Thousands Call For The Removal Of A Statue Of Abraham Lincoln With 'Degrading Racial Undertones'

[PatrickforO]

32. Lincoln was a great man, a great president, a great human being. BUT

this statue does in fact depict blacks as racially inferior.

While I can respect the opinion of those of you saying this is silly, I've got to say we've been reading an American 'story' designed to divide us. If we are going to defeat racism once and for all, we have to be honest with ourselves. We are all great storytellers, and we all tend to tell stories with ourselves in the role of the noble 'star.'

But the reality is that by perpetuating things like this statue, and allowing its powerful visual message to go unchallenged, we are not being honest. We need a new statue with Lincoln maybe shaking the hand of, or embracing a black man. Not one with a black man seeming to grovel at his feet.

I'm tired of living in a society where evangelical pastors talk about the 'blessings of slavery,' and Fox countering Michelle Obama's poignant observation that the WH was built by slaves by saying, oh, but they were happy and well fed slaves.

No. They were human beings enslaved by us.

WE did that. We have perpetuated it. And now we need to fix it with a massive retooling of the police system, better education, AND getting rid of statues like this. I mean, imagine how YOU might feel when confronted with this statue if you were a little boy or girl of color. It's just not OK. It is part of the problem.