An actor who broke barriers on 'Mister Rogers' Neighborhood' reflects on racism, healing and hope

Generations of Americans grew up with Fred Rogers on PBS. His stories were meant for children, but adults often left the neighborhood of make-believe learning more about themselves and what it means to be human.

It was in Mr. Rogers' neighborhood where millions met François Clemmons. The classically trained singer made history in 1968, becoming the first Black man with a recurring role on children's television.

As the country wrestles with inclusion and representation, and public media faces serious threats to its federal funding, I sat down with him this spring, just ahead of his 80th birthday, to ask him about his groundbreaking journey.

We started with the fateful day in Pittsburgh when he first met Fred Rogers.

François Clemmons: He was very pleased to meet me 'cause I did a concert on Good Friday and he came to that concert. He told me how touched he was. He said: "When can I see you again?" or "Can we have lunch?" I said: "Sure, as long as you pay for it."

I was not gonna pay for his lunch! I was a struggling graduate student. So I went to lunch with him and the thing that impressed me probably most is how sincere he was. He had a way of saying things. He was very patient. He gave me a permission to be myself, so I talked with him. I did all the talking. He did all the listening. But that's the nature of Fred Rogers.

Austin Cross: I understand when he asked you to play a police officer on the show you initially resisted. What made you so hesitant and what ultimately convinced you to take that role?

Clemmons: Well, at that time there was a lot of contention in the civil rights struggle all over the country. Not just the South, but the east, the middle west and San Francisco. There were real serious encounters over the issues of race.

Policemen in my day and time in Youngstown, Ohio, were very, very violent. They were not nice people. I once saw a peer of mine, one of the guys, get hit a couple times with that Billy club, and it was very, very, very sad. I told [Rogers] I could be a police officer, but I'd have to leave that uniform in the studio.

I never took it home. I said, "This feels funny because I don't have a gun. I don't have a Billy club. I don't even have a whistle to blow for help." So he said: "No, you just sing."

That seems so incredibly simplistic to me, but I did.

Cross: Did you ever ask him why he chose the role of a police officer for you as opposed to anything else?

Clemmons: Yes. I asked him, he said I would be a helper. That was the magic word, that when children travel around America and they see a policeman, if they are lost, they would go to that policeman and say: "My name is so and so, so and so. I'm lost from my parents. Will you help me?"

Fred said, "You'll take that child... and help him look for his or her parents."

Cross: One of the most memorable moments from the show was when Mr. Rogers invited you to share his kiddie pool. Can you just talk to us about the significance of that scene?

Clemmons: I can still remember now how shattering it was. I took my boots off and put my feet in the water, our feet touched, and that was like a no-no. Racially a Black man with his feet in the tub? Oh man.

So my brain was going wild, especially when he said: "Oh, I have to get back to work, so thank you for the invitation to come and sit with you." But I don't have a towel. And he said, "You can use mine."

Oh my God, I've thought about that so many times. Even to this day, I've watched the rest of the program and he dried his feet and legs with the same towel and Fred was making a statement about race. Didn't matter what color you were, if you're friends, you're friends and all that other stuff was junk.

Cross: François, what do you think that Fred Rogers would make of the current situation in America? The tensions that still continue with race and with sexual orientation.

Clemmons: Well, I think it would be very sad because some of the conduct today is just abominable. People are violent against you for no reason, and that was one of the things he said to me: "These people don't know who you are and they will never find out, so let's not carry them in our hearts, in our lives. Let it go."

Cross: The Trump administration is in the process of trying to pull funding from public media, NPR as well as PBS. What do you think might be lost if that funding gets cut?

Clemmons: It is a serious blow to the education of the public. Not just our children, but everybody. The shows on PBS are necessary to our getting our heads together and knowing who we are. I watched a lot of the programs on PBS, and of course I was on Mr. Rogers all those years, and I really, really, really feel that that was a healing wave in our country. Fred was a source and he said, "Just be yourself, friends. Just be yourself. That's enough. You'll find many ways to say, I love you."