the pathway from slavery to freedom as frederick douglass called it. like any pathway you can't reach your destination without starting at the beginning and state until the end. students need to learn algebra ii and calculus in high school in order to succeed in college math, they need to learn their numbers increase will be coming proficient in arithmetic in grade school and taking algebra in middle school. it is the same for every course of study, every critical learning skill. in all too many of the schools that our children attend they are not getting the kind of preschool to high school education that will make them competitive. as a result of the african-american students who graduate from high school and enrolled in college approximately half must take remedial courses. that is courses for which they paid full college tuition but received no credit. to learn subjects they should have been taught and gotten command of before they got to college. that is only students who enroll in college. think of the number if we applied that standard to those

he's saying well, the moses of the african-american struggle, frederick douglass, and the question is who will be the new leader. washington emerged as the new joshua; right? refers to washington as a joshua born man of god, but he's not the mill at that particular -- militant and du bois is appointing himself as the more appropriate joshua than he sees in washington. >> host: that said, professor, what was du bois's relationship with the larger white community around him? >> guest: he was very much involved as a founding member of the aect. talk about the largest white community in a number of ways. one can talk about du bois, again respect to the naacp, with respect to african-american activism. the point that i try to stress is what du bois was about intellectually and try to open up the space for thinking not only about du bois's engagement with an appropriations of contemporary american thinkers, but to think, too, about, for example, his time in germany so, for example, he is not only interesting because he was the student of josiah, but the student of gustav and because he was

i love frederick douglass. write the story. just saying. it is the failure of our critical faculty. it is our investment has african-american people, we are very protective of our heroes. but sometimes it is to the exclusion of wanting to accept them as men and women and here is the danger and what i like this book. too much -- precisely what melissa said is true about malcolm becoming a talisman. what we do when we mythologize figures like malcolm x and martin luther king is we scare people from thinking they could be leaders. we make it look like the magical mystical -- you have to be born into it and have to be imprisoned and someone has to anoint you and we make it sound like magic and it is not magic. argument beings and everyone has the potential leader. i like the they to they going to moscow number 7 and having this conversation and meeting. this is what is involved in a real life. as much as the more powerful parts of the book, those to me are very important because they describe and show people the mundane interactions with human beings and so forth that going to creating

washington and george washington carver, but she lectured about the contribution of frederick douglass, w.e.b. dubois, and how jackie robinson had broken the baseball barrier. and we remembered the opera singer who was not allowed to sing in the hall and had to sing in lincoln center. all the discrimination and the local in justices. like, everything was separate and unequal. the school was inadequate. we could not go to the hospitals. they built a house adjacent to the main hospital. the white people were not supposed to be in the same room with an n-person. you know the n-word? i said to myself at the end of the day that i love my country and i'm glad that that day, i took a stand. i saw through the supreme court that the flaws that america had tried to correct them by removing those horrible signs -- "white" and "colored." i said when i testified at the trial, i went through how we were treated, and the lady dramatize it, so i do not have to go through that, but it is the whole system of separate but unequal. it is understates rights -- is under states' rights. after lincoln had fre

i know he met with harriet tubman and frederick douglass. did he have any african-americans in the white house to sit down with? >> guest: no. and lincoln had sojourner truth in the white house another abolitionist. but he was -- he was trying to show that african-americans if given the right opportunities could achieve and succeed and be important advisors to him particularly on the social issues he was dealing with and to some extent with the military issues with frederick douglass with the use of african-american soldiers and that sort of thing but he was really a ground breaker in that way and was actually quite public about it. the other thing that's interesting that struck me about lincoln how the african-americans around him affected his policies and his attitudes. people might not realize that lincoln for about a quarter of his presidency lived at the place called the soldiers home which was a home for convalescing soldiers from the civil war about 3 miles away from the white house and he commuted to the white house from there. durin

he's say anything this chapter is, well, look, the moses of the african-american struggle, frederick douglass has passed away, right? and the question is, who's going to be the new leader? washington has emerged as a new leader. du bois say he's emerged as the new joshua. but as it turns out washington isn't the militant leader that joshua was, militant leader that the new joshua should be. and du bois is presenting himself as the more appropriate successor to douglass, the more appropriate joshua than he sees, than he sees in washington. >> well that said, professor, what was w.e.b. du bois' relationship with the larger white community around him? >> well, of course, du bois was very much involved, one of the founding numbers of the naacp. one can talk about the larger white community in a number of different ways. one can talk about few boys, again, with respect to the,naac, with respect to african-american activism. the point that i try to stress is what du bois was about intellectually. and i try the open up a kind of space for thinking not only about du bois' engagements with an appropri

