Portland observer., November 18, 1998, Page 4, Image 4

NOV. 18,1998
I l,r Jlortlanì» ©bseruer
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Editorial Articles Do Not Necessarily
Reflect Or Represent The Views Of
(Tin' ^ o rtla n h (0lfscruer
p e r s p e c t
i v e s
The Curtain Rises On Black Inventors
(Slightly) III
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l a t i o n s in E n g l a n d , A u s t r i a ,
P o la n d , e tc , th e y in te rru p te d
to r e m in d m e o f th e c u r t a in
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T im e s
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sh o p d e v e lo p in g o v e r 150 p a t­
e n ts o n s e m in a l e le c tr ic a l d e ­
v ic e s th a t s h a p e o u r tr a n s p o r ­
ta tio n a n d c o m m u n ic a tio n s to ­
(te le g r a p h s , te le p h o n e s ,
r a ilw a y s , a irb ra k e s ).
L a s t w e e k w e le a r n e d th a t
c a rb o n fila m e n t, an d a c h e a p
w a y to m a k e t h e f i l a m e n t s .
T h a t U n ite d S ta te E le c tr ic
on
P io n e e rs ;
a b le a n d illu s tr io u s c a re e r . H e
- p r o t a g o n is t to b e - w a s b u s y
in h i s C i n c i n n a t i , O h i o w o r k ­
com es
Y o rk
fu r th e r d e v e lo p e d a r e m a r k ­
e n g in e e r G ra n v ille T . W o o d s
C om pany
on N ew
h i m to j o i n h i s c o m p a n y , “ th e
th e f i r s t e le c tr i c la m p w ith a
$ortlant» ©bseruer
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a n d d e s p ite th e b o o k b u r n in g s
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A sso c ia tio n * S e rv in g P o rtlan d an d V an co u v er.
sta g e
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th e
fu n e ra l
w h ic h w a s a tte n d e d b y m e m ­
“ S p ru c e G o o s e .”
b e r s o f th e 'P i o n e e r s ’ .
A re a d e r has sen t m e an a r­
tic le fro m th e 2 /1 1 /9 5 O r e g o ­
n ia n (D 8 ) “ L ig h t- b u lb C o lle c ­
t i o n Is A T r i b u t e T o T h o m a s
E d is o n .” J o h n T . D a v is o f
V a n c o u v e r, W a s h in g to n
had
b e e n r e s e a rc h in g a n d s tu d y ­
in g lig h tb u lb s f o r 25 y e a rs .
J o h n B o w d itc h , c u r a t o r a t th e
F o rd M u s e u m s a id . A m o n g
D a v i s ’ n o te w o r th y ite m s : th e
M a x im
M . fila m e n t b u lb b y
L o u is L a tim e r - “ an in v e n to r
w ho
h e ld
an
fo r H o w a rd H u g h e s ’ fa m o u s
im D o r ta n t
A g a th e r in g s to rm
w as
a b o u t to e n g u l f th e f i e r c e l y
c o m p e tin g
m a jo r
L a t i m e r j o i n e d E d i s o n . In
t h e i r a tte m p ts to m o n o p o l iz e
th e in d u s tr y , tw o g ia n ts , G e n ­
e ra l
E le c tric
and
W e s tin g h o u s e o rg a n iz e d a
“ B o a rd o f P a te n t C o n tr o l.”
L a tim e r w as a p p o in te d C h ie f
D ra ftsm a n
and
the “racial dozens.”
Instead, all o f A m erica ought to ac­
ne m ay not see at first glance
cept this news as apparently m any o f
w hat the sc ienti fic confirmation
Jefferson’s white descendants have—as a
ofT h o m as Jefferson’s long liaison with
profound addition to the accumulating
Sally H em ings, a slave at his Monticello
evidenceothow intertwined are theblood-
plantation, and an article extolling life in
lin e -a n d the d estim es-o f A mericans all
a southern black com m unity during the
along the spectrum o f color, race, and
era o f legal segregation share.
ethnicity.
But. in fact, the controversy surround­
Such a clarity o f vision is what Russ
ing Jefferson and Sally Hemings and
R
y
m er’s article, astonishingly titled,
writer R uss R ym er’s assertion in his
“Integration’s
Causalities,” lacks most o f
article in the N ew York Tim es M agazine
O
that “Segregation helpedblack business.
all.
Civil Right helped destroy it” have a
The best one can say about his asser­
tion that black businesses thrived under
segregation and that the civil rights victo­
ries o f the 1960s caused the collapse o f
“the whole economic skeleton o f the
great deal in common.
I b e y both illustrate how powerful the
dynamic o f denial in A m erica about the
realities o f race has been.
N o single controversy o f A m erican
history has better illustrated how denial
has w orked am ong m any whites than
their refusal to contem plate w hat many
African Americans have long accepted:
that Jefferson and Sally H em ings were
lovers. N ow . the D N A tests confirm that
he fathered not just one, but four o f five
o f her children.
