The following is contributed by Arlene E. Rock
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 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 Cancelling 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, stupid, 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_modern America is created by dependencies on
the inventions from the minds of
Black folks".
Black history includes more than just slavery, Frederick Douglass,
Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, Marcus Garvey and Dubois.