I saw on the news the passing of Katherine Johnson. She was an mathematician for NASA for 35 years. Her accomplishments are nothing short of extraordinary. She certainly lived a long life at 101. I of course had never heard of this lady before, I doubt many outside of NASA had. She is just one of hundreds, if not thousands of anonymous people doing extraordinary things in their jobs. Many go unrecognized. But as I listened to all of the well deserved accolades it didn't escape my notice. It was repeated several times that she was both a woman and African-American. Those two facts were empathized. I got the impression they were being used almost as a justification for the praise she was getting. I couldn't help but ask myself, are accomplishments made greater because of race or gender? As I said, and I can't stress this enough, Katherine Johnson deserves every bit of praise and recognition. I won't go on to say it should have been sooner and patronize her memory. A woman of her obvious skill and intelligence doesn't require that. She did her job, exceptionally well, and did so without fanfare. Now I already said I hadn't known anything about her before her passing and that's the truth. For that reason anything I say regarding her personality is just speculation on my part. It was reported that she was among the first African-American women to be employed by NASA. Her mathematical prowess must have impressed somebody! By all accounts it was at genius level and her calculations enabled our trip to the moon.
Still I can't help but ask that question, are accomplishments made greater due to race or gender? It certainly appears that way on occasion. Now I get it, I'm a white male living in America with every privilege and opportunity. I understand that I shouldn't be saying a thing about any of that. It won't stop me though. It just brought to mind an adage I had written some time back. Everyone wants equality until they are treated equally. Now I'm not saying that applies to Mrs. Johnson I don't think she ever sought anything more than anyone else. What I am implying by that adage is simply this: many accomplishments by those other than white male Americans are often prefaced with " in spite of. " You know because they are not equal despite having equal opportunity. When they succeed is the accomplishment made greater? That's what I'm talking about. As long as we continue to " recognize " race and gender as " handicaps " will equality ever really be achieved? I don't see how.
I'm quite certain that there any number of well deserving individuals of every race and gender that are as deserving as Mrs. Johnson. Will we hear of these individuals? We will if they are members of certain demographic groups, at least the odds are far greater we will. Think Tuskegee airman, Navajo code talkers, Harriett Tubman and others. The argument could be made their recognition is long overdue and I can't dispute that. My only point of contention is, are their accomplishments any more worthy of that recognition due to race or gender? The answer has to be no.
I'm not questioning the recognition these people receive. It's just that listening to the news reports on her, and the emphasis on her race and gender, made me think. I am thinking about equality. How can we achieve that? Perhaps more disturbingly to me is the thought that we will never achieve that. I'm thinking it is not in human nature to do so. There will always be " exceptions " and " excuses " for everything. Whether we use them to our benefit or determent, they will always exist. True equality? Not as long as we say, in spite of.
Still I can't help but ask that question, are accomplishments made greater due to race or gender? It certainly appears that way on occasion. Now I get it, I'm a white male living in America with every privilege and opportunity. I understand that I shouldn't be saying a thing about any of that. It won't stop me though. It just brought to mind an adage I had written some time back. Everyone wants equality until they are treated equally. Now I'm not saying that applies to Mrs. Johnson I don't think she ever sought anything more than anyone else. What I am implying by that adage is simply this: many accomplishments by those other than white male Americans are often prefaced with " in spite of. " You know because they are not equal despite having equal opportunity. When they succeed is the accomplishment made greater? That's what I'm talking about. As long as we continue to " recognize " race and gender as " handicaps " will equality ever really be achieved? I don't see how.
I'm quite certain that there any number of well deserving individuals of every race and gender that are as deserving as Mrs. Johnson. Will we hear of these individuals? We will if they are members of certain demographic groups, at least the odds are far greater we will. Think Tuskegee airman, Navajo code talkers, Harriett Tubman and others. The argument could be made their recognition is long overdue and I can't dispute that. My only point of contention is, are their accomplishments any more worthy of that recognition due to race or gender? The answer has to be no.
I'm not questioning the recognition these people receive. It's just that listening to the news reports on her, and the emphasis on her race and gender, made me think. I am thinking about equality. How can we achieve that? Perhaps more disturbingly to me is the thought that we will never achieve that. I'm thinking it is not in human nature to do so. There will always be " exceptions " and " excuses " for everything. Whether we use them to our benefit or determent, they will always exist. True equality? Not as long as we say, in spite of.
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