Biden Cannot Seek Racial Justice Without Mentioning Black People
The president must take a lesson from Abraham Lincoln in how to address a grieving, divided nation
One hundred and sixty years ago, President Abraham Lincoln gave his first inaugural address to a nation on the verge of civil war. Understanding that his speech could very well be the nation’s final attempt at peace, he called for unity between the North and slaveholding South. “We are not enemies,” he pleaded, “but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection.” Less than a month after Lincoln spoke, the Confederacy rained cannon fire on Fort Sumter.
Four years and hundreds of thousands of Union soldiers slain later, Lincoln rose to give his second inaugural address. Only grief outstrips hindsight in the clarity of vision it bestows. Such massive death forced Lincoln to be honest with the people who placed him in power and explain why he ordered their husbands, brothers, uncles, nephews, and cousins to lay down their lives to preserve the Union.
Americans are subpar at mastering their history. We do not grasp the revolutionary importance of Lincoln using the word “colored” in an…
