At first glance, President Trump’s present-tense declaration on the first day of Black History Month that Frederick Douglass “has done an amazing job and is being recognized more and more” seems ridiculous. “What shall be said…[of a] man who wants to enfranchise our enemies and disfranchise our friends?” Douglass thus asked. When Douglass returned to Brooklyn in December of 1866, his ire against Johnson’s betrayal of Lincoln’s legacy had by no means subsided. Just over 150 years later, we can thank Douglass for a truly “amazing job” of speaking to the future. Theodore Hamm is the editor of Frederick Douglass in Brooklyn.

Source: Huffington Post February 04, 2017 15:02 UTC