Two stars of the black scientific community who lived in the first half of the 20th century achieved so much despite the difficulties they encountered. If they had had the same opportunities as others of their generation, there is no telling what they would have achieved.
Vivien Thomas was Dr. Alfred Blalock’s research assistant at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in the 1930s and ’40s when heart surgery was still experimental. Thomas worked on techniques to treat blue babies in the lab and while Blalock operated, Thomas stood by his side, to advise him. But being black, Thomas couldn’t reach his potential.
Dr. Percy Julian, an outstanding chemist, was held back professionally by racism in the United States and obtained his Ph.D. in Vienna, Austria. He pioneered the chemical synthesis of medicinal drugs from plants. He synthesized physostigmine (an eye drop used for glaucoma), the sex hormones (progesterone and testosterone) and cortisone, among other major accomplishments.
The two achieved so much despite Jim Crow racism. Far too many black Americans of genius have been lost through discrimination and our nation’s unimaginative neglect. It is difficult to contemplate how many white educators, confronted by some of the brightest American minds, could not rise above their personal prejudices. The result has been that many brilliant blacks’ academic ambitions died from lack of inclusion and support.
We should hear much more about the few black scientists and academics who succeeded, stars that shone so brilliantly, and acknowledge the nation’s loss as a result of discrimination.
In all his writing, James Baldwin reiterated one fact about white folks’ attitude toward blacks: Slavery and its aftermath hurt both the enslaved and their owners. Despite all attempts to modify what we do to each other, we have a long way to go to appreciate the potential of an America deemed by many as impossible to educate and doomed to failure.
There are many reasons for black youths’ hopelessness, manifested in the belief that hard work, ambition and a desire to conform will not be rewarded. It results in their personal loss. But America has lost an amazing treasure.
Our attitude toward poor blacks seems designed to obfuscate talent, to kill ambition. Every child deserves a chance to shine. Every child, no matter how poor, should be given the same opportunity. To not cast the net wider into the dark waters of poverty is to let a great deal of amazing talent escape notice. The truth is, most solutions to our problems are remarkably simple and readily available; we simply are unwilling to seek them out and implement them.
Our laws are designed to incarcerate the maximum number of black youth who we like to think of as incapable of learning. The reality is that there are large numbers of amazingly smart young black men. How can we discover them if we don’t consider this? We cannot rehabilitate them if our policy is one of retribution instead of reform and education. Sadly, their failure is our failure, too.
The black community that stands as a neutral observer in the face of an epidemic of intractable poverty, death and despair has lost many of its children. America has lost generations of black geniuses.
By denying others’ humanity and distrusting their ability to think and function, we deny ourselves the chance to be amazed at what’s possible. The fear is always that the ascendancy of one group leads to the diminution of another.
Nothing could be further from the truth. Knowledge, excellence and achievement carry all humanity upwards in a rising tide.
This Black History Month, may all Americans think of the wasted lives and the loss to our nation and humanity brought on by our collective lack of imagination. We can do so much better.
Pius Kamau of Aurora is a thoracic and general surgeon. He was born and raised in Kenya and immigrated to the U.S. in 1971. His column appears on alternate Thursdays.
