A very humorous and revealing story is
told about a group of people who were fed up with African Americans,
so they joined together and wished them 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 people breathed 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.
- There are very few crops that have
flourished because the nation was built on a slave-supported
system.
- There are not cities with tall
skyscrapers because Alexander Mils, a black man, invented
the elevator, and without it, one finds great difficulty
reaching higher floors.
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Richard Spikes, |
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Garrett A.
Morgan |
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Jan E. Matzelinger |
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Frederick
Jones |
- There are few if any cars because
Richard Spikes, a black man, invented the automatic
gearshift, Joseph Gambol, also black, invented the Super
Charge System for Internal Combustion Engines, and Garrett A.
Morgan, a black man, invented the traffic signals.
- Furthermore, one could not use the
rapid transit system because its procurer was the electric
trolley, which was invented by another black man, Albert R.
Robinson.
- 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.
- There were few if any newspapers,
magazines and books because John Love invented the pencil
sharpener, William Purveys invented the fountain pen, and Lee
Barrage invented the Type Writing Machine and W.A. Love
invented the Advanced Printing Press. They were all, you guessed
it, Black
- 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.
- The lawns were brown and wilted
because Joseph Smith invented the Lawn Sprinkler and John Burr
the Lawn Mower.
- 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 Lattimer 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 and Lloyd P. Ray the
Dust Pan.
- 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.
- 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. said, "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, and
Marcus Garvey & W.E.B.
Dubois.
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