“I’ve done more for African Americans than anyone else, except, perhaps Lincoln.”

Honestly, I have rarely been surprised by what politicians say. From the sheerly ridiculous to the totally stupid, they manage to cover a broad swatch of the landscape of exaggerations, misstatements, better known as lies, and over simplifications. Politicians live in a world of simple solutions to grandiose problems and they do their best to convince us that their distorted view of the world is, in fact, accurate. Believe what they say and it will all be better, whatever it is.

But, I confess that every once in a while, they exceed my expectations. It seems one of those rare moments happened last week during the presidential debate.

If you watched the presidential debate last week, or, if you have heard Trump confront his purported Racism, then you know he is happy to tell you — and anyone who will listen — that he has done more for African Americans than anyone else, except, perhaps Lincoln. The first time I heard Trump say that, I confess I was caught totally off guard. How is that even possible? After all, Lincoln was the Great Emancipator. I mean, wasn’t he? According to American mythology, he was that, and more. In fact, his belief in the fundamental equality of all humans ultimately cost him his life. Right?

Sometimes the lies of one politician expose the lies of another one.

The Myth of the Great Emancipator began to unravel for me quite unexpectedly. I am writing a book about why we can’t seem to solve our moral problems, and, a couple of days ago, I stumbled across an essay in a journal called The Journal of Negro Studies which detailed a movement in the 19th Century fostered by the American Colonization Society. I’d never heard about them, but I learned quickly that their motivation was simple: Deport all the African Americans from all of North America. Why? Because of their conviction that whites and blacks were so different that, no matter how much we tried, living side-by-side in peace, harmony, and equality, would not ever happen. Actually, it wasn’t that blacks and whites couldn’t live side-by-side, it was that blacks are so inferior to whites that living side-by-side was injurious to both, so, the blacks had to go.

So, intrigued, I started doing more research. Lincoln, it seems, had delivered a speech to one of the Society’s meetings and had quoted Henry Clay, an unabashed racist. Hmmm. Weird. Lincoln, the Great Emancipator? No. Not possible. I intensified my search. This time I used the question, “Was Lincoln a racist?”

I found my way to a Huffington Post article that took me to a website owned by the National Park Service. There it was. In his own words. In fact, this is what he said at the start of the Fourth Lincoln-Douglas Debate:

“I will say then that I am not, nor ever have been, in favor of bringing about in any way the social and political equality of the white and black races, [applause]-that I am not nor ever have been in favor of making voters or jurors of negroes, nor of qualifying them to hold office, nor to intermarry with white people; and I will say in addition to this that there is a physical difference between the white and black races which I believe will forever forbid the two races living together on terms of social and political equality. And inasmuch as they cannot so live, while they do remain together there must be the position of superior and inferior, and I as much as any other man am in favor of having the superior position assigned to the white race. I say upon this occasion I do not perceive that because the white man is to have the superior position the negro should be denied every thing. I do not understand that because I do not want a negro woman for a slave I must necessarily want her for a wife.”

The best we can do, The Great Emancipator went on to say, was leave them alone. And, by the way, he was in favor of laws that would prohibit whites and blacks from marrying.

I knew Lincoln only begrudgingly freed the slaves. But this…. “… there is a physical difference between the white and black races which I believe will forever forbid the two races living together on terms of social and political equality.” What could that possible be?

I do know, actually. I’ve read numerous descriptions of those “differences.” (If you want to read one of the more disturbing presentations of this idea, try this one) These differences are described as though they were in fact true, when, in truth, they are as spurious as Trump’s claim he has done more for the African Americans than anyone since Lincoln. The descriptions of those differences are as disturbing and troubling and nightmare-causing as all the reasons why Hitler justified murdering millions of Jews.

And, by the way, Lincoln petitioned Congress for close to $750,000 (imagine how much that would be today) to deport as many freed slaves as possible. Initially, the plan was to deport as many African Americans to Liberia, an American colony, as possible. When that failed, Lincoln established relationships with eight Central American and Caribbean countries specifically as destinations to which the African Americans could be deported. The goal was a white North America.

It is just after dawn and I have had another sleepless night because of this and related research I have done. As I attempt to drink my first, desperately needed cup of coffee, I find myself wishing I could confront Lincoln and ask him — ask him directly — if he were a racist. What would he say? I guess, in the end, it doesn’t matter. Whether he thought of himself as a racist doesn’t matter. The fact is he was.

And so we come to Mr. Trump. Mr. “There are very fine people on both sides” — if I recall what he said after Charlottesville. I am trying to determine in what shape or form he has made life better for African Americans. After all, given what I’ve learned about Lincoln, he doesn’t need to jump over the bar set by Lincoln. He can step over it.

So, let’s look at this. Has he taken steps to acknowledge the humanity of people of color? No. Has he attempted to stop police violence against people of color? No. Has he provided access to much needed health care? No. Are inner city schools better funded? No. Has he addressed the systemic economic inequality that all but the rich in our country suffer? No.

Hmmm.

So, I guess it comes down to this — he hasn’t tried to deport all the people of color from North America, although I admit I am concerned that “Make America Great Again” ultimately means make America white again. The only way we can do that is, well, deport all the people of color. Let’s not make the problem worse by letting any more in either.

In another article I found, an American who worked with Lincoln to deport every African American, a guy named Tuckermann, recorded his conversation with an English reformer, Bowring, about Harriett Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Tuckermann argued that Stowe vastly over exaggerated the plight of the enslaved Africans. There was no willful oppression, no wanton or arbitrary cruelty. In the same edition of the Magazine of American History there can be found an article about slavery in Connecticut, the state where I was born and lived almost half my life. That article detailed the punishments suffered by people of color at the hands of their white masters. There was nothing benevolent about what was done. It was cruel and inhumane. It was racist. Tuckermann, like so many Americans, myself included until I learned the facts, lied to ourselves. Those of us who did not and do not know better were lied to. The Myth of the Great Emancipator was designed to keep us from dealing with the inherent and systemic racism of our history.

We should have learned something from Nat Turner, but apparently, we preferred not to.

A month ago I would have argued that it was wrong to condemn Jefferson, Washington, and Lincoln for their racism, after all, that was the culture of their time. That was the world in which they lived. I shall never argue that again. These were intelligent, educated, men. These were men with vision and insight and……. And, they were racist. They were guilty of crimes against humanity. For that they should be judged. For that they should be condemned. It does not diminish their crimes to acknowledge that they lived in a racist world any more than it diminishes the hypocrisy of Jefferson’s affair with an enslaved African woman over the course of many years. No. We cannot move forward until we admit what was done and is being done. It has been more than 400 years.

Go ahead, Mr. Trump. Step over the bar. It is laying on the ground anyway.