
Katherine Johnson Biography - wglb
https://www.nasa.gov/content/katherine-johnson-biography
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reimertz
I just saw the movie Hidden Figures which is based on the incredible
achievements of Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson. I was
happily surprised to see this on HN. If you haven’t seen it, please do.

It was an eye opener for me as an non-American to see how normalized racism
was in the 1960’s even at places like NASA where one might assume science
trumps ignorance.

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andreasklinger
Fully agree. Considered this movie an eye opener as well - highly recommend to
those who haven't seen it yet.

Since the movie, when people speak of "not lowering the bar" i have to think
about how much people like her (and many others) had/have to run and jump
uphill to even get to the bar.

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telesilla
I often exclaim how glad I am that my work doesn't directly lead to a life and
death situation, but reading her biography gives a sense of the pride that
must go along with those demanding challenges. I don't have those kinds of
nerves, or I don't trust my ability not to error. I'm impressed by those who
work in the fields of navigation and aviation.

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WalterBright
Having others trust their lives to you is the highest honor you can have. What
a remarkable person.

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mixmastamyk
While reading I was imagining the movie "Hidden Figures" which I saw recently,
and it turns out it was her. Was pleased to read she received the medal of
freedom. Why did it take until 2015?

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davedx
And would she have a chance of receiving such an honor today?

~~~
Grustaf
Why not?

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throwawayknecht
Aside from the obvious answer that the current US president is one of the most
openly racist in the past 40 years, there's a strong indication that white
presidents fail to award black achievement, especially by women. Otherwise she
would have been awarded the medal considerably earlier, given her retirement
in 1986.

(The sample size is unfortunately limited; I recommend electing more black
presidents to further test this hypothesis.)

