How Would Frederick Douglass Regard Today’s Left?

https://amgreatness.com/2023/10/04/h...d-todays-left/

How Would Frederick Douglass Regard Today’s Left?

Ask any leftist in your life what he or she thinks of these Douglass quotes
By Dennis Prager
October 4, 2023

Frederick Douglass was one of the greatest Americans who ever lived. This man began life as an illiterate slave – nearly all slave owners prevented slaves from learning to read – and rose from slavery to become, along with Abraham Lincoln, the greatest orator of his time, and one of the wisest and most eloquent writers in American history.

He became the great black leader of his day, honored by multiple American presidents who frequently sought his counsel. If you read his autobiography, “Life and Times of Frederick Douglass,” you will experience English language writing that has few peers in any nonfiction writing in American history.

Every American child and adult should read this book for many reasons. First, it should be read to appreciate the inhumanity of slavery. The physical abuse, and perhaps worst of all, the human degradation inherent to slavery are depicted in understated yet riveting language. Second, it should be read as a document of history. Third, it should be read for its wisdom about the human condition.

Frederick Douglass may be one of the few figures in American history revered by Left and Right, and by nearly all blacks and all whites.

In light of that, it is worth pondering the question: Are Frederick Douglass’ views more consonant with today’s Left or today’s conservatives? It is fair to say that nearly every leftist believes that Frederick Douglass is one of them. But if you read his “Life and Times of Frederick Douglass,” you will discover a man who, with regard to race, the Constitution, Abraham Lincoln and related matters has virtually nothing in common with today’s Left. In fact, leftists would identify every one of the following quotes from Douglass’s autobiography as “white supremacist” and/or “racist.”

Frederick Douglass: “When an unknown man is spoken of in their presence, the first question that arises in the average American mind concerning him and which must be answered is, Of what color is he? and he rises or falls in estimation by the answer given. It is not whether he is a good man or a bad man. That does not seem of primary importance.”

This Douglass quote runs completely counter to the virtually universal left-wing (not liberal, left-wing) claim that race is important and that to ignore it – to attempt to be color-blind – is racist.

The Atlantic, Sept. 13, 2013: From an article titled, “Color Blindness Is Counterproductive”: “How many times have you heard someone say that they ‘don’t see color,’ ‘are color-blind,’ or ‘don’t have a racist bone in their body’? Maybe you’ve even said this yourself. Many sociologists, though, are extremely critical of color blindness as an ideology.”

“The language of explicit racism has given way to a discourse of color blindness.”

“It is no longer socially acceptable in many quarters to identify oneself as racist. Instead, many Americans purport not to see color.”

TED Talk by Heather McGhee, chair of the board of Color of Change, “the country’s largest online racial justice organization”: “Why saying ‘I don’t see race at all’ just makes racism worse.”

American Psychological Association: “Has The United States Really Moved Beyond Race?”

“In this collection, scholars in psychology, education, sociology, and related fields provide a probing analysis deconstructing racial color blindness; all of the contributors point out the problems with … racial color blindness, point out major flaws in the myth of racial color blindness, and reveal its harmful impact on the lives of people of color.”

Southern Poverty Law Center: “Colorblindness: The New Racism?”

Forbes, September 28, 2022: “Color-Blindness Perpetuates Structural Racism” by Maia Niguel Hoskin.

Frederick Douglass: “Races, like individuals, must stand or fall by their own merits.”

Advocating that individuals rise or fall “by their merits” is derided on the Left as racist.

Wikipedia: “‘Myth of meritocracy’ is a phrase arguing that meritocracy, or achieving upward social mobility through one’s own merits regardless of one’s social position, is not widely attainable in capitalist societies because of inherent contradictions.”

Toronto Metropolitan University: “Meritocracy is one of the beliefs that sustains systems of inequity and supremacy.”

Douglass: “The downfall of slavery under British power meant the downfall of slavery, ultimately, under American power, and the downfall of negro slavery everywhere.”

According to the Left, anyone who credits whites with ending worldwide slavery is a white supremacist. And anyone who credits British colonialism with almost any moral achievement is a defender and supporter of imperialism and colonialism.

Douglass: “Had he (Abraham Lincoln) put the abolition of slavery before the salvation of the Union, he would have inevitably … rendered resistance to [Southern] rebellion impossible.”

