Document Type
Article
Publication Date
Fall 2000
Department 1
Civil War Era Studies; Civil War Institute
Department 2
History
Abstract
Since his death in 1865 Abraham Lincoln has been universally honored in black America. In many black homes and businesses, his photograph often hangs in honor next to the one of Martin Luther King Jr. But a new book by Ebony editor Lerone Bennett Jr. contends that Lincoln was a crude bigot who told demeaning darky jokes, had an unquenchable thirst for minstrel shows, consistently used the word "nigger," and supported efforts to ship Negroes back to Africa.
As Jack E. White pointed out in a recent Time magazine article, this book largely has been ignored by the mainstream press. The book was not reviewed in The Washington Post, The New Yorker, The Chicago Tribune, or USA Today.
JBHE [Journal of Blacks in Higher Education] asked a group of leading Lincoln scholars for their opinions of the Bennett book and the controversy surrounding its publication. Here are the replies:
Copyright Note
This is the publisher's version of the work. This publication appears in Gettysburg College's institutional repository by permission of the copyright owner for personal use, not for redistribution.
Recommended Citation
Guelzo, Allen C. "Reexamining the Racial Record of Abraham Lincoln." The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education 29 (Autumn 2000), 126-131.
Required Publisher's Statement
Original version is available from the publisher: http://www.jbhe.com/