or against ratification determined the answer. This debate ebbed and flowed for more than three score years and was decided only after tens of thousands of Americans of all colors gave the last full measure of devotion in the war that made it possible to enact the Thirteenth Amendment abolishing slavery. What a shame that some eight score years later White Supremacy remains the single greatest impediment to approaching the ideals articulated by Lincoln at Gettysburg.
A shame indeed. Speaking of giving the last full measure of devotion, I recommend the Netflix documentary Winter on Fire (2015) regarding Ukrainians' resistance fight from Nov 2014 - Mar 2015. Their commitment to freedom and keeping a democracy for their children has so many lessons for how to fight for the common good in present times.
We’ll said-even with the 13th amendment though they included “involuntary servitude” for crimes committed. Hence convict leasing, mass incarceration and over policing in Black communities because “involuntary servitude” is profitable.
Yes-the word slavery doesn’t explicitly appear in the constitution but constitutional compromises included designating Black people as 3/5 human; not ending legal importation of slaves until 1808; requiring fugitive slaves (property) to be returned to their “owners”; forming militias to suppress slave rebellions; and giving voting power to an electoral college. The American system of slavery was well supported by the original constitution and the courts.
What is mentioned in the Constitution (Article 1, Section 2, Clause 3) is very specific and states "Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other Persons." Noting that Indigenous persons are excluded, and that free "persons" include those "bound to service for a term of years" are included, leaving slaves defined as "other Persons".
True. But why not write the word slavery? But they didn't. And there was a reason the word slavery wasn't written in our Constitution until we abolished it.
Indeed there was.
See my comment above.
We’ve lost the concept of what a debate even IS because of public media!
Slavery—slaves—is also mentioned in the Constitution on conducting the census. Slaves were to be counted as 3/5 of a person.
With all due respect, my point is the word slavery wasn’t written in the original Constitution.
True. Hard to imagine, though, the Framers would include how to count slaves in the absence of it.
The Constitution also doesn’t have the word “sex” in it by the Framers, as RBJ famously pointed out when arguing a case before SCOTUS.
The framers of the federal Constitution intentionally avoided the words “slave” and “slavery” in Article I Section 2, which apportioned representation and taxation among the states. Nor did they use these words in granting Congress power to prohibit the international slave trade in Article I Section 9. They must have been deemed ambiguity essential for selling ratification to both slave states and free states.
This took my breath away. Thank you, Heather Cox Richardson!
This is, quite simply, what it's all about.
Such a smart and wise man.
They are rare.