as well, the moses of the african-american struggle, frederick douglass has passed away.the question is, washington has emerged as the new joshua. he refers to ashington as this joshua and come up as it turns out, washington isn't the militant leader that joshua buys come buys come and look to leaders that the new joshua should be. and du bois is presenting himself as the marker or a successor to douglas, the more appropriate joshua than he sees in washington. >> what that second professor, what was du bois' relationship with the larger white community found him? >> of quarters du bois was one of the founding members of the sbc. one can talk about the larger white community in a number of different ways. want to talk about the naacp with respect to african-american activism. the point that i try to stress is why it du bois was about intellectually and eight bring up the space for thinking, not only about du bois' engagement in appropriations of contemporary, american thinkers, but to think about his time in germany. so for example, du bois is not only interesting because

as a great leader said frederick douglass, you can't get everything you pay for but must pay for everythingou get. this is a time of sacrifice in our country, not being called to storm beaches in normandy or freedom rides to the south but this nation has to make sacrifices and difficult decisions and high level of commitment to get out of this perilous situation we are now in. >> i think you've raised a very good point there. it comes down to personal responsibility, everyone who is balance sheeting about the situation we're in and blaming the government and so on, there's no doubt that most persons have overspent personally, at any level in the last decade. that was one of the reasons why we saw the huge housing boom and collapse and banking crisis and so on. everybody, really, in whatever way big or small has a bit of responsibility for the situation, doesn't it? >> for me, it's never about pointing blame. so easy to point fingers. in america, we can't get caught up in the finger-pointing blame. yes, there are problems with big banks and packaging of these mortgages but also people, i saw

the ex-slave -- excuse me, frederick douglass, for example, maintained that no one had done more for the progress of black people in america than harriet beecher stowe. but how could "uncle tom's cabin" become a catalyst of civil rights? after all, that's not how most people today see the novel. whose title character, uncle tom, has become a buy word for a spineless sellout, someone who betrays his own race. we tend to think of the novel as an old-fashioned, sentimental affair that features the death of an on see question crouse enslaved black man and his blond, angelic child friend, little eva. but this view, this negative view of the novel is egregiously inaccurate. it does a gross injustice to "uncle tom's cabin." uncle tom in the novel is actually a muscular, dignified man in his 40s who is notable precisely because he does not betray his race. one reason he passes up a chance to escape from his kentucky plantation is that he doesn't want to put his fellow slaves in danger. and later on he endures a brutal whipping which leads to his death because he refuses to tell his master wh

that's why frederick douglass had to write three autobiographies and had he lived he might have read more. we have to give up what we think about it and then begin to use that taxed differently with all the stuff that manning brought to us. [applause] i was going to also suggest that this sort of like a discussion about the bible because of the way people respond but i guess i want to suggest it's not like a discussion about the bible because i think part of our problem is we read books like they are religious text. religion in and of itself is irrational. you believe it even though you can't scientifically proved all the stuff you believe what you believe, and too often particularly when it comes to our heroes we read about them and internalize stories about them as though they are a religious figure and so we cut off our critical faculties and become invested in perpetuating certain myths and it happened with martin for many years it's just we've been through the process and sometimes we don't remember how much people were invested in the mythology about martin luther king jr. who

so some extent on the military with frederick douglass. african-american soldiers. he was a ground breaker in that way and public about it. the other interesting is as far as how the african-americans around him affected his policies and his at -- attitudes. people might not realize that lincoln for a quarter of the presidency lived at soldiers home. it was a home for soldiers in civil war about three miles from the white house. he commuted to the white house from there. during that trip, he could often stop at contraband camps, camps for freed african-americans who were living in the washington area. and they would make a big effort to impress lincoln. they could dress in their finest close. men wearing civil war, both the gray and the blue they got for battle fields. they'd line up and sing spirituals and entertainment with these spirituals. and he was so moved to tearing often that a lot of people around him thought this sort of deepened his commitment to abolition and to emancipation. just being in the presence of the african-americans had somebody slaves and ta

