Penny Thoughts: African Influence on America

The history of the United States is replete with mistakes, retakes, re-examination, apologies and acknowledgements for some of its actions, whether they have been political, social, economic, or moral.  We have grown in spite of ourselves owing primarily, in my humble estimation, to the constant interplay of the various cultures which have sought refuge under the blanket of freedoms our founders set as “givens” in their idea of a perfect social order.

Periodically part of that history has come back to haunt us, and we have attempted to make amends through sincere acknowledgements and solid legislation – to wit, the legislation which re-established basic civil rights for all citizens was a direct outgrowth of our concern over the treatment of citizens whose heritage had been framed by slavery.

As an extension of this kind of growth, we have seen the recognition of February as “African American History Month.”  It is good to have such a designation since there have been so many who have made contributions to our country who have not been recognized merely because of their heritage.  And in a sense, we all have been robbed for not knowing that Americans of African descent have made significant contributions to our culture.

It is my considered belief that when our founders had the chance, they deferred action on two major issues which have impacted America immeasurably.  One was the abolition of slavery and the other was voting for women.  They had the chance in the Constitutional Convention in 1787-89.  For a myriad of mostly political or economic reasons, they denied women and Africans in America basic citizenship rights.

The greatest price we have paid for such deferred attention cannot be measured because we can only extrapolate the intellectual, artistic, and scholastic achievements which were never realized because of lack of opportunity given to these two segments of our citizenry.

With it all, there has been a number of African Americans who pressed on even in spite of slavery and who have left lasting impressions on this nation called America.  I am not talking about the athletes, musicians or actors here.  We seem to have a sense that such stations in life are the summum bonum of American accomplishment.

Those whom I wish to see acknowledged begin with such figures as George Washington Carver, familiar to us here in Alabama because of his affiliation with Tuskegee University.  Carver was born into slavery but earned degrees at what is now Iowa State University.  His work in agriculture influenced farming in the South with specific applications to the peanut, soybean, sweet potato, and pecan cultivating industries.  More importantly, Professor Carver left a lasting impact on how we approach agriculture as an academic endeavor.

There are many others in the fields of science and invention, and it is worthwhile to cite a precious few here because while we all love a good movie with good acting, and we love a great athlete, those accomplishments are for the moment only and are confined to very narrow conventions of appreciation.

Those who have labored in a laboratory for years seeking some kind of solution to a human problem are the real heroes in my estimation, for their contributions affect all of us and not just those for whom there is an esoteric understanding. 

America’s history and advancement have been fostered by the many African Americans who have made this kind of sacrifice and contribution.

There are African Americans like Dr. Daniel Hale Williams (1856-1931), who performed the first open-heart surgery in 1893 and was the founder of Provident Hospital in Chicago. 

Then there’s Dr. Charles Richard Drew (1904-1950), who is particularly noted for his research in blood plasma and for setting up the first blood bank.

Benjamin Banneker (1731-1806) was self-taught and is best known for publishing an almanac based on his astronomical calculations.  He was known as a mathematical wizard in his day.

Lewis Howard Latimer (1848-1929) was the only African American member of Thomas Edison’s engineering laboratory.  He invented an electric lamp and a carbon filament for light bulbs (patented 1881, 1882).

Frederick McKinley Jones (1892-1961), an accomplished mechanic, invented a self-starting gas engine and a series of devices for movie projectors. More importantly, he invented the first automatic refrigeration system for long-haul trucks (1935). Jones was awarded more than 40 patents in the field of refrigeration.

Norbert Rillieux (1806-1894) developed an evaporator for refining sugar, which he patented in 1846. Rillieux’s evaporation technique is still used in the sugar industry and in the manufacture of soap and other products.

Today, we are blessed with Dr. Ben S. Carson (1951-present), an accomplished neurosurgeon whose achievements include successfully separating twins conjoined at the back of the head and performing the first successful neurosurgical procedure on a fetus in the womb.  In 2017, he was appointed Secretary of Housing and Urban Development by President Donald Trump.

This is just a sampling of Americans of African descent who have contributed to the tapestry which we call America and it is obvious that the scribes of our history have not granted them the same notoriety as their European counterparts.  In part, that is what African American History Month seeks to ameliorate.

So, as this month progresses, I believe it would  be worth our while to celebrate all of those who have contributed to what and who we are as a culture more frequently as a matter of course, and not confine it to the shortest month on the calendar.

In so doing, we all become better informed, more enlightened, and ultimately, better Americans because we have a broader appreciation of those who have contributed regardless of their heritage.

And it is important to remember that they were AMERICANS who happen to be of African descent.