Love and Light

(CNN) — He used the N-word and told racist jokes. He once said African-Americans were inferior to whites. He proposed ending slavery by shipping willing slaves back to Africa. Meet Abraham Lincoln, “The Great Emancipator” who “freed” the slaves. That’s not the version of Lincoln we get from Steven Spielberg’s movie “Lincoln.” But there’s another film that fills in the historical gaps left by Spielberg and challenges conventional wisdom about Lincoln and the Civil War. “The Abolitionists” is a PBS American Experience film premièring Tuesday that focuses on the intertwined lives of five abolitionist leaders. These men and women arguably did as much — maybe even more — than Lincoln to end slavery, yet few contemporary Americans recognize their names.