W hy w as there so much resistance for
so m any years to that possibility?
D id it stem from a refusal to accept
thatJefferson em bodied the great contra­
diction o f the founding o f the United
States: A nation which w rapped itself in
the rhetoric o f freedom and professed
allegiance to the inalienable rights o f
man excluded all but a relative few white
men from the enjoym ent o f those rights,
and depended for its prosperity upon the
stolen labor o f black slaves.
T hom as Jefferson'spublicroleinjus-
titying Slavery helped set the country on
a course that has long hom e bitter fruit.
Nonetheless, the confirm ation that
T hom as Jefferson’s direct and indirect
descendants include A m ericans on both
sides o f the color line should not be
black comm unity” is that it displays a
breathtaking com m itm ent to denial.
O ne does not have to exam ine the
ugly moral premise o f such an assertion:
Ib at for black business men and women
to prosper, they had to have blacks, as
R ym er him self so revealingly puts it,
“captive clientele. B y destroying the in­
justice, integration destroyed the black
business’ raison d ’etre.”
In purely economic term s, this is non-
sense.
In fact, m ost black business districts in
the South during the decades o f legal
segregation lived a haidscarbble exist­
ence precisely because blacks lacked
freedom.
Black workers w ere grossly under­
em ployed and exploited. The black
middle class was tiny and limited to
preachers, teachers, doctors, and a few
lawyers.
And the black merchant class was
severely crippled. W ithout the right to
vote, black m erchants had no w ay to
influence the local and state political
decisions that w ere so crucial to business
developm ent
e x p e rt
le g a l
w itn e s s .
T h e h is to r y C h a n n e l C a b le
h ttp ://
www. portland
ohserver.net
fo rm u s th a t H o w a rd L a tim e r
a n d o u r p r o lif ic b la c k in v e n ­
to r G r a n v ille T . W o o d s e n ­
g a g e d in b i t t e r c o u r t r o o m l e ­
g a l b a ttle s o v e r p a te n t in ­
fr in g e m e n ts - W o o d s w in n in g
b o th s tr u g g le s w ith T h o m a s
E d is o n . B u t w e w o n d e r h o w
m a n y o f o u r g re a t in v e n to rs o f
c o l o r w e r e a b l e to s t a n d u p
a g a in s t th is c o m b in e ; o r o f a n y
ra c e fo r th a t m a tte r.
B u t n o w w e m o v e G ra n v ille
W o o d s b a c k to c e n t e r s t a g e .
T h e m a n w h o m th e A m e ric a n
C a th o lic T rib u n e d e s c rib e d a s,
“ T h e G r e a t e s t E l e c t r i c i a n In
T h e W o r l d . ” T h i s w a s in 1 8 8 8
w h e n e n g in e e rs fro m
In other words, black business dis­
tricts w ere deeply dependent upon white
goodwill, or at least indifference, just to
literally survive: The 1921 white riot
which completely destroyed the Green­
wood district o f T u lsa O klahom a-the
“black W all Street” o f its tim e-provided
a stark example o f that.
Furthermore, the vitality ofblack busi­
ness districts in the North as well as the
South began to fade in the late 1940s, not
o f th e “ T h ird R a il” , s u b w a y s
w e re n o w in ’ b e c a u s e n o o v e r­
h ead tro lle y w as n e e d e d .
E le c tro -m o tiv e R a ilw a y S y s ­
te m , J u n e 2 6 , 1 8 8 8 , a n d E l e c ­
tr ic R a ilw a y S y s te m , N o v . 10,
1891, 463020.
B u t m y m o s t tr iu m p h a n t r e ­
tr ie v a l o f a ll, a p a te n t c o p y
th a t fo r m e r O re g o n S e n a to r
W ay n e M o rse “ sh o o k lo o s e ’
f r o m t h e U .S . P a t e n t o f f i c e f o r
m e ( P h o t o s t a t in m y b o o k ) .
“ A u to m a tic A ir B r a k e , J u n e
10, 1902 N o. 7 0 1 9 8 1 . A s­
s ig n e d
(s o ld )
to
th e
W e s tin g h o u s e A ir B ra k e C o m ­
p a n y o f P itts b u r g h , P A .” L ik e
E d i s o n , th e y w a n t e d s o m e t h i n g
th a t w o rk e d !
C o n tin u e d n e x t w e e k
u have family behind you.
the 1960s.
Thecontinueddiscrim ination in lend-
ing by white banks wasn ’ t the only prob­
Before you make your move,
make one call and a helpful,
friendly agent will be delighted to
tell you more Then go out there
and conquer
the world...
we ll be right
behind you.
lem. The change o f the A m erican
economy aw ay from localism and re­
gionalism to nationalism and interna­
tionalism severely reduced the number
ofblue-collarjobsandthew agesofblack
w orkers-w hose patronage was the real
backbone o f black businesses during
segregation.
