Way Back Jack wrote:
> On 28 Jul 2006 21:53:57 -0700, "laraine" <lariadc@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>
> >Byker wrote:
> >> "sawa" <sawa@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
> >> news:a0217$44b4c2bf$50f0c4e2$6914@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> >> > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_American
> >> >
> >> >
> >> > From their earliest presence in North America, Africans and African
> >> > Americans have contributed literature, art, agricultural skills,
foods,
> >> > clothing styles, music, language, social and technological
innovation to
> >> > American culture.
> >>
> >> (bull**** snipped)
> >>
> >> Black Invention Myths
> >>
> >> Perhaps you've heard the claims: Were it not for the genius and
energy of
> >> African-American inventors, we might find ourselves in a world
without
> >> traffic lights, peanut butter, blood banks, light bulb filaments, and
a vast
> >> number of other things we now take for granted but could hardly
imagine life
> >> without.
> >>
> >> Such beliefs usually originate in books or articles about black
history.
> >> Since many of the authors have little interest in the history of
technology
> >> outside of advertising black contributions to it, their stories tend
to be
> >> fraught with misunderstandings, wishful thinking, or fanciful
embellishments
> >> with no historical basis. The lack of historical perspective leads to
> >> extravagant overestimations of originality and im****tance: sometimes
a
> >> slightly modified version of a pre-existing piece of technology is
mistaken
> >> for the first invention of its type; sometimes a patent or innovation
with
> >> little or no lasting value is ****trayed as a major advance, even if
there's
> >> no real evidence it was ever used.
> >>
> >> Unfortunately, some of the errors and exaggerations have acquired an
> >> illusion of credibility by repetition in mainstream outlets,
especially
> >> during Black History Month (see examples for the traffic light and
ironing
> >> board). When myths go unchallenged for too long, they begin to
eclipse the
> >> truth. Thus I decided to put some records straight. Although this
page does
> >> not cover every dubious invention claim floating around out there, it
should
> >> at least serve as a warning never to take any such claim for granted.
> >>
> >>
> >> http://www33.brinkster.com/iiiii/inventions/
> >
> >
> >
> >So what is being implied here, if one
> >deconstructs your text a bit, is that
> >African-Americans have been quite
> >involved in the sciences and with
> >invention, much more than most of
> >us generally realize, in spite of the
> >fact that, in the past, they were often
> >not admitted to many universities simply
> >because of the color of their skin.
> >And it is also true that the exact details
> >of their contributions have sometimes
> >been mythologized, just as contributions
> >of many historical figures have been.
>
> Actually, American society has bent over backwards to try to educate
> blacks but as long as black youth have the prevailing thought "Oh
> edumacaushun be a whyte thang." it ain't gonna happen, hon.
>
I'm being quite serious here.
We're talking about the late 19th and early 20th
century, when Jim Crow laws in the South
segregated schools, and talented blacks
generally attended 'Negro colleges,' which
sometimes emphasized more of a community
college atmosphere rather than a university one.
I'm not sure about the situation in the North--
DuBois did graduate from Harvard in 1890.
>
> >Good to know. I looked up a few
> >of the names in wikipedia to learn
> >more, and got information about some
> >very accomplished people indeed.
> >
> >C. (laraine)
>
> If you choose to live in fantasy world, knock y'self out.
Wikipedia describes a fantasy world???
C.
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