I thought it was going to be a slow news week as far as Lincoln was concerned, but as it turns out, Fidel Castro proved me wrong.
The Cuban leader published an essay last Sunday, in which he criticized U. S. foreign policy and Geroge W. Bush. Nothing much new there. However, my eyes were immediately drawn to his comments about Abraham Lincoln.
He praised Lincoln for not only taking a strong stand against slavery, but for abolishing it in America. He wrote that Lincoln was devoted “to the just idea that all citizens are born free and equal.”
Castro went on to proclaim, “Long Live Lincoln!”
According to this news story, Castro has been a Lincoln admirer for almost half a century. In January 1959, Castro traveled to Washington, D. C. and visited the Lincoln Memorial. He also claims to have a bust of Lincoln in his office.
Now that is news to me!
1 comment:
I think we have to look beyond the first response of why Castro admired Lincoln and look deeper as to what that means. Lincoln was very pro big government and against states rights. Though Lincoln conveniently used the trending anti-slavery sentiment in this country to garner support for a war with the South, his purpose for doing so was not necessarily as noble as it seems. Lincoln did not want a politically divided nation, and in order to preserve the Union, Lincoln used the most convenient scapegoat to go to war, which was slavery. Lincoln himself said that he did not care if slavery was ended or preserved, but he did not want the states to have the right to secede for any reason. He wanted to free the slaves in order to make the entire nation captive to the Federal government. I am grateful we no longer have institutionalized slavery, but not so grateful for the loss of personal and states freedom.
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