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Archiver > CARIBBEAN > 1999-09 > 0936450886
From: <>
Subject: [CARIBBEAN] Re: British West Indian Regiment
Date: Sat, 4 Sep 1999 09:14:46 EDT
Dear Mr. Crawford,
Thank you very much for having the integrity to admit to your error in
thinking. There are many people who neither acknowledge nor even recognize
when they are in the wrong. I appreciate that you are open-minded and secure
enough to respond in this fashion.
However "hav[ing] the impression that" African Americans' contributions in
every area of life have been negligible is a major part of the problem. Most
people in the United States (and, dare I say, the world?) do not know that a
man of African descent living in the United States invented the machine which
revolutionized the shoemaking industry. Most people are not cognizant of the
fact that the first successful open-heart surgery was performed by an African
American. Most people have no idea that the lubricating cup, a device which
for the first time allowed machinery to continue to be operating while it was
being oiled and, consequently, revolutionized both production and
transportation, was created by an African American. Most people do not
realize that an African American physician enabled the saving of millions of
lives with the work that he did in blood storage. Most people are not aware
that devices such as the ironing board, pencil sharpener, fountain pen, and
air conditioning system were invented by African American men and women. I
won't even ask you or the other listers to name these individuals, but how
many of you can state the name of even one of the African American
individuals to whom I am referring? Were you even aware that one in six
cowboys in the United States was African American? The "impression" given by
the film industry makes it appear otherwise.
Yes, it is true, as you stated, "that the relative military contributions of
those of African American descent to the US forces has grown greatly during
the past century and that the relative lack of this contribution in the
earlier part of the century was due to the prevailing racism," but it is also
true that an African American sailor in what was (I repeat WAS) the
notoriously racist and segregated US navy earned the Medal of Honor for his
valor in combat at Pearl Harbor in 1941. Even earlier, another African
American seized control of a Confederate ship during the Civil War and
successfully navigated the ship through enemy waters and delivered it to
Union forces. It is also true that in the last quarter of the 19th century
several all-black (excepting the officers, as African Americans were not
usually allowed to attain such ranks) units, called the Buffalo soldiers,
protected (mostly white) settlers on the Great Plains from the Mexican border
to the Canadian border and engaged in a great deal of combat action on the
frontier and earned a plethora of medals for their bravery. These are not
isolated instances.
My relatives, who, by the way, were not draftees, but men who chose to serve
their country, are only a drop in the bucket when compared to the number of
African Americans to serve bravely in combat. Many others, besides my
brother, have made the supreme sacrifice without ever being recognized as
full and equal citizens.
Thank you again for your apology. I sincerely appreciate it.
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