William Raspberry (October 12, 1935 – July 17, 2012) was an American syndicated 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 African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, he frequently wrote on racial issues. In 1999, Raspberry received the

Elijah Parish Lovejoy Elijah Parish Lovejoy (November 9, 1802 – November 7, 1837) was an American Presbyterianism, Presbyterian Minister (Christianity), minister, journalist, Editing, newspaper editor, and Abolitionism in the United States, abolitionist. Followin ...

Award as well as an honorary

Doctor of Laws A Doctor of Law is a degree in law. The application of the term varies from country to country and includes degrees such as the Doctor of Juridical Science (J.S.D. or S.J.D), Juris Doctor (J.D.), Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), and Legum Doctor ...

degree from

Colby College Colby College is a private liberal arts college in Waterville, Maine. It was founded in 1813 as the Maine Literary and Theological Institution, then renamed Waterville College after the city where it resides. The donations of Christian philant ...

Career

After earning a B.S. in history at the

University of Indianapolis The University of Indianapolis (UIndy) is a private United Methodist Church-affiliated university in Indianapolis, Indiana. It offers Associate, Bachelor's, Master's, and Doctoral degrees. It was founded in 1902 as Indiana Central University and ...

in 1958, Raspberry continued to work at the local weekly ''

Indianapolis Recorder The ''Indianapolis Recorder'' is an American weekly newspaper based in Indianapolis, Indiana. First published in 1895, the ''Recorder'' is the longest-running African-American newspaper in Indiana and fourth in the U.S. History The newspaper w ...

'' where he had begun in 1956, rising to associate managing editor. He was drafted and served as a

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

public information officer from 1960–1962. The ''

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large na ...

'' hired him as a teletypist in 1962. Raspberry quickly rose in the ranks of the paper, becoming a columnist in 1966. Raspberry was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in 1982, and won the

Pulitzer Prize for Commentary The Pulitzer Prize for Commentary is an award administered by the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism "for distinguished commentary, using any available journalistic tool". It is one of the fourteen American Pulitzer Prizes that are ...

in 1994. Raspberry supported gay rights, writing at least one column condemning

gay-bashing Gay bashing is an attack, abuse, or assault committed against a person who is perceived by the aggressor to be gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT). It includes both violence against LGBT people and LGBT bullying. The term covers vio ...

.Archive Search for "William Raspberry" gay
archival list of William Raspberry's columns on gay issues at the Washington Post 1993-2005. He argued against certain torts and complaints from the disabled. ''

Ragged Edge ''The Disability Rag'' (also known as ''Ragged Edge'' magazine) was a periodical published between 1980 and 2004 as a subscription-based print publication, and as an online publication from 1997 to 2007. In addition to covering the disability in ...

'', a disabled-rights publication, published complaints from letters to the editor that the ''Post'' did not print. Raspberry retired in December 2005. He provided the ''Washington Post'' a guest column on November 11, 2008, commenting on the election of

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...

as president of the United States.Raspberry, William
A Path Beyond Grievance
November 11, 2008, ''Washington Post.'' Accessed May 23, 2009. As of 2008, he was president of "Baby Steps", a parent training and empowerment program based in

Okolona, Mississippi Okolona is a city in and one of the two county seats of Chickasaw County, Mississippi, United States. It is located near the eastern border of the county. The population was 2,692 at the 2010 census. History Okolona was named as Rose Hill in ...

. Raspberry was an alumnus of

Okolona College Okolona College, was a college for African Americans in Okolona, Mississippi, Chickasaw County, Mississippi. The school is located on Mississippi Highway 245 1.1 miles north of the junction with Mississippi Highway 32 and Mississippi Highway 41. I ...

. He is the author of ''Looking Backward at Us'', a collection of his columns from the 1980s.

Death

Raspberry died of prostate cancer on July 17, 2012, aged 76. He was buried at

Rock Creek Cemetery Rock Creek Cemetery is an cemetery with a natural and rolling landscape located at Rock Creek Church Road, NW, and Webster Street, NW, off Hawaii Avenue, NE, in the Petworth neighborhood of Washington, D.C., United States. It is across the stre ...

References

External links

William Raspberry's column in ''The Washington Post''

Raspberry's Duke University Homepage

dated 2008/08/12 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Raspberry, William 1935 births 2012 deaths African-American writers African-American journalists American columnists Deaths from cancer in Washington, D.C. Deaths from prostate cancer Duke University faculty Elijah Parish Lovejoy Award recipients Pulitzer Prize for Commentary winners The Washington Post people People from Okolona, Mississippi Writers from Indiana Writers from Mississippi University of Indianapolis alumni Journalists from Mississippi Burials at Rock Creek Cemetery 20th-century African-American people 21st-century African-American people