When I was a mere lad in elementary school, the extent of black history taught was mentions of Rosa Parks and George Washington Carver and his peanut research. Although Mr. Carver’s more than 300 uses of the peanut overshadowed his work as an environmental chemist and agronomist who helped restore southern agriculture after soil depletion, his contributions to not only peanut but also sweet potato science cannot be denied. I often wear a sweatshirt that reads, “NAH,” Rosa Parks, 1955. For most of my young life, I believe that the honorable Ms. Parks’ act was an accidental act of defiance. Later, I learned that Ms. Parks was chosen, and her move to defy segregation on the buses in Montgomery, Alabama, was a tactic devised by brilliant strategists in the NAACP and civil rights lawyers.
Minimizing the accomplishments of others is the height of narcissism and insecurity. Reducing Mr. Carver to the peanut guy, or Ms. Parks to just tiredly stumbling into history, is a continued tactic to diminish the impact of courageous and great Americans. The Super Bowl performance of a year ago by Kendrick Lamar faced some of the same critics that went after Benito Antonio Martinez Ocasio (Bad Bunny). Ironically, Lamar’s hit song ‘Not Like Us’—directed at rival rapper Drake—was the theme of his performance. He used imagery that told of inequity, race, and injustice. White Supremacy in this country has bastardized that theme for hundreds of years, but people of color are told that we do not see what we see or live what we live. The basis of White Supremacy is to hide from the truth with their perceived view of reverse oppression. The controversy of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) may be the biggest example of insecurity since whites-only water fountains.
What is objectionable about diversity unless you do not want to be in proximity with those who are Not Like You? Equity is scary to bigots and racists because it demands competition with people who are Not Like You. Non-inclusion meant segregated schools, segregated hospitals, segregated housing, and those insults followed black people into the grave with segregated cemeteries. Segments of MAGA would tell you that those types of biases no longer exist and are ridiculous to discuss, but who decides? The President has decided that Dr. King’s birthday no longer warrants free admission to National Parks. Mentions of enslaved people are a detriment to the memory of whites, he says. Jackie Robinson and the Tuskegee Airmen’s contributions to American life and freedom have all come under question.
History is a living guide that lights the path to the future; without it, we would stumble around in the darkness of our mistakes forever. The latest example of dehumanizing Black Americans to feed a narcissist happened just last week when the current President of the United States liked and republished a meme depicting President Barack Obama as an ape. This old trope repeats the dark path of history, mirroring a 1936 sports writer’s description of boxer Joe Louis. Margaret Garrahan of the Birmingham News described Louis as a “tan-skinned throw-back to the creature of primitive swamps who gloried in battles and blood.” All of us have front doors, bedroom doors, and bathroom doors. Did you know that without the invention of a young black inventor, you would not be able to get out or get in easily? Yes, 16-year-old Osbourn Dorsey is responsible for the modern doorknob. On your way home, salute the traffic light that keeps you from careening into oncoming traffic. Yes, Garret Morgan, another black inventor, patented the 3-position stoplight.
The men mentioned above are but two of the black male and female inventors who made America great. It is okay to spread the word, call a friend, and thank Shirley Ann Jackson. Judged in a vacuum, these people are no better than any other scientists, but their accomplishments tugged at the frayed nerves of the insecure who need to rise by keeping others down, or is it in their place?
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