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 Duke University is a Private university, private research university in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity, North Carolina, Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1 ...

. An

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, he frequently wrote on racial issues. In 1999, Raspberry received the Elijah Parish Lovejoy Award as well as an honorary

Doctor of Laws A Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) is a doctoral degree in legal studies. The abbreviation LL.D. stands for ''Legum Doctor'', with the double “L” in the abbreviation referring to the early practice in the University of Cambridge to teach both canon law ...

degree from

Colby College Colby College is a private liberal arts college in Waterville, Maine, United States. Founded in 1813 as the Maine Literary and Theological Institution, it was renamed Waterville College in 1821. The donations of Christian philanthropist Gardner ...

Career

After earning a B.S. in history at the University of Indianapolis 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 ...

'' where he had begun in 1956, rising to associate managing editor. He was drafted and served as a U.S. Army public information officer from 1960–1962. The ''

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'' 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 The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fo ...

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 Rights affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the death penalty for homosexuality. Not ...

, writing at least one column condemning gay-bashing.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'', 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 was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

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, Chickasaw County, Mississippi, United States. It is located near the eastern border of the county. The population was 2,692 at the 2010 United States Census, ...

. Raspberry was an alumnus of Okolona College. He is the author of ''Looking Backward at Us'', a collection of his columns from the 1980s.

Death

Raspberry died of

prostate cancer Prostate cancer is the neoplasm, uncontrolled growth of cells in the prostate, a gland in the male reproductive system below the bladder. Abnormal growth of the prostate tissue is usually detected through Screening (medicine), screening tests, ...

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 (Washington, D.C.), Petworth neighborhood of Washington, D.C., across ...

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 journalists American columnists Deaths from prostate cancer in Washington, D.C. Duke University faculty Elijah Parish Lovejoy Award recipients Pulitzer Prize for Commentary winners The Washington Post people People from Okolona, Mississippi Journalists from Indiana University of Indianapolis alumni Journalists from Mississippi Burials at Rock Creek Cemetery 20th-century African-American writers 21st-century African-American writers