N o one can d e n y -w h o would wish
to ?-th at even during the harshest times
o f legal segregation, m any black com­
munities were wonderful places to live
and grow up.
But segregation didn’tproduce this. It
was the black response to segregation-
their determination to take theirchances in
the modem, complex world as free men
and w om en-that m ade these communi­
ties so valuable to those w ho lived in them.
African Americans' task today is to re­
create that senseofcommunitv where they
are now ,be it deep m the heart o f predomi­
nantly black inner cities or in predomi­
nantly white suburban enclaves.
Despite Rym er’s claims, that, too, is
happening.
His nostal gia for a mis-remembered
past is a product o f not being able to
separate what has always been wonderful
about being black in Amenca from the
larger contextofthetemblecircumstances
All Your Protection Under One Roof
American
M M
M n m c . Company am) S
in which Africans andAfricanAmencans
found themselves for most o f their history
here.
V*
M
M
a ro u n d
th e w o r ld g a th e r e d a t C o n e y
I s la n d to s e e a d e m o n s tr a tio n
Yes! It’s your time! You couldn't
have dreamed it better if youd
tried. You've learned that hard
work and long hours definitely
pay off and that getting ahead is
easier when there's family behind
you. That's the way it is with
American Family Insurance. Like
you, we understand its consistent
performance that builds strong
reputations. That's just o n e . of
many reasons why year after year,
we're awarded an A+ (Superior,
rating from the respected insurance
ra tin g a u th o rity , A .M . Best.
To Be Equal: There’s No
Denying The Truth
regarded as a matter for African Ameri­
cans to jeer “w e told you so,” or, to play
e le c tric a l
c o m p a n ie s a b o u t th e tim e th a t
T h ank Y o u F or R ea d in g T he P o r t l a n d O bserv er
B y H ugh B. P rice
P resident N ationai . U rban 1 , eagi e
c o n trib u ­
U n io n L e a g u e C lu b . L a tim e r
a ls o s u p e r v is e d m u c h o f th e
c o n tin u e o n w ith th e i l l u s t r i ­
day
th e ir
tr u th h a s illu m in a te d th e E u ­
th e g r e a te s t.
F o r th e m o m e n t, w e s h a ll
O U T P E R M IS S IO N IS P R O H IB IT E D .
T h e P o rtlan d O b s e n e r - O r e g o n ’s O ld est M u lticu ltu ral P u b lica­
tio n —is a m e m b e r o f th e N atio n al N e w sp ap er A sso ciatio n —F o u n d ed in
1885, an d T he N atio n al A d v ertisin g R ep resen tativ e A m alg am ated
P u b lish ers, Inc, N ew Y o rk , N Y an d T h e W est C o ast B lack P u b lish ers
but
t h e E q u i t a b l e B u i l d i n g a n d th e
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e le c tr ic a l e n g in e e rin g w ho
P e rio d ic a ls p o s ta g e p a id a t P ortland, O regon.
S u b sc rip tio n s: $ 6 0 .0 0 p e r y e a r
T h e P o rtlan d O b se rv e r w elco m e s freelan ce su b m issio n s. M an u ­
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ifa c c o m p a n ie d by a self a d d re sse d en v elo p e . All created d esig n disp lay
a d s b e c o m e th e so le p ro p e rty o f th e n e w sp ap er and can n o t b e used in
o th e r p u b lic a tio n s o r p erso n al u sag e w ith o u t th e w ritten c o n sen t o f the
g en eral m an ag e r, u n less th e clien t h as p u rch ased the co m p o sitio n o t
such ad. © 1996 T H E P O R T L A N D O B S E R V E R . A L L R IG H T S
R E S E R V E D , R E P R O D U C T IO N IN W H O L E O R IN P A R T W IT H ­
A fric a n
o u s , e n v io u s ra c is ts . H o w e v e r,
e v e n th e f o r m id a b le iro n c u r ­
ta in o f R u s s ia w a s p ie rc e d -
s ig n m e n t fo r th is p ro m in e n t
A f r ic a n e n g in e e r w a s to i n ­
s ta ll th e lig h tin g s y s te m s fo r
d u s tria l h is to ry . W e c o n tin u e
w ith th e w e ll- d o c u m e n te d a c ­
m ade
w o rld .” T h e
tio n s h a v e b e e n d e lib e ra te ly
h id d e n an d o b s c u re d b y j e a l ­
W e s to n ), w h e re th e f ir s t a s ­
in g c h a p te r s o f A m e r ic a ’ s in ­
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n o lo g y ,
1 8 8 2 a n d jo i n e d th e n e w ly -
th e m o s t e x c itin g a n d r e v e a l­
th e
A m e r ic a n s w e re th e s in e q u a
n o n o f A m e ric a s s e m in a l te c h ­
e s ta b lis h e d “ W e s tin g h o u s e
C o rp o ra tio n
(C h a rle s
C h a n n e l” (4 2 ) p a rtly ra is e d
th e c o tto n c u r t a in ’ o n o n e o f
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