William Raspberry
William Raspberry (born October 12, 1935 in Okolona, Mississippi) is a former Pulitzer Prize-winning syndicated American public affairs columnist. He was also the Knight Professor of the Practice of Communications and Journalism at the Sanford Institute of Public Policy at Duke University. An African-American, he frequently wrote on racial issues.
In 1999, Raspberry received the Elijah Parish Lovejoy Award as well as an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Colby College.
After earning a B.S. in history at the University of Indianapolis in 1958, Raspberry served as a public information officer with the U.S. Army from 1960 to 1962. He also worked for the Indianapolis Recorder in 1956. He later joined staff of the Washington Post as a teletypist in 1962. [1] Raspberry quickly rose in the ranks of the paper, becoming a columnist in 1966. Raspberry was first nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in 1982, and won the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary in 1994.
Raspberry sometimes supported gay rights, writing at least one column condemning gay-bashing.[2][3][4] He argued against certain torts and complaints from the disabled.[5] The Ragged Edge, a disabled-rights publication, published complaints from letters to the editor that the Post did not print.[4]
He retired in December 2005.[6] He provided the Washington Post a guest column on November 11, 2008, commenting on the election of Barack Obama as president of the United States.[7]
As of 2008, he was president of "Baby Steps", a parent training and empowerment program based in Okolona, Mississippi.[7]
He is the author of Looking Backward at Us, a collection of his columns from the 1980s.
[edit] Quotes
- "You cannot claim both the full equality and special dispensation".[8]
[edit] References
- ^ "William Raspberry".
- ^ Archive Search for "William Raspberry" gay, archival list of William Raspberry's columns on gay issues at the Washington Post 1993-2005.
- ^ Raspberry, William. What Are Gay-Bashers Afraid Of?. November 2, 1998, Washington Post. Accessed May 23, 2009.
- ^ a b Raspberry's target denied response in print, March 1999, Ragged Edge Magazine.
- ^ Raspberry, William. Claims Against Common Sense. November 16, 1998, Washington Post via archive accessed May 23, 2009.
- ^ Raspberry, William. What I'll Do Next. December 26, 2005, Washington Post. Accessed May 23, 2009.
- ^ a b Raspberry, William. A Path Beyond Grievance. November 11, 2008, Washington Post. Accessed May 23, 2009.
- ^ D'Souza, Dinesh. Illiberal Education at p. 238.
[edit] External links
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