Fw: [ANTI-RACISM] NEWS: February - Black History Month

[KXX4493553 at aol.com]

Thema:   Fw:      [ANTI-RACISM] NEWS: February - Black History Month
Datum:  25.02.01 14:12:18 (MEZ) Mitteleuropäische Zeit
 
 
> /=======================================================================\
> * Weiner's Law of Libraries: There are no answers, only cross-references.
> \========================================================================/
>
> This was from my inbox:
>
> Black History month is upon us...
>
> A very humorous and revealing story is told about a group of white people
> who fed up with African Americans, 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 say, no more crime,
> drugs, violence and welfare. All of the blacks have gone!! Then suddenly,
> reality sets 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 high floors.
>
> 3.  There are few if any cars because Richard Spikes, a black man,
invented
> the automatic gear shift, Joseph Gammell, also black, invented the Super
> Charge System for Internal Combustion Engines, and Garrett A. Morgan
> invented the traffic signals.
>
> 4.  Furthermore, one could not use the rapid transit system because its
> precursor was the electric trolley, which was invented by another black
man,
> Elbert 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 Purvis invented the fountain pen,
Lee
> Burridge invented the Type Writing Machine and W. A. Lovette 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 Purvis invented the Hand Stamp
and
> Phillip 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 Latimer 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.
>
> 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 world be like without the
> contributions of Black folks?
>
> Martin Luther King, Jr. said, "that by the time we leave for work, we have
> been dependent on half the world's modern inventions that came from the
> minds of Black folks."  Black history includes more than just slavery,
> Frederick  Duglass, Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, Marcus Garvey and
> Dubois.



Kurt-Werner Pörtner