In its basic goals, the “Now, Mr. Lincoln” campaign was successful. It raised awareness, successfully mobilizing over 300 families to host a dinner, and it raised enough money to fund at least 11 African-American owned Tacoma businesses (for more on these businesses, see “Business Elements”) [A&SC 46]. Since it characterized these financial contributions as “seedbed capital” rather than a gift, it reduced the impact of negative attitudes towards giving “handouts” and, in this respect, met Dale Bailey’s stated goal to “help the black man help himself.” But despite these successes—and the well-intentioned goals of the organizers—there are several troubling themes that run through the campaign.

Both hosting and attending a dinner was mainly available to middle-class people (and those featured in publications promoting the event are predominantly white) [A&SC 42]. The idea that this population could access and alleviate the suffering of African-Americans in 1960s Tacoma through a one-time donation at a pleasant social event belied the seriousness of structural violence against Tacoma’s black population, and facilitated a false sense of action and purpose through one-time, semi-superficial support. Furthermore, the rhetoric and marketing designed to attract attendees and hosts to the “Now, Mr. Lincoln” campaign highlighted soul food dinners and an “Afro Style Show” happening at the media festival. These tactics both exoticized and othered the very people that they sought to help, portraying Black culture as superficial, exotic, and uniform, available for the sporadic entertainment of other demographics.