Watching Ken Burns' great Civil War documentary again, I heard this Lincoln quote
“As a nation, we began by declaring that 'all men are created equal.' We now practically read it 'all men are created equal, except negroes.' When the Know-Nothings get control, it will read 'all men are created equal, except negroes, and foreigners, and Catholics.' When it comes to this I should prefer emigrating to some country where they make no pretense of loving liberty – to Russia, for instance, where despotism can be taken pure, and without the base alloy of hypocrisy.”
And a few minutes later, this quote, also from Lincoln...
"Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves, and, under a just God, cannot long retain it."
How sad that some Americans today still need to learn the lessons that Lincoln was trying to teach.
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