"Tears of Frederick Douglass" is from the collection of William Raspberry commentary which received the 1994 Pulitzer Prize for Commentary.

The following lesson is based upon one written by and used with the permission of the Newspaper In Education department of The Washington Post.

This Raspberry column plays around the edges of what might be called a "time-slip drama." The columnist brings Frederick Douglass to the Twentieth Century to marvel at the strides made in civil rights and lament other shortcomings and lack of movement. This technique invites students to explore the column’s points and expand its meaning through a similar process. The approach will require some research and lots of creativity.

Divide the class into groups of two or three students each. One group will collectively represent/recreate "Mr. Frederick Douglass." Each of the other groups will portray one of several contemporary figures who will enter into dialogue with Douglass. There are many possibilities for these personages; the class should be encouraged to suggest types of individuals or specific personalities. Some suggestions:

Douglas Wilder
Marion Berry
Louis Farrakhan
Nelson Mandela
Barbara Jordan
Maya Angelou
Clarence Thomas
David Duke
Jesse Jackson
Colin Powell
Spike Lee
a homeless black man
Sinbad
a gang leader
Oprah Winfrey
William Jefferson Clinton

Encourage students to use the newspaper to identify other figures or types of persons to be represented in the activity. The newspaper can also suggest contemporary issues around which the characters can interact.

The goal of each group will be to gather enough information about their character or person so as to allow them to represent the figure’s opinions and positions during discussion of a contemporary issue or event with Mr. Douglass. The "Frederick Douglass" group must understand enough about the goals of this abolitionist and civil rights advocate to allow them to predict the topics, issues, events which would be of special interest to him. "Frederick Douglass" should be able to respond to what he sees and hears in a manner consistent with the hopes he had for blacks.

Given the character, motivation and experiences of its figure, each group would represent a somewhat different viewpoint on the topic(s) discussed in the dialogue. All should be encouraged to jump into the conversation … all the while staying in character.

Links

Frederick Douglass National Historic Site
http://www.nps.gov/frdo
Includes pictures of Cedar Hill, the home of Frederick Douglass which is now a national historic site. The expanded Web site provides information on the life of Douglass as well as material and document holdings of the Frederick Douglass National Historic Site (1411 W Street, S.E., Washington, D.C. 20020-4813, 202-426-5961).

The Frederick Douglass Museum & Cultural Center
http://www.ggw.org/freenet/f/fdm/index.html
Located in Rochester, N.Y., the museum is in the city where Douglass raised his family, published his newspapers and was laid to rest. This Web site provides a timeline, photo gallery and links to other Douglass resources, including texts of his speeches.

Resources for the study of Frederick Douglass
http://www.d.umn.edu/~sadams/douglass.htm