
The Story of an American Inventor Denied a Patent Because He Was a Slave - raleighm
https://paleofuture.gizmodo.com/the-story-of-the-american-inventor-denied-a-patent-beca-1828329907
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40acres
The other day a poster criticized A16Z's Cultural Leadership Fund targeting
African American entrepreneurs because a majority of the LPs were of the
entertainment business (athletes, musicians, actors). I've seen this criticism
of the black community many times: "Why are all your icons in entertainment?
Why not scientists, engineers, etc.?" Well, this one story helps to illustrate
why. This guy was obviously talented enough to influence steamboat design but
could not capitalize on his work by getting a patent because of institutional
racism. Imagine what his life would have been like if he got this patent?
Maybe he would've started an engineering firm, maybe he would've gone on to
study at a formal college or teach? Who knows what influence he may have had?

The opposite to this story is that for many reasons, including the fact that
white elites liked to view black artists as entertainment, many successful
black people in the 19th & 20th centuries had to make their way out through
entertainment or sports. When you have a history of segregated schools (PS.
they are still segregated), school values tied to home prices, and other
factors, its not hard to see why there are not as many intellectual African
Americans at the forefront of American society.

~~~
lucozade
> maybe he would've gone on to study at a formal college or teach?

Seems unlikely as he would have been fairly busy running his plantation and
being the local JP. He was pretty successful, at least for the next 10 years,
so it's not clear that a patent for a minor improvement to propeller design
would have affected his life significantly.

> there are not as many intellectual African Americans at the forefront of
> American society

Are there not? I don't get the impression that this is true in fields such as
history and the social sciences but I could be mistaken.

