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Lee would indeed be confused by a black president. He was a slaveowner, and while he said he would be willing to have blacks in the Confederate Army, he also said their subjugation as slaves was “necessary”... I mean, let’s not be ridiculous. What Obama said was correct. We do ourselves no service by picking on every little word. Confused? You bet he’d be.

Abraham Lincoln would have been confused, too.

Here's Abe being his honest self in the fourth debate with Stephen Douglas, September 18, 1858 (bold mine):

I will say then that 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, [applause]---that 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 for ever forbid the two races living together on terms of social and political equality. And inasmuch as they cannot so live, while they do remain together there must be the 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. I say upon this occasion I do not perceive that because the white man is to have the superior position the negro should be denied everything.
(snip)
Now my opinion is that the different States have the power to make a negro a citizen under the Constitution of the United States if they choose. The Dred Scott decision decides that they have not that power. If the State of Illinois had that power I should be opposed to the exercise of it. [Cries of "good,'' "good,'' and applause.] That is all I have to say about it.

When I was still in my single digits, I learned that the Great Emancipator wasn't color blind, but not at school -- from the TV dramedy Room 222. A black militant student wrote a report with such quotes from Lincoln and illustrated them with a drawing of Abe walking over chained slaves.

Whenever someone criticizes Southern racists, instead of proving the charge is false (which in this case it’s not), the defenders of the person always dig up some quotes about Lincoln.

Of course, they ignore the little action Lincoln took which freed the slaves, but that’s just a technicality. I don’t see any such actions Lee took.

I don’t understand why people can’t accept that indeed there were racists in the south, and that Lincoln’s obvious sentiments (I’ve seen a lot more than these) are counterbalanced by, you know, ENDING slavery in this country, something many southerners opposed, and not only on “states’ rights” issues.