Skip to comments.
The Douglass Debate
The Baltimore Sun ^
| 11 Feb 2004
| Editorial
Posted on 02/12/2004 10:34:37 AM PST by Rebeleye
...Frederick Douglass is still a controversial figure in his native Talbot County. Plans to erect a statue of him in Easton, the county seat, have been stymied...the County Council oppose putting a Douglass memorial on the courthouse green. Because they believe the site should be reserved to honor war dead. A Vietnam War memorial and a tribute to the county's Confederate Army veterans. The existence of that second statue alone gives reason enough for a Douglass tribute. What are Talbot County visitors to think -- that the county more closely sympathizes with the goals of the Confederacy than with the abolitionist movement?
(Excerpt) Read more at baltimoresun.com ...
TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events; US: Maryland
KEYWORDS: confederate; douglass; frederickdouglass; maryland; talbotcounty
IT APPEARS that 109 years after his death, Frederick Douglass is still a controversial figure in his native Talbot County. Plans to erect a statue of him in Easton, the county seat, have been stymied. Members of the County Council oppose putting a Douglass memorial on the courthouse green. Why? Because they believe the site should be reserved to honor war dead. This is curious reasoning. The Eastern Shore county has no written policy about memorials, and many in Easton were apparently unaware of any unwritten policy. What's on the green now? A Vietnam War memorial and a tribute to the county's Confederate Army veterans. The existence of that second statue alone gives reason enough for a Douglass tribute. What are Talbot County visitors to think -- that the county more closely sympathizes with the goals of the Confederacy than with the abolitionist movement?
County Council President Thomas G. Duncan insists that he and other opponents want the statue. They just want it at the public library, a block away. They reason that because Mr. Douglass accomplished so much through learning -- rising from slave to famous lecturer and writer -- the library is a better fit.
Of course they couldn't be more wrong. Yes, Mr. Douglass' life is a testament to education and the American ideal, but it's far more than that. Better than anyone, he illuminated the hypocrisy of 19th century America -- a nation that claimed the principles of the revolution, liberty and equality, but permitted slavery. He was forerunner to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and the civil rights movement -- and the women's rights movement, too. He tugged at the very conscience of the nation.
Consider, for instance, his famous "The Meaning of July Fourth to the Negro" speech from 1852, in which he railed against the holiday's celebrations and parades, even its religious observances, as a "thin veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages."
One would hope manorial Talbot County would be more sensitive to the legacy of slavery, but irony of ironies, it's neighboring Dorchester County, home of the Cambridge race riots four decades ago, that now embraces its native abolitionist, Harriet Tubman, as a tourist attraction.
The passionate Mr. Douglass is not just a celebrity to be trotted out each February for Black History Month. Nor is honoring him a mere sop to black Americans. He was among the most important historical figures that Talbot County, the Eastern Shore, the state of Maryland, and the nation have produced. It's best we honor him where laws are made, a fitting reminder of our shared and sometimes painful history.
1
posted on
02/12/2004 10:34:37 AM PST
by
Rebeleye
To: Rebeleye
Douglass did more for black civil rights than MLK ever thought of doing, yet he has historically been tossed aside by both whites and blacks. Douglass does not fit into the role model that the liberal black community looks to, ie., Jesse Jackson. He was a successful man, escaped slave who made something of himself. He married, had children, but it wasn't until he chose to defy society and marry a white woman after his first wife died, that the black community wrote him off as an "Uncle Tom." His own children turned their back on him. His home Cedar Hill in Washington is an historic site run by the National Park Service. His 2nd wife spent the rest of her life ensuring that his personal belongings would be preserved for history. Like the Grant Cottage in Saratoga, New York, Douglass' home has been preserved to represent the way it was at the time of his death.
2
posted on
02/12/2004 10:54:04 AM PST
by
mass55th
To: mass55th
I know Clarence Thomas considers Douglass his role model.
In his life, he was pretty out spoken, and sadly, many dems find things he said and his beliefs to be offensive to them.
Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton make it a key point not to mention his name in any way when referring to famous historical african americans.
3
posted on
02/12/2004 11:02:59 AM PST
by
Sonny M
("oderint dum metuant")
To: Rebeleye
I could not agree more! Mr. Douglass was a brilliant self taught man, who accomplished much, because he understood the truth of the Bible verse John 8:36: "If the Son makes you free, you shall be Free indeed."
He was freed by Jesus Christ in his heart. The spirit of God filled him and spoke through him to condemn those who say they are Christians but do lie. We would do well to remember those words today:
"I love the religion of our blessed Savior. I love the religion that comes from above,.....""It is because I love this religion that I hate the slaveholding, the woman-whipping, the mind darkening, the soul destroying religion that exists in the southern sates of America."
"I am filled with unutterable loathing when I contemplate the religious pomp and show, together with the horrible inconsistencies, which everywhere surround me. We have men-stealers for ministers, women-whippers for missionaries, and cradle-plunderers for church members. The man who wields the blood-clotted cowskin during the week fills the pulpit on Sunday, and claims to be a minister of the meek and lowly Jesus. The man who robs me of my earning at the end of each week meets me as a class-leader on Sunday morning, to show the way of life, and the path of salvation. He who sells my sister, for purposes of prostitution stands forth as the pious advocate of purity"......."He who is the religious advocate of marriage robes whole millions of its sacred influence and leaves them to the ravages of wholesale pollution." ...."They love the heathen on the other side of the globe. They can pray for him, pay money to have the Bible put into his hand, and missionaries to instruct him; while they despise and totally neglect the heathen at their own doors....."
"'Shall I not visit for these things' saith the Lord. Shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?"
4
posted on
02/12/2004 11:17:47 AM PST
by
tuckrdout
(Terri Schindler (Schiavo) deserves to have her wishes honored: Give her a DIVORCE!)
To: mass55th
The so called, "black community" which holds up the likes of Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton keep good roll models like Douglass out of the schools!
My kids never learned anything about true black heros until they went to a Christian School and learned about Douglass, GW Carver; Samuel Morris; and another very inspiring humanbeing by the name of "Jennie Dean". Oprah would do well to make a factual movie about this hero, instead of that vile smut "beloved"!
Instead of killing, true heros save lifes. Instead of yelling about a bad situation the true heros offer solutions. Jennie Dean was born into slavery, in Virginia in 1852. She had no education, yet at 13 years old, walked to Washington DC and found work. She used her money to buy her mother a farm, and then to found churches and travel as far as Boston to solicit money to build a school to train former slaves. She believed in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and his promise that a person could do anything, if Christ is with them.
And she did it. She built that school. It opened in 1894. Fredrick Douglass and Clara Barton were at the opening...yet how many know her story?
5
posted on
02/12/2004 11:45:26 AM PST
by
tuckrdout
(Terri Schindler (Schiavo) deserves to have her wishes honored: Give her a DIVORCE!)
To: tuckrdout
"And she did it. She built that school. It opened in 1894. Fredrick Douglass and Clara Barton were at the opening...yet how many know her story?"
I never knew it. Thanks for sharing it with us.
6
posted on
02/12/2004 12:22:19 PM PST
by
mass55th
Disclaimer:
Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual
posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its
management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the
exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson