"In honor of Mercedes Sclapp comparing Joe Biden to Mr. Rogers, watch this moment from 1969"

[Nevilledog]

Link to tweet

Tweet text: Erick Fernandez
@ErickFernandez
In honor of Mercedes Sclapp comparing Joe Biden to Mr. Rogers, watch this moment from 1969 where Rogers let his feet soak in a kiddie pool alongside "Officer Clemmons," a Black man.

Black people were still being segregated from swimming pools, so this was a very powerful moment.

[handmade34]

1. ....

[NoMoreRepugs]

2. I am an almost 71 year old male who isn't ashamed to say I LOVE Mr. Rogers and what he stood for.

[LuvNewcastle]

4. Some people might make fun of Mr. Rogers

and Joe Biden, but I appreciate the inner goodness of both men. I think more and more Americans are seeing the good in Joe and they're loving it. We've had enough strife and ugliness to last a century. It's time we remove all these shitty people away from us and try to build a civil society that cares about people. Joe Biden is just the man to lead us there.

[coti]

8. Actually, the younger generation has largely beatified Mr. Rogers, so to speak.

And, by all accounts, rightfully so.

Some say that he might be the greatest American of all time.

[magicarpet]

3. What would Jesus do...

... Mr. Rogers showed us how Jesus is done,.. and he taught the message to a national audience.

Media is the message,.. Jesus would condone every bit of this,.. it was a wonderful learning opportunity. Especially for the children in the viewing audience.

Fascist racists just can not comprehend the hidden message,... they are to blinded by their hatreds of the others to see clearly.

[grantcart]

15. Rogers was an ordained Presbyterian minister.

[patricia92243]

5. I want him to come to MY neighborhood (Joe Mr. Rogers Biden)

[coti]

6. What kind of poor schlub is named Schlapp, anyway?

You'd be a Trump supporter too if you got routinely slapped around the way Schlapp's do!

[PA Democrat]

7. I used to occasionally see Mr. Rogers in the Pittsburgh neighborhood where I lived as

a college student many years ago. I'll never forget rushing off to class one day and practically running right into him on the way out of my apartment building. I remember being so excited to see him in person.

Fred Rogers was much beloved by the people of southwestern PA and we were deeply saddened by his death. He was such a shining example for children of the importance of love, kindness and acceptance. He helped children deal with fear and grief in a scary world. So many of today's adults would benefit from Mr. Rogers lessons.

[Wounded Bear]

9. Who know Mr Rogers was such an evil liberal?

Actually never watched the show much. We had long stretches with no TV growing up. So much better than the RW attempts to raise our kids into greedy assholes.

[lillypaddle]

10. Wow. 1969 and segregation

I graduated HS in 1966, busing and integration didn't occur until a year or two after. My son was born in 1968. Seems like ancient history, but it was just here. May we never ever go back.

[nuxvomica]

11. More grit in that man than the entire R leadership

In my philosophy, the hero is the one who protects, preserves, celebrates, and encourages innocence, and his reward is bliss; the villain, instead, fears innocence, so he ridicules and attacks it, and his reward is dust.

[Olafjoy]

12. Mr. Rogers taught many lessons like this. Very gently and kindly.

Mr. Rogers was always very very kind.

[SleeplessinSoCal]

13. Tom "F'n" Hanks played him in a movie!!!

Does she think she insulted Joe?

[volstork]

14. Hoist them

By their own petard.

[Javaman]

16. there are some things that were good about the "good old days". One being Mr. Rogers.

he was so gentle and understanding.

[uponit7771]

17. I remember seeing this 8 yrs later in Germany, I thought this was regular for America & didn't know

... that America wasn't like this.

Mr Rogers set the standard for ex pat DY overseas, we came home to the US with a perspective that was hard to change

[csziggy]

18. More information about "Officer Clemons"

François Scarborough Clemmons (born April 23, 1945)[1] is an American singer, actor, playwright and university lecturer. He is perhaps best known for his appearances as "Officer Clemmons" on the PBS television series Mister Rogers' Neighborhood from 1968 to 1993.

Early life and education

Clemmons was born in Birmingham, Alabama and raised in Youngstown, Ohio.[3][4] When it was discovered that he had an excellent singing voice, he began performing locally at church functions.[4] He became choir director of his church at the age of 10.[5] His first songs were the spirituals of pre-Civil War America, passed down to him by his mother. He soon branched out across genres, singing with various community groups. For a while, he was the lead singer of a rock 'n' roll group called the Jokers.[4]

Clemmons received a Bachelor of Music degree from Oberlin College, and a Master of Fine Arts from Carnegie Mellon University. He also received an honorary degree of Doctor of Arts from Middlebury College.[4]

Metropolitan Opera

In 1968, Clemmons won the Metropolitan Opera auditions in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He went on to Cleveland, Ohio, where he won a position in the Metropolitan Opera Studio. He sang there professionally for seven seasons, performing over 70 roles with companies including The New York City Opera, Los Angeles Civic Light Opera, and Washington Civic Opera.[4]

Clemmons sang with numerous orchestras, including the Cleveland Orchestra, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, and the Philadelphia Orchestra.[4] In 1976,[6] he won a Grammy Award for a recording of Porgy and Bess; he performed the role of "Sportin' Life" over 100 times.[4][7]

Mister Rogers' Neighborhood

For 25 years, Clemmons performed the role of Officer Clemmons, a friendly neighborhood policeman, in the "Neighborhood of Make-Believe" on the children's television show Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. In the neighborhood itself, Clemmons ran a singing and dance studio located in the building diagonally across the street from Mister Rogers' house. He was one of the first African Americans to have a recurring role on a kids' TV series,[2] and his presentation – as both a beloved neighbor to Mister Rogers and as a respected authority figure – has been described as a ground-breaking message in race relations.[8] For example, in 1969, when African-Americans were not permitted to swim in community pools alongside white people, Mr. Rogers invited Officer Clemmons to cool his feet with him in a small, plastic wading pool. Mr. Rogers lent Officer Clemmons a towel to dry his feet and then used the same towel to dry his own feet, breaking a well-known color barrier.[9] Clemmons told the story of how he became "Officer Clemmons" on StoryCorps.[8]

More: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fran%C3%A7ois_Clemmons

Be sure to read the last section of the Wiki article about Mr. Clemons personal life.

Mr. Clemons also started the Harlem Spiritual Ensemble to preserve the American Negro Spiritual and at Middlebury College was the Alexander Twilight Artist in Residence and director of the Martin Luther King Spiritual Choir. He wrote his autobiography, Officer Clemons: A Memoir this year.

[blaze]

19. Thanks so much for this!!

Here is a link to his memoir:

https://www.amazon.com/Officer-Clemmons-Dr-Fran%C3%A7ois-S-ebook/dp/B07WCSLV81/ref=sr_1_1

We were not big watchers of Mr Roger's Neighborhood, so I wasn't aware of "Officer Clemmons" at all. What a life he has lived!