Lincoln University Namesake

Whereas Lincoln Universitys Mission Statement in part states, Lincoln University is an 1890 land-grant, comprehensive institution which is part of the Missouri state system of higher education. Founded in 1866 through the cooperative efforts of the enlisted men and officers of the 62nd and 65th Colored Infantries, Lincoln University was designed to meet the education and social needs of freed African-Americans The core mission of Lincoln University is to provide excellent educational opportunities for a diverse student population in the context of an open enrollment institution

And, whereas the namesake of our institution does not reflect the values espoused in the Mission Statement nor the beliefs of the student body and especially those of African-Americans and further is a disgrace to the ideals of the Universitys Founders.

And, whereas Abraham Lincoln stated in Charleston, Illinois that "I am not now, nor ever have been in favor of bringing about in any way the social or political equality of the white and black races. I am not now nor ever have been in favor of making voters or jurors of Negroes, nor of qualifying them to hold office, nor of intermarriages with white people. There is a physical difference between the white and the black races which will forever forbid the two races living together on social or political equality. There must be a position of superior and inferior, and I am in favor of assigning the superior position to the white man.

And, whereas in a public letter to New York Tribune editor Horace Greeley, Abraham Lincoln explained, My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or to destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it

And, whereas Wendell Phillips said that Lincoln was badgered into issuing the Emancipation Proclamation, and that after it was issued, Lincoln said it was the greatest folly of his life. The Proclamation did not free a single slave. It applied only to rebel territory, even though at the same time Federal armies occupied large parts of the South, including much of Tennessee and Virginia, where it would have been possible to emancipate thousands of slaves. Specifically exempted by name in the Proclamation were the federally occupied states of Maryland and Kentucky, as well as West Virginia and many counties of Virginia. The Federal army also occupied much of Louisiana at the time, and those areas were exempted as well. Portraying Abraham Lincoln as the Great Emancipator is an insult to educated persons and especially to African-Americans.

And, whereas in Peoria, Illinois, Abraham Lincoln stated, My first impulse would possibly be to free all slaves and send them to Liberia to their own native land What then? Free them and make them politically and socially our equals? My own feelings will not admit this, and if mine would, we well know that those of the great mass of whites will not. We cannot make them our equals.

And, whereas Abraham Lincoln desired to colonize or segregate the slaves if freed: It is my purpose to colonize persons of African descent, with their consent, upon this continent or elsewhere, with the previously obtained consent of the government existing there.

And, whereas Abraham Lincoln later said, in discussing the options of colonizing them with segregated areas of Texas, Mississippi and South Carolina, If we turn 200,000 armed Negroes in the South, among their former owners, from whom we have taken their arms, it will inevitably lead to a race war. It cannot be done. The Negroes must be gotten rid of. Ben Butler responded to this by saying, Why not send them to Panama to dig the canal? Lincoln was delighted with this suggestion, and asked Butler to consult Seward at once, and had not John Wilkes Booth assassinated Lincoln shortly thereafter, African-Americans would most likely been forcibly sent to Panama as canal-digging slaves of the Federal Government.

And, whereas Abraham Lincoln did not believe in the Bible or the divinity of Jesus Christ, and as a young man, Lincoln wrote a little book to explain why he thought religion was nonsensical. Those closest to Lincoln believed that he was an atheist; and John G. Nicolay (his chief clerk) says that Lincoln did not change his attitude toward religion while serving as the president. Furthermore, faith in God serves as a foundation for this University and that it is an affront to the Universitys president, faculty, students, and alumni to be associated in any way with an atheist.

And, whereas after Abraham Lincolns death, the Republican Party, for their own political survival, had an urgent need to whitewash Lincolns motives and acts; and they did so publicly at every opportunity utilyzing their myth-making machinery comprised of biographers, historians, novelists, and journalists. The Republican Party created for Lincoln such a blinding aura of pure-hearted wisdom and kindness that now it is virtually impossible for uneducated Americans to perceive the human being inside the fortress-like official myth, and that the naming of this University was part of this effort and has resulted in the brain-washing of countless graduates and still serves in perpetuating the myth of Abraham Lincoln as Savior and Messiah to African-Americans.

We respectfully call on the Universitys Board of Curators to recognize that:
Abraham Lincoln was a white supremacist.
Abraham Lincoln advocated geographical apartheid and desired to rid the country of persons of African descent.
Abraham Lincoln was only against slavery so far as it competed with free white labor in the newly acquired territories.
Abraham Lincoln was an atheist.

In light of the above, we, the undersigned, call for the immediate renaming of this Historic Black College and University located in Jefferson City, Missouri to a more suitable individual whose values and accomplishments are not in conflict with the Universitys values, beliefs and mission. Individuals such as George Washington Carver and Richard Baxter Foster, to name just a few, ought to be considered for the Universitys new namesake.