Black History Month: Why Is It Needed? Extraordinary Black Contributors

In 1997, President Bill Clinton awarded seven Medals of Honor to African Americans for distinguishing themselves during World War Two. Of these, only Vernon Baker was still alive.

Vernon Joseph Baker (December 17, 1919 – July 13, 2010) was a United States Army first lieutenant who was an infantry company platoon leader during World War II and a paratrooper during the Korean War. In 1997, he was awarded the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest military decoration for valor, for his actions on April 5–6, 1945, near Viareggio, Italy.[1]

Baker and six other Black Americans who served in World War II were awarded the Medal of Honor on January 12, 1997.[2] The Medal of Honor was presented to Baker by President Bill Clinton on January 13, 1997 during a Medals of Honor ceremony for the seven recipients at the White House in Washington, D.C. The seven recipients are the first and only Black Americans to be awarded the Medal of Honor for World War II. Baker was the only living recipient of the medal.[3] Baker died in 2010 at the age of 90 and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery, in Arlington, Virginia.[4]"

CITATION:​

The President of the United States of America, in the name of Congress, takes pleasure in presenting the Medal of Honor to First Lieutenant (Infantry) Vernon J. Baker, United States Army, for extraordinary heroism in action on 5 and 6 April 1945, while serving with Company C, 370th Infantry Regiment, 92d Infantry Division, in action near Viareggio, Italy. Then Second Lieutenant Baker demonstrated outstanding courage and leadership in destroying enemy installations, personnel and equipment during his company's attack against a strongly entrenched enemy in mountainous terrain. When his company was stopped by the concentration of fire from several machine gun emplacements, he crawled to one position and destroyed it, killing three Germans. Continuing forward, he attacked and enemy observation post and killed two occupants. With the aid of one of his men, Lieutenant Baker attacked two more machine gun nests, killing or wounding the four enemy soldiers occupying these positions. He then covered the evacuation of the wounded personnel of his company by occupying an exposed position and drawing the enemy's fire. On the following night Lieutenant Baker voluntarily led a battalion advance through enemy mine fields and heavy fire toward the division objective. Second Lieutenant Baker's fighting spirit and daring leadership were an inspiration to his men and exemplify the highest traditions of the Armed Forces.

This upgrade from Distinguished Service Crosses was the result of a 1993 study that concluded there was racial bias in the initial awards.

In March of 2014, Melvin Morris was added to the study and had his Vietnam War DSM upgraded as well.

CITATION:​

The President of the United States of America, in the name of Congress, takes pleasure in presenting the Medal of Honor to Sergeant First Class [then Staff Sergeant] Melvin Morris, United States Army, for acts of gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty while serving as Commander of a Strike Force drawn from Company D, 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne), 1st Special Forces, during combat operations against an armed enemy in the vicinity of Chi Lang, Republic of Vietnam on 17 September 1969. On that afternoon, Staff Sergeant Morris's affiliated companies encountered an extensive enemy mine field and were subsequently engaged by a hostile force. Staff Sergeant Morris learned by radio that a fellow team commander had been killed near an enemy bunker and he immediately reorganized his men into an effective assault posture before advancing forward and splitting off with two men to recover the team commander's body. Observing the maneuver, the hostile force concentrated its fire on Staff Sergeant Morris's three-man element and successfully wounded both men accompanying him. After assisting the two wounded men back to his forces' lines, Staff Sergeant Morris charged forward into withering enemy fire with only his men's suppressive fire as cover. While enemy machine gun emplacements continuously directed strafing fusillades against him, Staff Sergeant Morris destroyed the positions with hand grenades and continued his assault, ultimately eliminating four bunkers. Upon reaching the bunker nearest the fallen team commander, Staff Sergeant Morris repulsed the enemy, retrieved his comrade and began the arduous trek back to friendly lines. He was wounded three times as he struggled forward, but ultimately succeeded in returning his fallen comrade to a friendly position. Staff Sergeant Morris's extraordinary heroism and selflessness above and beyond the call of duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit, and the United States Army.
 
