A Lesson in Black History! Fed Up with African Americans
A very humorous and revealing story is told about a group of white people
who were fed up with African Americans, so they joined together and wished
themselves away. They passed through a deep dark tunnel and emerged in
sort of a twilight zone where there is an America without Black people. At
first these white people breathe a sigh of relief. At last, they said,
No more crime, drugs, violence and welfare. All of the Blacks have gone!
Then suddenly, reality set in. The "NEW AMERICA" is not America at
all-only a barren land.
1. There are very few crops that have flourished because the nation was
built on a slave-supported system.
2. There are no cities with tall skyscrapers because Alexander Mils, a
Black man, invented the elevator, and without it one finds great
difficulty reaching higher floors.
3. There are few if any cars because Richard Spikes, a Black man,
invented the automatic gear shift, Joseph Gambol, also Black, invented the
Super Charge System for Internal Combustion Engines, and Garrett A.
Morgan, a Black man, invented the traffic signals.
4. Furthermore, one could not use the rapid transit system because it's
procurser was the electric trolley, which was invented by another Black
man, Albert R. Robinson.
5. Even if there were streets on which cars and a rapid transit system
could operate, they were cluttered with paper because an African American,
Charles Brooks, invented the street sweeper.
6. There were few if any newspapers, magazines and books because John Love
invented the pencil sharpener, William Purveys invented the fountain pen,
Lee Barrage invented the Type Writing Machine and W. A. Love invented the
Advanced Printing Press. They were all, you guessed it, Black.
7. Even if Americans could write their letters, articles and books, they
would not have been transported by mail because William Barry invented the
Postmarking and Canceling Machine, William Purveys invented the Hand Stamp
and Philip Downing invented the Letter Drop.
8. The lawns were brown and wilted because Joseph Smith invented the Lawn
Sprinkler and John Burr the Lawn Mower.
9. When they entered their homes, they found them to be poorly ventilated
and poorly heated. You see, Frederick Jones invented the Air Conditioner
and Alice Parker the Heating Furnace. Their homes were also dim. But of
course, Lewis Later invented the Electric Lamp, Michael Harvey invented
the lantern and Granville T. Woods invented the Automatic Cut off Switch.
Their homes were also filthy because Thomas W. Steward invented the Mop &
Lloyd P. Ray the Dust Pan.
10. Their children met them at the door-barefooted, shabby, motley and
unkempt. But what could one expect? Jan E. Matzelinger invented the Shoe
Lasting Machine, Walter Sammons invented the Comb, Sarah Boone invented
the Ironing Board and George T. Samon invented the Clothes Dryer.
11. Finally, they were resigned to at least have dinner amidst all of this
turmoil. But here again, the food had spoiled because another Black Man,
John Standard invented the refrigerator.
Now, isn't that something? What would this Country be like without the
contributions of Blacks, as African-Americans?
Martin Luther King, Jr., "by the time we leave for work, Americans have
depended on the inventions from the minds of Blacks."
Black history includes more than just slavery, Frederick Douglass, Martin
Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, Marcus Garvey & W.E.B.Dubois.
Black History Month 2003
by sableindian 90 Replies latest forum announcements
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sableindian
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Swan
Good article sableindian!
Thank you!
Tammy
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funkyderek
Alexander Mils, a Black man, invented the elevator
Not true: http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blelevator.htm
John Love invented the pencil sharpener
Not true: http://www.bergen.org/AAST/projects/Engineering_Graphics/pencil_sharpener/oldtable.html
William Purveys invented the fountain pen
Not true: http://www.vintagepens.com/FAQhistory/who_invented_fountain_pen.shtml
Lee Barrage invented the Type Writing Machine
Not true: http://www.mit.edu/~jcb/Dvorak/history.html
I know a few of the rest are actually true, but I'm not going to trawl the Internet looking for the inventor of the dustpan! Yeah, us poor white morons wouldn't have been able to invent a flat piece of plastic. What pointless racist nonsense!
Edited by - funkyderek on 8 February 2003 9:49:17
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back2dafront
Funkyderek,
Who knows. about.com contradicts you:
http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/bllove.htm
I would have to agree though...that just because these black people invented things does not mean that someone else, white or hispanic, could not and would not invent the same thing at some point down the road.
I think the story is designed to illustrate how blacks have had a big part in inventing things. To take it any further than that would be a little unrealistic IMO.
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SixofNine
I think the story is designed to illustrate how blacks have had a big part in inventing things.
It should be scrupulously accurate, lest blacks become known for inventing bullshit stories.
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funkyderek
Who knows. about.com contradicts you:
No, it says John Love designed a pencil sharpener, a rather nifty mechanical one, as it happens, but he certainly didn't invent the pencil sharpener. It's absurd to say we'd all be going around with blunt pencils if he'd never been born.
It should be scrupulously accurate, lest blacks become known for inventing bullshit stories.
No, it should be scrupulously accurate lest sableindian becomes known for inventing bullshit stories. (although she just "borrowed" this one.) I don't think she produces this kind of nonsense because she's black. White racists use similar tactics.
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animal
In the army, I learned to ignore color.... to trust whom ever is in your foxhole protecting your life, and you his.
To me, the race card is more of a political tool than a way of life for most people. Keeping us divided is a major way for polititcians to climb that ladder to the top, by pitting us against each other. Until all people see this for what it is and ignore it, it wont end.
As for jobs and the race issue, I dont see many blacks in my line of work (engineering). I do see many orientals and spanish, but not blacks. I have no clue why, nor do I worry about it, just something I noticed.
Animal
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back2dafront
Animal,
I agree about the political thing. Also, I've noticed few blacks where I work in the semiconductor business. There are a BUNCH of Middle Easteners however, as well as Asians - I'd say just as many as whites.
Go figure.
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Valis
Let us not forget this man, whom we all owe a great bit of indebtedness. His early work in computing led to much of the computer technology we have today..he was also the first African American to hold a PHD in Computer Science...definitely someone I admire.
Sincerely,
District Overbeer
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sableindian
Semiconductor and production Engineer for 10 years. Motorola, Illinois and Texas. Laid off. Know a lot of other "Black" engineers who were and still are laid off. Know others, "Black Africans, Hispanics" who are not laid off. Someone has to make these decisions. I'm now working for myself and enjoying the time.
NIGERIAN-born Dr. Philip Emeagwali has an enviable reputation in the oil industry for his achievements in computing, gathering a hatful of awards from around the world.Black Men of Valour
He first shot to fame in 1989 when he won the coveted Gordon Bell Prize for his work with massively parallel computers. He programmed the Connection Machine to compute a world record 3.1 billion calculations per second using 65,536 processors to simulate oil reservoirs.
He has been busy recently on work that could lead to a better understanding of reservoir mechanics and enhance field recovery, and the laurels keep coming.
Emeagwali is proud of his success "as an unorthodox researcher", tying together hard-won expertise in science, mathematics, engineering and computing.
