Abe at Antietam
04.14.08
by: Nathan James


Why do we resist hagiography?

One-hundred forty-three years ago today, two days after Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox, John Wilkes Booth shot Abraham Lincoln in the back of the head. Hours later, President Lincoln died. His death did more than any other event to heal the newly reunited nation. Our great-great-great grandparents, North and South, came together in grief. It was irony, or destiny, or possibly God: Lincoln’s life purpose had been to preserve the Union, and more than any other person he did that, in life and in death.

Within a few weeks or months from now, unless some dramatic event intervenes, Barak Obama will become the first African American Presidential candidate of a major political party. The odds are at least 50-50 that he will become the first black President of the United States. This potential reality must have exceeded Lincoln’s wildest imaginings when he wrote and signed the Emancipation Proclamation. It would have been too fantastic for Lincoln to predict that his successor in office a century-and-a-half later, leader of the most powerful nation on earth, would be black. At the time, he was simply trying to grant slaves the dignity of human freedom. If the Emancipation Proclamation began our nation on the journey of freedom – of righting America’s original sin – will an Obama Presidency mark the journey’s end? No. Racism will still exist. Injustice will still exist. We will still fear, judge, and hold bias against people different from ourselves. Our separation from each other, our lack of unity, echoes our separation from God. ‘Sin’ is Latin for ‘without.’ In sin we are without God, without each other.

Love heals that separation. Love bridges that gap. By love we mean the Greek word agape, the selfless love for mankind. Far from mushy sentiment, agape may require of us a fierce determination. In the photo of Lincoln at Antietam, we do not see in Abe’s face any expression of victory following this first of all Union victories. Nor do we read any relief. What we see is the determined set of his jaw. The Battle of Antietam – September 17, 1862 – was the single bloodiest day in U.S. history. More than 23,000 soldiers died. This was the cost of union. This was the price of human liberty. This bloody victory gave Lincoln the confidence to write and sign the Emancipation Proclamation.

There has been talk, among ordinary folk and the chattering class, that Obama if elected might become an assassin’s target, because he is black. They say that even if America has progressed far enough to elect a black man President, we have not progressed far enough for his election to take place without violent backlash.

I argue with that perspective. I don’t believe Obama will face danger because of his race. Rather, if the forces of hatred attack him, I believe it will be because he has succeeded to some degree in his stated mission of uniting this country. That hatred – the hatred devoted to sin, to maintaining our separation from each other – is what assassinated Martin Luther King and Abraham Lincoln and JFK. It is not just America’s original sin. It is the original sin of mankind.

But we are fortunate, every now and again, to have rise up among us leaders who see past the divides of race and class and faith. These leaders inspire in us both fear and hope. Whether we let them live is ultimately less important than whether we listen to them, whether we let them guide us across the chasm of fear into unity. That is the promise of this great country called America. That is why, on this day, I choose to celebrate the life and death of Honest Abe. Let us be the generation that fulfills his life’s work.

Back to Fishbone's Blog Menu