Growing up in the south I have seen so much racism and watched as the times changed. My parents and grandparents were old fashioned in that regard but I always thought it was silly to treat someone differently because of their skin.. I served with many black men back in the day and those folks earned a whole lot of respect. I have taken my kids and later on my grandkids to black history museums and I made sure they didn't grow up learning that wrong things were right! I've shared a few stories of the great men I fought with as well. We are all human (y)
 
Hold on to your cowboy hats Ladies & Gents. The real Lone Ranger was a Black man. There's an upcoming movie about him. The casting of White actors to play characters who in real life were Black, Hispanic and Asian was commonplace, especially in the earlier days of Hollywood.
"When you hear stories about the Lone Ranger, you are often told about a masked Caucasian cowboy who hung out with a Native American named Tonto. In reality, the real Lone Ranger was a formerly enslaved man, Bass Reeves, who became the first Black deputy U.S. Marshal west of the Mississippi River. After making a brief cameo in HBO's Watchmen, his story is coming to the big screen in the Lionsgate film, Hell on the Border."
https://www.bet.com/celebrities/exclusives/bass-reeves-movie-hell-on-boarder-trailer.html
Here's a photo of the real Bass Reeves (cool name, BTW) And a beautiful piece of art depicting him.
legendarylawmanbassreeves_10232184.jpgBass-Reeves.jpg
 
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OneEyedDiva said:
Hold on to your cowboy hats Ladies & Gents. The real Lone Ranger was a Black man. There's an upcoming movie about him. The casting of White actors to play characters who in real life were Black, Hispanic and Asian was commonplace, especially in the earlier days of Hollywood.
"When you hear stories about the Lone Ranger, you are often told about a masked Caucasian cowboy who hung out with a Native American named Tonto. In reality, the real Lone Ranger was a formerly enslaved man, Bass Reeves, who became the first Black deputy U.S. Marshal west of the Mississippi River. After making a brief cameo in HBO's Watchmen, his story is coming to the big screen in the Lionsgate film, Hell on the Border."
https://www.bet.com/celebrities/exclusives/bass-reeves-movie-hell-on-boarder-trailer.html
Here's a photo of the real Bass Reeves (cool name, BTW) And a beautiful piece of art depicting him.
View attachment 148808View attachment 148809
Click to expand...
Thank you soo much for showing this, it is amazing. I think they should have aired the show(which was a favorite of mine)with the real way the Lone Ranger truly was and not change him to a white man.
 
Sassycakes said:
Thank you soo much for showing this, it is amazing. I think they should have aired the show(which was a favorite of mine)with the real way the Lone Ranger truly was and not change him to a white man.
Click to expand...
Are you kidding? In the fifties Hollywood, and most of white society, didn't know black people existed except in roles helpful to white people, like your maid or some other servant, which is why when folks talk about the 'good old days' I think 'good for who?'
 
Regarding black and white people, Rosemarie said, "there are big differences between the two." [message #12]

I asked "Care to list some of those big differences?" [message #16]

fmdog44 then asked "Are you saying there are none?" [message #55]

==========

I am not saying anything. I asked a question.

"There are 'big differences' between the two" strikes me as a very racist statement. But maybe it wasn't meant that way, so I asked for some examples. Maybe Rosemarie was just referring to who tends to be better at what sports, or who is more at risk for certain illnesses, or who is more likely to have flat feet.

So, Rosemarie, what are you saying?
 
History Builds Empathy Through Studying the Lives and Struggles of Others. Studying the diversity of human experience helps us appreciate cultures, ideas, and traditions that are not our own – and to recognize them as meaningful products of specific times and places.

History is not an island - it does not stand alone. To really understand, one has to embrace all the facets that relate to historical events.

The theme for Black American History month for 2021 is:

"The Black Family: Representation, Identity, and Diversity."

 
Dana said:
History Builds Empathy Through Studying the Lives and Struggles of Others. Studying the diversity of human experience helps us appreciate cultures, ideas, and traditions that are not our own – and to recognize them as meaningful products of specific times and places.

History is not an island - it does not stand alone. To really understand, one has to embrace all the facets that relate to historical events.

The theme for Black American History month for 2021 is:

"The Black Family: Representation, Identity, and Diversity."

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I agree with you Dana. My family is quite diverse and includes Native American, east Indian, European as well as African ancestors.
 
OneEyedDiva said:
Hold on to your cowboy hats Ladies & Gents. The real Lone Ranger was a Black man. There's an upcoming movie about him. The casting of White actors to play characters who in real life were Black, Hispanic and Asian was commonplace, especially in the earlier days of Hollywood.
"When you hear stories about the Lone Ranger, you are often told about a masked Caucasian cowboy who hung out with a Native American named Tonto. In reality, the real Lone Ranger was a formerly enslaved man, Bass Reeves, who became the first Black deputy U.S. Marshal west of the Mississippi River. After making a brief cameo in HBO's Watchmen, his story is coming to the big screen in the Lionsgate film, Hell on the Border."
https://www.bet.com/celebrities/exclusives/bass-reeves-movie-hell-on-boarder-trailer.html
Here's a photo of the real Bass Reeves (cool name, BTW) And a beautiful piece of art depicting him.
View attachment 148808View attachment 148809
Click to expand...


