the talk about the views and interpretations of w eb the voice, frederick douglas and thomas jefferson as well as the perspective of 18th-century african-american and women. the american antiquarian society and the freedoms way heritage association cohosted this event. it's about one hour and 40 minutes. >>> good evening.

frederick douglas has made a comeback recently. we had forgotten about him, but he emerged last year. around almost pleading with his fellow citizens to not forget what was going on. he said we must never forget that victory to the rebellion made death to the republic. douglas was quite aware that there was a move toward forgetting and forgiving. that is something that ultimately did happen. there was a legal case against lee. there was also what i described as a moral case. example, after the war, lee described himself as being opposed to slavery. all thein an interview best men of the south were against slavery. before theeared joint committee and reconstruction, he said, i have always been in favor of him at gradual emancipation. a lot of union editors and political takers called him out on that in 1865 and 1866. they said you can't say that, you have spent your whole life owning and managing slaves. on the eve of the civil war he was managing roughly 200 slaves that had been left to him by his father-in-law. the executor of the

and while you do i just want to put in a plug for frederick douglas. on july 3rd at city hall we will have a public par advertise pa tore reading and i encourage you to come at noon to not only listen but to participate as well. so our first question. >> first of all thank you for coming. i would like to direct my question to profession or blake. enjoyed your book immensely. one of my coworkers -- i was loaning it to her. she insisted that i was giving it to her and i had to go get another one. >> i owe you one. i'll send you a free one. >> okay. but i wanted to thank you for introducing the idea of memory in the teaching. as a matter of fact i have also ready lisa petro who gives you a lot of credit in her look of feminism. your particular take on the monument and the udc and people like ms. rutherford, thomas nelson page and joel chandler harris, they have taken us into a place where a charlottesville evolved. what do we see in the moment now and what do people like yourselves, how will you guide us or inspire us? displi love -- i loved your question

this is the president of the united states talking about a black delegation headed i frederick douglas. rarely have we seen presidents talk in that manner. his racism is acute. johnson has these amnesty proclamations where the moment he comes into power, one republican says, this is rich for a man made president by an assassin's bullet, to be so arrogant. congress is not in session, he issues proclamations that southern states can reenter the union, as long as they accept that they are against secession, they accept that slavery is dead, and repudiate the confederate debt. there are no conditions for black rights, civil rights, anything. they can just come in to the union. it is a very lenient policy. absolutely no conditions put on southerners. there is this myth that johnson is continuing lincoln's policy. the wartime reconstruction that lincoln had put forward, this is a wartime measure for the areas conquered by the union. in particular, louisiana. but they said as long as the white population was loyal, they can reenter. there were hardly any conditions for civil rights or blacks.

them a big hand as well. [ applause ] >> and we also want to thank our chairman's council and frederick douglas council members who are with us tonight for all their great work and support. one more hand. thank you. >>> so the program tonight will last an hour and include a question and answer session and q and a is conducted via note cards. you should have received a note card and pencil. if not the staff are walking up and down the aisle and have cards and pencils to hand out. let them know and later on in the program we will be answering collecting the cards and answering your questions. we are thrilled to welcome randall kennedy back to the new york historical society. he's the michael r klein professor at harvard law school where he teaches courses on contracts and criminal law and regulation of race relations. he's also a former clerk of supreme court justice thurgood marshall. professor kennedy is the author of several books including race and crime and the law for which he received the robert f. kennedy book award and the forthcoming from protest to law, triumphs and defeats of the blac

at one point, he meets a delegation led by frederick douglas, who has been received politely by lincoln. johnson meets him and calls it the darkie delegation. now we have hot microphones, we -- sometimes politicians say crude and awful things. they say it openly. his secretary recorded this. johnson said about the black delegation who had come to plead with him for black rights, he said, these are his exact words, and pardon my french, he was a crude guy. one of the crudest presidents. "those dammed sons of bitches they had me in a trap. he would sooner slit a white man's throat than not." this is the president of the united states talking about a black delegation. rarely have we seen presidents talk in that manner. his racism is acute. johnson has these amnesty proclamations where the moment he comes into power, one republican says, this is rich for a man made president by an assassin's bullet, to be so arrogant. congress is not in session, he issues proclamations that southern states can reenter the union, as long as they accept that they are against secession, they accept that slaver

it was frederick douglas who observed that suppress free speech is a double wrong. it violates the rights of the hearer as well as those of the speaker. like all rice the freedom of speech comes with an associated duty to exercise is the chair of our panel this morning is the distinguished pulitzer prize-winning columnist clarence page of the chicago tribune. i can think of no one better to lead this discussion than clarence page. please welcome clarence page. [ applause ] >> thank you. i'm delighted to be here this morning and am very much honored to be here with the moderator panel today. i'm part of the m mcglaughlin group. i'm fascinated with this as a parent. my son came home and indicated that free speech was a right wing cause. i had not heard this was a right wing cause. he said, every time i hear about a free speech, a right winger wanted to have a public forum. it's not just for one side, it's for every side. but it occurs to me something that every parent learns at some point kids don't learn on their own, they need to be taught. that's why we're here tod

so for me -- [applause] frederick douglas was extremely important and, look, we've talk about virtue osty because in the book i talk about virtuousty, and by the way, one of the greatest ones i've heard davi decision in hamilton. but he talks about the pursuit of that. i mean, who is more virtuous with the word than frederick douglass? what to the negro is this fourth of july, right? i mean, in asking these questions and poignantly phrasing thing for subsequent generations to learn are from. and even his, you know, his evolution where he became a bit more conservative at the end of his life -- well, a lot more at end of his life is instructive about how we mature and grow and what things and cannot occur to those who are not involved in the movement. but, yeah, he's an extremely important figure who continues to inform not only my thinking, but the thinking of my generation -- what was the second part of your question? >> you think his relevance has maid faded a bit. >> let me be very brief. look, in my book, until five years ago james baldwin was passe. it's hard to think about that

frederick douglas said the liberty bell cracked and philadelphia because it did not -- enough many, many other examples of abolitionists declaring jefferson, personally, , and the declaration a pack of lies, if you want, or a brutal contradiction. frederick douglass said america is its contradictions. it's really was in the antebellum era, and perhaps it still is. perhaps it is what it interests the world about us. if you base a country based on creed, the first principles of the declaration of independence, you're about to violate them. look at the commandments, for god sake. sermon on the mountain is the hardest of all of them. have you ever sat down and just read it? it's terrifying. live up to the sermon on the mountain. not just for yourself, but for the next person. john stuart mill, the definition of liberty. my liberty is unbound until it interferes with yours. and how do i know when it does? we have to have lost to determine that? yes. blacks would write books before the civil war. "clotel."lled all men are created equal, those lines have been used and used and used over and ove

it was frederick douglas who observed that the suppressed free speech is a double wrong. it violates the rights of the hearer, as well as as those of the speaker. like all rights, the freedom of speech comes with an associated duty to exercise it responsibly. let us now begin our exploration of the state of the first amendment at public universities. the chair of our panel this morning is a distinguished pulitzer prize columnist of the chicago tribune. i can think of no one better to lead this discussion than clarence page. please welcome clarence page. [ applause ] >> thank you very much. i'm delighted to be here this morning. i'm very much honored to have been asked to be here and the moderator of the panel. i've been a member of the mclaughlin group. [ inaudible conversations ] >> why i was chosen. i think of this issue as not only as a journalist but also as a parent. my son who is just college age now, he came home and said that free speech was a right wing thought. i had not heard a right wing cause as the one he said. so every time i hear about free speech, some ot