when it comes to black history month we have our black people i love them all, frederick douglass and martin luther king, put your head down. she just did. the point is this. we have black people who people don't know who are so important. par la harris in new york. a phenomenal woman. this brother who is a philanthropist, a leader who is phenomenal. st. john, television and radio personality in the 1950s. we should resonate with her. she decided to be a broker. the first black woman to pass the new york stock exchange exam. come john now! give the sister some love. [applause] naomi sims. she was just a model. she was also a phenomenal -- mary ann dragons, black woman on wall street. i list these people because it is important. we don't want to just say we have static figures. we have dynamic human beings we might walk across at the starbucks. that for you, the work you have done around your antecedent is important. it is very important for us to be clear that economic history is the history must love and lift it up. >> i want to close that because i have a disconnect. a believe in ce

the ex sleeve progress of the excuse me, frederick douglass for example maintained that no one had done more for the progress of black people in america than harriet beecher stowe. but how could a uncle tom's cabin become a catalyst of civil rights? after all, that is not how most people to d.c. the novel whose title character has become a byword for a spineless sellout, someone who betrays his own race we tend to think of the novel as an old fashioned sentimental share that features the deaths of an obsequious enslaved black man and his blond angelika child trend, little eva, but this view of the model is egregiously inaccurate does a gross injustice to uncle tom's cabin. uncle, in the novel is a muscular dignified man in his 40's whose notable precisely because he does not betray his risks. one reason he passes the chance to skate from his kentucky plantation is that he doesn't want to put his fellow sleeves in danger and later on he indoors a brutal whiping which leads to his death. because he refuses to tell his master where the two enslaved black women are hiding. as for a little e

self-made african-american of the 20th century, and that's a huge tradition because we have got frederick douglass, we've got david walker, we've got harriet tubman, and these self-made black men and women talked about self-determination. so the bulk of that book is a dramatic example of the way in be which malcolm's call for political determination was also reflected in his personal life. because his family are actually pioneers of black nationalism sent to omaha, nebraska, and who are run out of omaha, nebraska, by racial terrorists, by white supremacists who are eventually run out of lansing. and his father is killed and lynched in lansing. so when we think about malcolm x, malcolm x transforms himself over time based on the situation that he finds himself in. he finds himself growing up in an america where small d democracy does not exist, and even though he joins the nation of islam and talks about armageddon and says that the whole country is doomed, malcolm spends the rest of his life trying to transform these institutions even to the point, like sonia sanchez said, when he becomes this hum

the united states raising children, but just read the saves' narratives and the biography of frederick douglass, there was no marriage between slaves and children were torn away and those who had given birth and they were torn away from each other. slavery was a destructive part of this country. and i would suggest if we are negotiating the debt ceiling, we should not have leaders in the room that make a statement that we'll have no resolution because president obama is president. i'm insulted and offended and it is not becoming as adults. it is raceist and hypocritical. the speaker pro tempore: under the speaker's announced policy of january 5, 2011, mr. duncan is recognized for 60 minutes. mr. duncan: the last congress was known oose taxation and regulation. this congress is working to be the congress of free markets, achieving american independence and job creation. back in may, the house passed three pieces of legislation designed to help end our dependence on middle eastern oil and allowing deep sea energy exploration and production. tonight we are going to talk about american energy indep

i love frederick douglass, but i'm sure that if somebody else, it's mrs. douglas are writing the story -- and just pain. as african american people, we are very protective of our heroes, very protective of them. sometimes it is to the exclusion of wanting to accept them as men and women. here's the danger and that's why i like this book. too much of precisely what melissa said his true, you know, about malcolm becoming a talisman, what we do what we mythologize figures like malcolm x and martin luther king is the scare of people from thinking that they can be leaders. they make it look like it a magical, mystical tours do you have to be born into it and then you have to be in prison and to anoint you. we make it all sound like magic. and it's not magic. these are men and women and they are human beings. and everyone has the potential to be a great leader. and so i always feel that when we begin to get these tax that help us humanize, you know, i like the boring parts of the book. i like just the day to day going down to mosque number seven, having this con