The Truth About Frederick Douglass

Something about this picture has always haunted my spirit. It just doesn't make you want to fight the power, as one would imagine. Instead of a scoundrel, he looks more like a scholar. Like most Black people, I just accepted that Frederick Douglass was an ill-tempered abolistionist. That didn't take no stuff off White people. But was that really the case? I watched a PBS documentary with Tony Brown, that almost told the whole story. Even though sometimes unwillingly. I can see why there isn't a push to tell the truth. It tarnishes the image that many of us have. That's probably why you don't see a lot of interviews, with his great-grandson Frederick IV.

There are a lot of things that are uncertain, in regtards to Mr. Douglass and his past. One thing for sure is, his father was a White Man. In spite of his lineage, he wasn't treated special. He wasn't given the usual perks, afforded to the children of white men. He learned to read on his own, with no formal education. He picked up from the little White boys, after they had gone to school. He was aware of the importance of an education. So he secretly learned to read and write. Had he not been sent back to the south. Would he have really been concerned with other Blacks? To some degree that explains his pictures, in my opinion. I think it was the fact that his whiteness was ignored. That brought about his bitterness against America. He would probably have been perfectly content, had he been accepted. Would we have ever heard of him? I have a problem with positions spurred on, by sour grapes. Had they been appeased personally. The position probably wouldn't exist.

This brings to mind the story of MalcomX and the Nation of Islam. In the minds of many that know of him. He is most remembered for something, he would rather you forget. Just like MalcolmX, Frederick Douglass had a change of heart. In their later years. The radical rhetoric they are known for. Is largely a part of their past. Their personal experiences and abilities, were used to farther someone elses agenda. Which wasn't always the same. Just like Elijah Muhummad used MalcomX, William Lloyd Garrison did the same with Frederick Douglass. William Lloyd Garrison gave him a platform. A way to get his message out. But he couldn't see the forest, for the trees. He only ended up having a small part, of a much bigger picture.


The fact that he was a soldier and recruiter, for the Union Army. Is a piece of his past, that's barely even mentioned. He has heid several government appointments, under a Republican administration. That doesn't fit the perception of him. This modern day distrust Blacks have, for the Republican party. Couldn't honestly be supported by Mr. Douglass, if he was alive. He was the American minister to Haiti. If that's a position, you would want to add to your resume. Obviously he didn't have much of an impact. Voodoo is the national religion there. His political views obviously didn't apply to his personal life. He himself had a controversial interracial marriage. I don't want to undermine the importance of Frederick Douglass, in American Black history. He was kind of like the first, Civil Rights leader. Although he ended up getting swindled out of his personal fortune. Although he vehemently denounced the system earlier in life. He was an active player in the game. Whenever he got the chance. He just didn't win.


http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4p1539.html