UPDATED: Was Lincoln a white supremacist?

An assiduous reader has challenged my assertion this morning that the views of Abraham Lincoln on the question of race and the position of African-Americans in society were not that much different from those of Robert E. Lee. "Are you saying," our reader asks, "that Lincoln was a racist?" No, that wasn't what I said. I was just alluding to a half-remembered quote, which Ed. checked with Snopes. Here's what he found.

During his famous debates with Sen. Stephen Douglas, Lincoln explained to the crowd: "I am not, nor ever have been, in favor of bringing about in any way the social and political equality of the white and black races.... I am not nor ever have been in favor of making voters or jurors of Negroes, nor of qualifying them to hold office, nor to intermarry with white people; and I will say in addition to this that there is a physical difference between the white and black races which I believe will forever forbid the two races from living together on terms of social and political equality. And inasmuch as they cannot so live, while they do remain together there must be a position of superior and inferior, and I as much as any other man am in favor of having the superior position assigned to the white race."

Snopes concludes that "Lincoln was no different than most white males, North and South, at the time. He was a white supremacist."

Now here's the quote from General Lee: "The negroes have neither the intelligence nor the other qualifications which are necessary to make them safe depositories of political power. They would inevitably become the victims of demagogues who...would mislead them to the serious injury of the public."

If anything, I would call General Lee's statement mild by comparison with that of President Lincoln. Snopes, being the arbiter of liberal truth, makes a half-hearted apology for Mr Lincoln. "Of course," they say, "this excerpt from one speech does not represent the totality of Lincoln's views on race and racial equality, but the remarks were far from a complete outlier, and Lincoln's views were more complex and uncomfortable than the prevalent modern impression of him as the racially-enlightened Great Emancipator." (My emphasis. Walt)

So there you have it, folks. Both Abraham Lincoln and Robert E. Lee are guilty, guilty, guilty, and every white male in America must apologize profusely (and continually), and make amends (preferably in cash) to all persons of colour for those vile racist comments.

Footnote added 13/2/20: It's not just in the Paranoid States of America that such fulsome apologies are required. The Daily Caller reports that the heretical Church of England has decided to commission an expert to prepare a report on the church's "deeply, institutionally racist" history following an official apology for its past.

The General Synod, the church's legislative body, voted on February 11th to issue an official apology for the racism that "countless black, Asian and minority ethnic people" have experienced in the past 70 years. The church is also commissioning an expert to prepare a report on the racism of the church. Walt expects the Episopalian Church -- the American version of the C of E -- to follow suit any day now. [Hasn't it done that already? Washington and Lee were both Episcopalians and slave-owners. Ed.]