A childhood belief about politics

You know how the U.S penny is copper, and most of the rest are silver-looking? When I was in kindergarten, I firmly believed that Abraham Lincoln was a black man due to his color on the penny--- after all the rest of the presidents had silver (white) coins, while Lincoln had copper (brown) coins. Even when I saw a picture of him, I though the press was lying to us. I never understood why all the adults kept on saying that "We should have a black president" and I would always say impatiently that we already had one! As a result people just laughed at me and called me an idiot. Man--- all that over a damn penny! I was mainly laughed at the rest of my childhood. Needless to say, I have learned not to judge anyone by the amount of melanin they just so happen to have in their skin!