That’s not very neighborly...
Senate just passed a bill that will cut $1.1 billion from public media, effectively decimating PBS and NPR. In the wake of the news, a video of Fred Rogers, the late host of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, testifying before Congress in 1969 is going viral.
Among those who shared the video are the X accounts @TheDemocrats and @cspanhistory:
The speech was about the vital need to protect public services like PBS, NPR, and their local affiliates, because of they value they bring to communities—especially children.
His words are as powerful as ever in the wake of the new cuts, with one X user saying, “We need Mr. Rogers back here or something to convince some cold hearted people about the value of public media. And particularly the programs on PBS.”
We’ve Been Here Before
As the saying goes, history has a way of repeating itself.
In 1969, President Richard Nixon and the Republican party put proposed a plan in Congress to slash funding for public broadcasting from $20 million down to $10 million.
At the time, Rogers was the host of the beloved show, Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, a children’s program devoted to helping kids understand and express their feelings.
With public media on the chopping block, he headed to Congress armed with his cardigan, his kindness, and a passionate conviction for his work—and delivered what may just be the most soft-spoken mic drop in congressional history.
“We deal with such things as the inner drama of childhood,” he said. “We deal with such things as getting a haircut, or the feelings about brothers and sisters, the kind of anger that arises in simple family situations. And we deal with it constructively.”
When a senator asked him to explain further, Rogers offered this:
“I end the program every day by saying, ‘You’ve made this day a special day, by just your being you. There’s no person in the whole world like you. And I like you, just the way you are,’” he said.
“If we in public television can make it clear that feelings are mentionable and manageable, we’ll have done a great service for mental health.”
Miraculously, the senator agrees. He laughed and replied: “I think that’s wonderful. Looks like you just got your $20 million.”
The Message Still Resonates
Based on the reactions online, Rogers’ message still resonates as strongly as it did five decades ago.
“Fred Rogers believed in the power of public media. So do we,” one X account wrote.
Fred Rogers is no longer here to gently remind politicians about the harm done, especially to children, when public services are canceled. But maybe, just maybe, if we apply the lessons he taught us in Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood—to listen with kindness, to honor every person’s worth, and to face challenges with patience and empathy—we can still protect the things that make our communities whole.