Here is New York Times columnist Charles M. Blow citing Douglass on Lincoln: “In 1861, after Abraham Lincoln defended the Fugitive Slave Act as an attempt to assuage Southern slavers, Douglass called him an ‘excellent slave hound’ and the ‘most dangerous advocate of slave-hunting and slave-catching in the land.'”

Both citations are accurate. But the one I cite is from much later in Douglass’s life when he could better judge Lincoln.

Douglass: “The Constitution of the United States not only contained no guarantees in favor of slavery, but, on the contrary, was in its letter and spirit an anti-slavery instrument, demanding the abolition of slavery as a condition of its own existence as the supreme law of the land.”

The left generally holds the Constitution in contempt – at the very least, as a slavery-defending document.

Suggestion: Copy these Frederick Douglass statements into a document and ask any leftist in your life what he or she thinks of them.

Dennis Prager is a nationally syndicated radio talk-show host and columnist. His commentary on Deuteronomy, the third volume of “The Rational Bible,” his five-volume commentary on the first five books of the Bible, was published in October. He is the co-founder of Prager University and may be contacted at dennisprager.com.

COPYRIGHT 2023 CREATORS

Douglas indeed:

Dr. Matin Luther King Jr. . . .what would he think.

Barbara Jorden . . .what would she think? Ralph Abernathy? Hellen Keller? Viola Liuzzo? Rosa Parks? Medger Evers?

Think of any of the civil rights activists from the 1960s . . .what would any of them think of the BLM movement, not what it says it stands for, but as it has manifested itself?

He would think they’re fucking crazy, and would be right.

Silly white folks hung up on race, as usual. You've no clue what they would think about anything. Seems a white man’s past time to contemplate what blacks think or feel about things rather than worrying about your own folks.

Silly white folks hung up on race, as usual. You've no clue what they would think about anything. Seems a white man’s past time to contemplate what blacks think or feel about things rather than worrying about your own folks. Originally Posted by 1blackman1

Says the black man constantly telling us what Whites real motivations are. Maybe you'd be better off concentrating bettering your own folks than worrying about White folks are thinking as well.

We may not be "there" quite yet, but we have come a long way as a Nation.

The civil rights movement in the '60s was not a blacks only thing. I citd several whites in my post above. There were plenty of other whites active in the civil rights movant in the 1960s.

In 1960, every ACLU lawyer was white . . .not so today.

My recollection from that time is that in 1960, every news anchor was white. That is not the case today.


In 1960, every bus driver in New Orleans was white. That is not the case today.

In 1960, every Congressman and Senator was white. That is not the case today.

We have had a mixed race President and we now have a mixed race Vice President.

I could go on, but I think the point has been made.

I agree that over 60 years we've made progress. Interesting that you admit we're not quite there. I mean, it's been 60 years since it was proclaimed that blacks and minorities would be treated equally, yet, we still have a ways to go and all attempts to create equality and equity are met with resistance. Is there any wonder that we're yet to get there?

I agree that over 60 years we've made progress. Interesting that you admit we're not quite there. I mean, it's been 60 years since it was proclaimed that blacks and minorities would be treated equally, yet, we still have a ways to go and all attempts to create equality and equity are met with resistance. Is there any wonder that we're yet to get there? Originally Posted by 1blackman1

Equality and equity:

Well, I think that its about time to do away with what used to be called "Affirmative Action". Equal Opportunity is now the norm, though there are some who don't believe in it. Today, people of color have access to every segment of society. Today, people of color have access to prominent positions of influence and power. . . .even at the highest levels of government and commerce.


If by "Equity" you mean equity of OUTCVOME, I call bull shit. This country has always found it's length in being a meritocracy.

I've never said anything about equity of outcome. I've said equal treatment. Do you honestly believe that minorities have the same opportunities as whites? That there are no barriers to entry for minorities that don't exist for whites? That the practical access for all is not the same as the theoretical access?

If you truly believe those things then you don't think we have far to go for equality, you believe that we are there in the color is irrelevant society. Maybe in your eyes that's the case. I'd disagree but ultimately that's neither here nor there.

I'll repeat, we aren't in 1960 or 70 or even the 90s. But there are plenty of barriers that remain and plenty of unequal treatment that have huge knock-on effects that prevent us from being all treated equally and having the same opportunities.

I'll ask - what's the white man’s obsession with black folks and what they think or do? How many posts and threads here begin with “look at what blacks think, did, etc?” yet all of you claim that you're not racist, but you seem to really get hung up on blacks this and blacks that.

