Lincoln deliberately steered debates from race toward slavery to gain advantage

Evidence

Abraham Lincoln threw Stephen Douglas on the defensive. Douglas charged Lincoln with changing his views on race to fit the audience: “jet black” in the northern abolitionist part of the state, the “color of a decent mulatto” in the antislavery, anti-abolitionist center, and “almost white” in proslavery southern Illinois. Douglas wanted to keep the discussion on race. Putting race behind him, Lincoln went on the offensive in the last three debates and steered the discussion toward slavery. — Ibram X. Kendi, Stamped from the Beginning, 546

Categorization

• XREF: Lincoln’s strategy of steering away from race while Douglas race-baited is a concrete historical instance of the book’s pattern: politicians choose issue framing strategically, with race as a weapon.