Did Abraham Lincoln Care about Black Lives?

What were Abraham Lincoln's motives for issuing the Emancipation Proclamation? Critics suggest Lincoln's act was a military necessity aimed at ending the war rather than a call for justice. 

A San Francisco Unified School district recently voted to rename Abraham Lincoln High School because of Lincoln's detrimental policy decisions regarding Native and African Americans.  

Author Jonathan W. White, associate professor of American Studies at Christopher Newport University and author or editor of 8 books, decided to examine the history. Using actual letters, correspondence and historical events, White attempts to answer the  "Did Black lives matter to Abraham Lincoln?" question.

Here's an excerpt:

"Lincoln also met hundreds of African Americans in Washington during the war years. Some came to the White House at his invitation; others walked through the White House gates uninvited and unannounced. Regardless of how they arrived at his doorstep, the president welcomed these visitors with open arms and an outstretched hand. As Frederick Douglass was proud to say after his first White House meeting in August 1863, Lincoln welcomed him “just as you have seen one gentleman receive another.”

Click here to read the article in its entirety: Black Lives Certainly Mattered to Abraham Lincoln.

Coming Soon: Families: Separation and loss - then and now.