Abraham Lincoln famously said that so long as blacks and whites live in the same society, “there must be the position of superior and inferior, and I as much as any other man [I suppose he meant any other white man?] am in favor of having the superior position assigned to the white race.”
Lincoln hagiographer Thomas Krannawitter (as quoted in David Gordon’s review) argues that there’s nothing racist about this remark, since “anyone of any color, when presented with the choice of having his race assigned a superior or an inferior position in a given society, with no option of equal citizenship, would choose to have his race in the superior position.”
How peculiar – a Straussian who’s never read Plato.
A heads-up for Sandman fans – Gaiman’s version of Death features prominently in the current issue of Madame Xanadu.