We run our website the way we wished the whole internet worked: we provide high quality original content with no ads. We are funded solely by your direct support. Please consider supporting this project.

1145251820_a893266e4e

An Uneasy History

Although Abraham Lincoln is widely regarded as a tireless champion for the equal rights of African Americans, there are many indications that he held views that we would find shocking today. It’s important to understand the reality of our history to truly appreciate the challenges we face in the area of racial reconciliation today. In her New York Times article entitled A Separate Peace, Kate Masur delves into parts of our history that are sometimes hard to comprehend.

From the article:

Those interested in the history of abolition and racial equality would find few incidents in Lincoln’s presidency as dispiriting as the president’s Aug. 14, 1862, meeting with a delegation of five black men from Washington. It was dispiriting then as well: to the dismay of those hoping the Civil War would lead to full citizenship for African-Americans, Lincoln informed the delegation that “you and we are different races” and proposed that the five men be progenitors of a black colony the government would establish in Chiriquí, a region of what is now Panama.

Image by rodolfo. Used in accordance with Creative Commons. Sourced via Flickr.

Category:
Tags:

Related Reading

Is Racism Still a Problem? Does the Church Care?

Cliff via Compfight On Friday, we posted a piece by Greg on the importance of racial reconciliation in the Kingdom of God. (Click here to read it.)  This is a part of the Synchro blog for MennoNerds on Race.  Watch this video for more on the topic.  The following is an illustration taken from an…

Why Racial Reconciliation Matters

Rachel Held Evans invited Grace Biskie to reflect on racial reconciliation on her blog this week. Grace’s perspective is an important one to hear. Check out Church Stories: A Plea to Engage in Racial Reconciliation. From the article: The problem with disengaging is that it’s not what God intended for us. I believe God expressly…

Kingdom Reconciliation is Not About Politics (But it is Political)

In the broader culture, the social and political discussions about racial reconciliation are usually focused on people’s rights and privileges as a means of making the world a fairer place. The criteria such efforts at reconciliation appeal to are common decency, fairness and reason. The enterprise is certainly necessary, and all decent, fair minded, rational…

The Destiny of God’s People

Jesus represents the realization of God’s glorious dream for humanity. In Christ, we see what we who are in Christ are destined to be. As a stick placed in a river is destined to be carried to whatever body of water the river runs to, so all who have allowed themselves to be drawn by…

Podcast: Overflow Episode 3—Mass Incarceration, Racism, and Restorative Justice

Dan interviews Dominique Gilliard about his book Rethinking Incarceration: Advocating for Justice That Restores. http://traffic.libsyn.com/askgregboyd/Episode_0375.mp3

Reversing Babel

Several generations after the flood, we read in Gen 11 how humans were still living in one locale and had one common language and culture. Then someone came up with the brilliant idea that they should construct an enormous tower that would reach “to the heavens” in order to make a name for themselves and…