VOL. 6, NO. 9
FEB. 5, 1965

Did The Proclamation Free All The Negroes?
On Jan. 1st, 1863 Abraham Lincoln issued his (now famous) Emancipation Proclamation declaring all Negroes to be free men. It was President Lincoln's hope that all men could be equal, both by law and in each others' minds, but he was felled by an assassin's bullet before he could see his dream come to pass.

What would our 16th President think of the present position of the Negro in our society if he could come back today? He might be somewhat pleased by the strides the Negro has taken toward equality, but he would be dismayed because the Negro still has not reached the level of equality he had hoped for. He would probably feel that, in the 		100 year period since his death, men should have progressed more in their attitude toward their fellow man.

No one knows how Lincoln would feel about some of the ways integration has come about; through sin-ins, boycotts, freedom rides, and mass meetings; but it is generally accepted that our late President wanted all men to be equal, and that the Civil War was fought because of the slave issue.

Lincoln could be fairly sure that eventually men will come to develop an attitude toward their fellow men as he wanted and tried to instill in people over 100 years ago.