Reseña del libro "If Lincoln Lived (en Inglés)"
"If Lincoln Lived" is a reality-based, alternate history motivated by the continuing explicit and implicit racism in the United States, including the on-going, extra-judicial killings of non-violent, unarmed Blacks by poorly screened, poorly trained police and delusional white supremacists. Millions of us, including many of our leading lawmakers, not only deny the existence of systemic racism but seem blind to the cumulative harm of the continued injustice. We laid an immoral burden on the backs of Black Americans. We've been adding to it for generations. Even today, 155 years after the Civil War, we are all still suffering from the inability of many millions of our fellow citizens to acknowledge the harm we've done and allowed to fester.So I wondered, What Could Have Been If Lincoln Lived? Might he have been inspired by other people of goodwill to reimagine Reconstruction? The Reconstruction we created was undermined by craven politicians and die-hard white supremacists within just fifteen years after Lincoln's death. What could have been if people of color had been allowed to earn the respect due every human being; if they had been allowed a fair shot at opportunity and security? What could have been if these kidnapped African-Americans had been allowed to prosper in step with other minorities and whites ... to realize their dreams?The story revolves around a single fantasy. Lincoln invites Frederick Douglass, a run-away slave who had made himself the most celebrated abolitionist of his time, to join the Lincolns at Ford's Theater on the fateful night of April 14, 1865. In Washington a few days early, Douglass chances to learn about John Wilkes Booth's pro-Confederate views. Douglass arrives at the theater alone and is spotted by Booth in the lobby. Booth is incensed at the idea of a Negro entering his white domain but has no idea that Douglass is Lincoln's guest. Later, when Booth enters Lincoln's box to kill the president, Douglass is able to intervene. He saves Lincoln's life but they are both wounded. In the hospital they bond and recognize what they have in common: Impoverished childhoods; learning to read and write from the bible; a love of Shakespeare, rising from poverty to become major national figures; having to struggle with the question of freedom and equality for four million ex-slaves. Lincoln invites Douglass to the White House to help him reimagine Reconstruction while they recuperate. They are joined by Elizabeth Keckley, another ex-slave but one who bought her freedom using the sewing skills she developed as a slave and her entrepreneurial spirit. Keckley is also a real historical figure. She established a booming business in Washington, became the fashion consultant to Mary Todd Lincoln and had become a frequent visitor to the White House. Keckley horns her way into the meeting Lincoln and Douglass have planned. She turns out to be a key contributor. When the two men are stuck and sulking after three days of heated debate, Keckley is the one that comes up with a practical, creative solution on what to do with the four million newly freed but largely penniless slaves. The story has a number of ironic twists and a big one at the end. The very racism prevailing in the nation turns out to give birth to the solution. Lincoln seizes on Keckley's idea as a way to get Congress to pass new legislation that will ensure a path to equality. A path that is bound to turn out to be straighter and faster than the one we've been on for the past 155 years.
