Fact Check

Racist Abe

A photograph showing a protester holding a sign reading "Lincoln Was Racist" is fake.

Published Nov. 23, 2015

Article 5 of 14 in Collection
Claim:
Missouri State University students protested to get Abraham Lincoln removed from all U.S. currency because they believe that the former president was racist.

On 20 November 2015, the entertainment Facebook community "Fox News Channel" shared an image which purportedly showed a student at Missouri State University holding up a sign that read "Lincoln Was Racist":

Example: [Collected via email, November 2015]

Fox news has reported that Missouri State University students are protesting because Abraham Lincoln was racist. Is this true?

lincoln was racistMissouri State University Black Lives Matter activist are demanding that Abraham Lincoln's image be remove from all U.S. currency and public buildings.Citing statements Lincoln made to Frederick Douglass proving that the sixteenth President was racist.

The "Fox News Channel" Facebook community is in no way affiliated with the real Fox News Network. This is an entertainment group that uses the name "Fox News Channel" in order to trick people into believing that its fictional posts are real.

The above-displayed image does not show a protest at Missouri State University nor a protester holding up a "Lincoln Was Racist" sign. The real image was taken in London in November 2014 shortly after Michael Brown was killed by officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri:

Hundreds of people have taken part in a demonstration outside the US embassy in London condemning the decision not to charge a police officer with shooting Missouri teenager Michael Brown.

Article 5 of 14 in Collection

Dan Evon is a former writer for Snopes.