Rioters have vandalized the Lincoln Memorial. The riots began as protests over the horrific death of George Floyd in police custody. We were outraged when we saw a video of an officer kneeling on Floyd’s neck, and we all want justice for George Floyd. No one would agree with this as strongly as Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln believed in freedom and the dignity of all people.
Lincoln served as our nation’s sixteenth president and is revered as the leader who led our country through its largest crisis, the Civil War. President Lincoln kept our United States together, spoke out against the evil of slavery and conveyed the spirit of America to its people, eloquently at every turn.
President Lincoln watches over Washington, DC, from his stunning, marble monument. It is a symbol that our country can always come together. No matter how disparate our views and experiences, there is always common ground to be found. Millions of people visit the Lincoln Memorial every year, looking to gain insight, strength, and perhaps, inspiration.
In August of 1963, the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., delivered his famous “I Have a Dream,” speech from the steps of Lincoln’s Memorial. Hundreds of thousands of people heard that speech, took his words to heart, and marched onward for equality. President Lincoln’s spirit was undoubtedly with them.
President Lincoln would most assuredly honor George Floyd’s memory and implore us to treat each other with respect. The rioters chose the wrong (is there ever a right) place to deface.
“Let us remember that all American citizens are brothers of a common country and should dwell together in the bonds of fraternal feeling.”