Be honest, why??????

Do you honestly believe that minorities have the same opportunities as whites? Originally Posted by 1blackman1

What specific opportunities are blacks excluded from?
Do Whites all have the same opportunities?

That there are no barriers to entry for minorities that don't exist for whites? Originally Posted by 1blackman1

What barriers do Blacks face that Whites do not?

That the practical access for all is not the same as the theoretical access? Originally Posted by 1blackman1

Do Whites all have the same practical access that you believe blacks don't?

there are plenty of barriers that remain and plenty of unequal treatment that have huge knock-on effects that prevent us from being all treated equally and having the same opportunities. Originally Posted by 1blackman1

Again is it you belief that ALL Whites have equal access and the same barriers? Does a White kid from Arkansas have the same access and opportunities as Malia Obama?

I've never said anything about equity of outcome. I've said equal treatment. Do you honestly believe that minorities have the same opportunities as whites? That there are no barriers to entry for minorities that don't exist for whites? That the practical access for all is not the same as the theoretical access?

If you truly believe those things then you don't think we have far to go for equality, you believe that we are there in the color is irrelevant society. Maybe in your eyes that's the case. I'd disagree but ultimately that's neither here nor there.

I'll repeat, we aren't in 1960 or 70 or even the 90s. But there are plenty of barriers that remain and plenty of unequal treatment that have huge knock-on effects that prevent us from being all treated equally and having the same opportunities.
Originally Posted by 1blackman1

If by "equity" in your post you did NOT mean "equity of outcome" as it is currently used by the progressive left, then I apologies and withdraw my remarks as a response to your post.

And no, I do not have direct, personel experience in job hunting as a person of color. Although I have been discriminated against in hiring due to sexism, which is another story for another thread.

I did live through the 1960s and saw the emerging changes as opportunities became available to more and more peons of color through affirmative action programs in education and employment. So much so that, before I retired in 2003, I was one of only a few white males employed in my department at a major VA teaching hospital. Most of my immediate co-workers were from one protected class or another.

While there, it became evident to me that some of my co-workers were merely low performing place holders. It is my belief that, that sort of thing materially contributed to the scandals in poor service afforded to our vets in the early 2K years.

In my time there at the VA, our department had three supervisors and two physician directors. Over the years, all of then attempted to dismiss two of my co-workers for lack of performance and were never able to because these persons of color were affirmative action place holders.

Perhaps that experience affects how I look at these things.

I would advise looking beyond your personal anecdotal observation in a single circumstance.

I would advise looking beyond your personal anecdotal observation in a single circumstance. Originally Posted by 1blackman1

OK then: Lets look at a similar employment situation with a different set of circumstances.

Before the VA, I worked at a privately held, for-profit hospital.
I believe that HR observed the legalities of employment in effect in the late 1980s. While plenty of my co-workers were people of color, the overall hospital-wide demographics were closer to the proportions on the national census pie chart.

Our conditions of employment there were referred to as "at will", meaning that any of us could be dismissed on short notice for no other reason than n" . . .we don't need you anymore."

All my co-workers were on-the-ball and competent. No one was a low performing place holder.

Earlier in my life, I was an oil field worker in West Texas, Louisiana and eventually, the Middle East, both on land and offshore. My employment experience there was much the same. Fewer, but enough people of color at work, and we all were expected to know our job and do it effectively.

What specific opportunities are blacks excluded from?

Running a fortune 500 company. Of course there are a couple of exceptions.


Do Whites all have the same opportunities?

Generally, a white person will not be discriminated against based only on race.


What barriers do Blacks face that Whites do not?

A black could be denied a job based on race instead of academic achievement. Remember what one interviewer from a well known law firm in New Orleans told 1B1 during an interview, "In the past i have never considered hiring a black into the firm, no matter what".

Do Whites all have the same practical access that you believe blacks don't?

A white person won't be denied a job just because of his race.


Again is it you belief that ALL Whites have equal access and the same barriers? Does a White kid from Arkansas have the same access and opportunities as Malia Obama? Originally Posted by texassapper

Jenna Bush and Chelsey Clinton have the same opportunities as Malia Obama. You have to compare apples to apples.

An undrafted white player (Austin Reaves)from the University of Oklahoma is now in the starting lineup for the Lakers with Lebraun James. No discriminating in the NBA. If you can play you will START and not be on the bench or in the "D" league.