Exposing my ‘Fulani Princess’ to the truth, the whole truth, and nothin’ but the truth about ‘Honest Abe’ Lincoln and our nation’s Civil War!

I took my 13-year-old granddaughter to the Civil War exhibit in Menomonee Falls so she could learn first-hand about the war and the reasons behind it. 

Before the afternoon was over, however, she also learned the difference between history and His-story. 

With my offering corrections and clarification as we stopped at the various booths and tents of exhibits, she’ll take back to school this fall a new understanding of the war that divided and ultimately reunited the country over the issue of slavery. 

Princess Alaiah (a descendant of the Fulani and Mende tribes of Sierra Leone) was in awe as Union and Confederate soldiers engaged in a theatrical battle, with ‘bodies’ littering the park grounds. That battle concluded with the Gettysburg Address by a President Abe Lincoln lookalike. 

Much of our two-hour adventure, however, was grounded in my offering corrections of His-story, particularly of Honest Abe’s true motivations and goals, not just of the war, but his feelings about Black people (versus citizens) in general. 

The most engaging segment of our venture took place when we visited a tent that served as headquarters for the Colored Troops, which I quickly noticed included only one Black (Colored) soldier. 

As it was explained, the coordinators of the event said their efforts to ‘enlist’ additional Black ‘actors’ to fill out the Colored ranks fell far short of their goals. 

That was unfortunate not only because most of the event visitors were White suburbanites whose knowledge of Wisconsin’s involvement in the Civil War in general was limited, particularly as it relates to the role of Colored troops who made up Company F of the 29th Regiment. 

For the record, there were over 200,000 brothers in blue (not cops), and nearly one third gave their lives for the end of slavery and a promise of equality that was never fully achieved. 

It was during my conversation with the ‘lone ranger’ —colored trooper—that I learned as much as I taught. At the center of my debate with a ‘Union’ chaplain and ‘Abe Lincoln’ and myself was whether the 16th president was liberal, conservative, or a ‘liberal racist.’ 

Honest Abe and I got into a debate of sorts when I explained that the 16th president and author of the Emancipation Proclamation was a ‘liberating racist.’ 

I based that latter title on a September 1858 speech Lincoln gave in which he said ‘ex-slaves’ should not be allowed to vote, because they were not intelligent enough to participate in that sacred act of democracy. And they definitely shouldn’t ever be allowed to intermarry. 

In his defense, Actor Abe said I was misinformed, as the real Abe was fully about equality of the races. 

If so, I explained, why did he say he would continue slavery if it would end the war? Moreover, I asked if he so loved the Colored folks, why did his emancipation proclamation exclude slaves in the northern states? 

Lincoln also called Frederick Douglass and selected White abolitionist leaders to the White House (built by enslaved Black people, by the way), seeking their support to ship all of our ancestors to South America when the war concluded? 

Douglass, a formerly enslaved person and one of the greatest orators in American history, told him where to stick his stovetop hate…er…hat. 

Douglass should receive some of the credit for the enlistment of Black free and enslaved brothers to the Union forces. 

And while the involvement of Black folks was prompted by Lincoln’s mandate that our ancestors be allowed to fight for their freedom and kick the grits outta Confederate bigots, there was a hidden agenda at work. 

My reading of history suggests that, similar to his Emancipation Proclamation, the call to arms of Black soldiers was intended to undermine the Confederacy. 

And despite rampant racism and underpayment, historians reported that the Colored troops contributed mightily to the Union victory. Without them, slavery would have continued in the new nation of the Confederate States of Amerika.’ 

What we did learn from the Chaplain was about the heroic involvement of the F Troop (wasn’t that a comedy TV series of White soldiers in the 60s?), which consisted not only of the few brothers who resided in the free state of Wisconsin, but of several surrounding states as well. 

Even more surprisingly, he revealed, members of the Wisconsin Colored troops were on hand in Texas when Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger announced that Lincoln’s executive order had freed them. 

That announcement was the foundation for Juneteenth, which former President Joe Biden made a national holiday. 

I further explained that since Lincoln’s proclamation excluded enslaved people in the North, ‘Jubilee Day’ should be held on January 1, 1865. 

That date is significant because it signaled the enactment of the 13th Amendment, which officially ended slavery in America (but not prejudice and bigotry). 

Lincoln rushed to enact the 13th Amendment in part because his proclamation was illegal and probably would not have withstood judicial scrutiny. 

In total, it was an enjoyable and educational experience. I’m sure Princess Alaiah saw the Civil War and ‘Honest’ Abe through a new prism. I only wish more brothers and sisters could have participated, as we were the only freed ‘Coloreds’ in attendance