Frederick Douglass Mural In His Hometown, Easton, Md Draws Some Divisions: NPR

[appalachiablue]

A Frederick Douglass mural in his hometown in Maryland draws some divisions, Dec. 21, 2023, NPR.

A small town on Maryland's Eastern Shore has found itself divided over a new mural depiction of the county's most elder statesman, Frederick Douglass. On the wall outside of the Out of the Fire restaurant in Easton, a 21-foot-tall Douglass is seen posed in a slim, European-cut suit, high-top white Converse sneakers, and an oversized wristwatch — squatting like he's posing for Instagram.

His facial expression is the same look of defiance often captured on the 19th- century's most photographed figure, and behind him, dripping graffiti reads the word "Liberty." Restaurant owner Amy Haines and her husband, Richard Marks, said they ordered the larger-than-life portrait of Douglass as a way to honor the famed abolitionist and to bring more public art to Easton.

We always felt that the one wall, the very substantial wall on Washington Street, should have a mural, and it should be Frederick Douglass," Marks said. "When we came across a print that our friend sent us — a copy of Frederick Douglass in a contemporary setting — we looked at it and felt very strongly that if we were going to move forward with the mural, that would be a great image to have."

The portrait has been up for just over a month, but already, some members of the community have spoken out against the image, including a number of Douglass' descendants who say the portrayal is humiliating. "Cousin Jack called me and said, 'Have you seen that mural they got up on the wall? Got Uncle Frederick looking like a hoodlum,' " said Tarence Bailey, a fifth-generation descendant of Douglass...
https://www.npr.org/2023/12/21/1219768084/a-frederick-douglass-mural-in-his-hometown-in-maryland-draws-some-divisions