An email I just wrote:
In November of 2017, an Indiana Nurse named Taiyesha Baker posted the following on social media:
“Every white woman raises a detriment to society when they raise a son,” the since-deleted post read. “Someone with the HIGHEST propensity to be a terrorist, rapist, racist, and domestic violence all star. Historically every son you had should be sacrificed to the wolves B-tch.”
So I started wondering how Taiyesha would enjoy life if she made her wish hundreds of years ago and that wish had come true. I think it would be a fun challenge for Taiyesha and any other like-minded individuals to go a week without the following things made possible in whole or in part* by someone’s white son:
Electricity: Michael Faraday
Electric Light: Thomas Edison
Movies: Thomas Edison
Automobiles: Karl Benz, Henry Ford et al.
Airplanes: Orville and Wilbur Wright
Satellite Communication and GPS: Robert Goddard (Rockets)
iPhones and Personal computers: Steve Jobs et al.
Radio: Guglielmo Marconi
Telephone: Alexander Graham Bell
Polio Vaccine: Jonas Salk
CD Players: Theodore Maiman (Laser Beam)
Air Conditioning: Willis Carrier
Frozen Food: Clarence Birdseye
Candy Bars: Milton Hershey, Forrest Mars and Henri Nestle’
Transistors: John Bardeen, Walter Brattain, and William Shockley
Television: Philo Farnsworth
The Printed Word: Johannes Gutenberg
Integrated Circuits: Jack Kilby
Farming Equipment: John Deere
Abundant Wheat: Norman Borlaug
World Wide Web: Tim Berners-Lee
Internal Combustion Engine: Nickolaus Otto
Amazon Online: Jeffrey Bezos
Smallpox Vaccine: Edward Jenner
Flushing Toilet: John Harington
Gas Hot Water Heater: Edwin Ruud
Safe Municipal Drinking Water: John Laing Leal
Anesthesia: William Morton
Video Games: William Higinbotham
Basketball: James Naismith
Nike Shoes: Phil Knight and Bill Bowerman
Denim Jeans: Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis
Polyester: John Whinfield and James Dickson
Jet Engine: Hans von Ohain and Frank Whittle
Coca-Cola: John Pemberton and Asa Candler
Doughnuts: Hanson Gregory
And Thousands and Thousands and Thousands of other things.
*I emphasize this because almost none of these men created their work in a vacuum.
Which reminds me:
Vacuum Cleaner: Herbert Booth and David Kennedy