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Eugene “Bull” Connor (Bull Connor)
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:
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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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Even though Abraham Lincoln declared all enslaved Black Americans free when he signed the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, the country continued—and, in many ways, continues still—to suffer from racism and systemic oppression. Dr. King acknowledges that the Emancipation Proclamation made an impact by bringing to light the true and ugly nature of racism, but it didn’t necessarily improve the “actual conditions” of living in the United States as a Black person. Even though it technically became illegal for white oppressors to enslave Black Americans, the “shadow” of oppression continued to haunt Black people in seemingly every aspect of life: “political, Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde en
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Abraham Lincoln Character Timeline in Why We Can’t Wait
The timeline below shows where the character Abraham Lincoln appears in Why We Can’t Wait. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Introduction
...played an important role in the founding of the country. They also know that, although Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation 100 years ago, true racial equality has yet to come.
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Chapter 1: The Negro Revolution—Why 1963?
...it also gave Black Americans an occasion to reflect on how little had changed since Abraham Lincoln tried to establish racial equality. Although Lincoln freed Black people from the horrors of slavery,...
(full context)
