Abraham Lincoln was the 16th president of the United States. Dr. King points to him as one of the few presidents in American history who took significant measures to advocate for Black Americans, since he passed the Emancipation Proclamation, which granted legal freedom to enslaved Black people. Although President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, Dr. King points out that the next 100 years were full of racism and discrimination for Black Americans, meaning that, by 1963, the need for true freedom was 100 years in the making.
Abraham Lincoln Quotes in Why We Can’t Wait
The Why We Can’t Wait quotes below are all either spoken by Abraham Lincoln or refer to Abraham Lincoln. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 1
Quotes
The pen of the Great Emancipator had moved the Negro into the sunlight of physical freedom, but actual conditions had left him behind in the shadow of political, psychological, social, economic and intellectual bondage. In the South, discrimination faced the Negro in its obvious and glaring forms. In the North, it confronted him in hidden and subtle disguise.
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Explanation and Analysis:
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Abraham Lincoln Quotes in Why We Can’t Wait
The Why We Can’t Wait quotes below are all either spoken by Abraham Lincoln or refer to Abraham Lincoln. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 1
Quotes
The pen of the Great Emancipator had moved the Negro into the sunlight of physical freedom, but actual conditions had left him behind in the shadow of political, psychological, social, economic and intellectual bondage. In the South, discrimination faced the Negro in its obvious and glaring forms. In the North, it confronted him in hidden and subtle disguise.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
