LIFE WITHOUT BLACK PEOPLE
A very humorous and revealing story is told about a group of white
people who were fed up with African Americans, so they 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 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.
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 higher floors.
3. 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.
4. 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.
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 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.
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 Purveys invented the Hand Stamp and Philip 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 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 & 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 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.
