A few thoughts on what I wish I had not seen on the internet this weekend, and on Mr. Lincoln.
I have been thinking an awful lot about President Abraham Lincoln lately, partly because I moved recently to the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood in Brooklyn, NY, and partly because I have been looking into the lives of past Presidents as a way of getting some historical perspective on George W. Bush.
The majority of Bed-Stuy residents are black, and I am white. I tend to stand out, much like a pipe-smoking scholar would stand out at a roadhouse. I did not move here because of a liberal impulse to immerse myself in Black America; I needed to find an apartment fast and I found a cozy little place on Atlantic Avenue. There are nods to black history in the honorary street names like Harriet Ross Tubman Boulevard (or Fulton Street), or the Billie Holiday Theater, and I see the Lincoln name all over the place.
This past weekend, I was looking up various things on the internet with my girlfriend when we came upon some white power material. I have a dual reaction to this sort of racist garbage--amazement and disgust. I have a difficult time believing that the people who write the diatribes against Blacks and Jews are serious. It all smacks of Borat, but these people are deadly serious.
We looked up materials on lynchings and slavery, on Black Americans and neo-Nazi white supremacists. I think the trail started with curiosity about the history of Kwanzaa, which led to diatribes directed at anything non-White, which led alternately to the history of the KKK, and Black Experience in America decade-by-decade. I think the attention placed on race differences in the USA is a smokescreen for the class war that is on-going, so I try as much as possible to look forward to the realization of Reverend King's dream while acknowledging the history of race relations in the USA.
I was talking about my move to Bed-Stuy with a co-worker who was born and raised in this area, and he had some illuminating things to tell me about what I can expect here. He then showed me something his grandfather showed him. He placed on a table in front of us a nickel, a dime, a penny, and a quarter. He asked me what I saw. I tried to find the answer to his riddle, but didn't see anything right off, so I asked him to tell me.
Jefferson, FDR, and Washington all face left, while Lincoln is alone in facing right. Lincoln is also on the coin of the lowest value, and the coin is brown. This is one of those things that some Blacks take as a slight by The Government, and while I am sure it is not intentional, how do I know this for certain?
The Lincoln penny was first minted in 1909; his profile replaced the Indian head. I have seen some web sites (here) trying to gather support for returning the Indian head to the penny. They figure the $5 bill is enough of an honor for Lincoln. The majority of respondents on one petition I found posted were from southern states. I don't think it's a coincidence that residents of former Confederate states are looking to get Lincoln off the penny.
But is Lincoln's presence on the penny a slight by certain people in the US Government, a subtle demonstration of opposition to the Emancipation Proclamation? If this bit of urban folklore is true...but even if it is just folklore, it's easy to understand why Blacks would be sensitive to a knock against Lincoln. A slap against Lincoln is construed as a vote for slavery.
Tonight I read a piece by Xan at CorrenteWire about Lincoln and New Year's Day, and it added to the interest I have lately in Lincoln. This weekend, my Irish girlfriend asked me why the heck we celebrate New Year's, and I could not explain it. I have always seen it as another excuse for getting drunk (like St. Patrick's Day in the US), and for rampant consumerism (a continuation of Christmas), but I never thought to look into the origin of the federal holiday.
Thanks to Xan (and thanks to Lincoln), New Year's Day has meaning for me. I am grateful that Lincoln put his name on the documents that helped move this country toward a civilized future. I would like to think that there is still hope for this nation.