Celebrate the America that we are trying to be
Instead, Douglass said he saw "forces in operation which must inevitably work the downfall of slavery."
"The fiat of the Almighty, 'Let there be Light,' has not yet spent its force," he said. "No abuse, no outrage, whether in taste, sport or avarice, can now hide itself from the all-pervading light."
Some people read Douglass' words and hear only his anger. As an aspiring black student journalist, I heard his relentless optimism. If a self-educated, former slave could make it in mainstream America, his words told me, so could I.
Douglass hated America's tolerance for slavery but he appreciated its potential for improvement. That's why he urged President Abraham Lincoln and others to reject the "recolonization" movement that pushed to deport slaves back to Africa. Black Americans fought and worked hard for this country, too, Douglass insisted, and they were not about to give up on it.
Douglass died at age 78 of a heart attack after attending a convention for women's suffrage with his friend Susan B. Anthony. When a young black man asked him for career advice, Douglass answered, "Agitate, agitate, agitate."
That's America's promise. Sometimes it takes extra work to help America keep that promise. Even in today's more enlightened post-Obama America, Douglass still would find a lot to agitate about.
People who say we are "more divided than ever" have short memories. Divisions are to be expected in a diverse society. We are a great nation that still seeks the "more perfect union" called for in the Constitution. Douglass' memory reminds us of the work that remains to be done.
I don't know whether he really is being "recognized more and more," as President Trump suggests, but he should be.
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(E-mail Clarence Page at cpage@chicagotribune.com.)
(c) 2017 CLARENCE PAGE DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.