What does one have to do with the other? The lone Ranger was a fictional character , about a lone Texas Ranger. Bass Reeves was a live U.S. Marshal .
 
JimBob1952 said:
I think that a hundred years from now race will be much less of an issue. People won't be more enlightened, but there will be so many multi-racial people that old ethnic barriers won't make sense anymore.

I also think that in a hundred years we will all be vegetarians.
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It's interesting to speculate what the world will be like in a hundred years time. However, human nature doesn't change so hostility towards those of other races will still be around.
In Africa at the moment, there are wars between the different African tribes...so what hope is there for a society of mixed races?
In the UK at present there are rival black gangs knifing each other in the street. At least they are not blaming white people for the problems they have with each other!
Sorry.....I've gone off-topic!
 
Rosemarie said:
It's interesting to speculate what the world will be like in a hundred years time. However, human nature doesn't change so hostility towards those of other races will still be around.
In Africa at the moment, there are wars between the different African tribes...so what hope is there for a society of mixed races?
In the UK at present there are rival black gangs knifing each other in the street. At least they are not blaming white people for the problems they have with each other!
Sorry.....I've gone off-topic!
Click to expand...
"In Africa at the moment, there are wars between the different African tribes...so what hope is there for a society of mixed races?" I think that hope is something you can choose to have and the more people that choose hope, the greater likelihood of good, just things happening. Also, there's no valid scientific basis for the concept of different human "races": chttps://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2018/04/race-genetics-science-africa/.
 
officerripley said:
"[Jester Hairston:] Actor, Musician. An arranger, composer, traveling choir leader, actor and story teller, his career took him all over the world." To read the rest of the article: https://www.singers.com/bio/2790. (My brother got to meet him just briefly years ago.)
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I really appreciate the way that you have presented your posts in a very easily digestible form, one item at a time instead of dozens of pictures followed by many additional links like we have been seeing lately. When people do that, it becomes overwhelming and I feel like I am back in school receiving a rather large homework assignment for the entire weekend. I have learned to simply ignore the entire post.

If I have ever done that myself. I sincerely apologize.

The way you have done it makes reading far more pleasurable.
 
Pecos said:
I really appreciate the way that you have presented your posts in a very easily digestible form, one item at a time instead of dozens of pictures followed by many additional links like we have been seeing lately. When people do that, it becomes overwhelming and I feel like I am back in school receiving a rather large homework assignment for the entire weekend. I have learned to simply ignore the entire post.

If I have ever done that myself. I sincerely apologize.

The way you have done it makes reading far more pleasurable.
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Thanks, Pecos. (I was feeling kind of lazy because I hadn't posted any pix, lol; it's nice to get a compliment. :) )

And btw, a hat-tip to this site's team: posting pix and links and even media (YouTube or whatever) here on SF is the most user-friendly I've ever encountered; on some sites I've been on, seems like to post even pix you've gotta hold your mouth just right, jump through a knot-hole backwards all while whistling Beethoven's 5th! o_O:ROFLMAO:
 
officerripley said:
"In Africa at the moment, there are wars between the different African tribes...so what hope is there for a society of mixed races?" I think that hope is something you can choose to have and the more people that choose hope, the greater likelihood of good, just things happening. Also, there's no valid scientific basis for the concept of different human "races": chttps://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2018/04/race-genetics-science-africa/.
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"I think that hope is something you can choose to have and the more people that choose hope, the greater likelihood of good, just things happening." I absolutely agree Officer. And I thank you for your very interesting and enlightening contributions to this thread. My online BFF who I call "Li'l Sis (mentioned in my comment in this thread about the African Heritage Museum) worked in Hollywood. Not only are Black stuntmen affected by racism in Hollywood, but so are actors, writers and producers. She's seen it first hand and has told me many stories. She worked on a project with Damon Wayans and said he made sure Black people were included in various positions for his show. She's worked on other projects as well. Some of the writers and producers who have made big names for themselves with award winning projects, like Jordan Peele (Get Out, multi award winner including an Oscar) and Ava Duvernay (Selma, multi award winner including Golden Globe) had to do it on their own because White Hollywood did not give them the same opportunities as their White counterparts. And of course we all know of Tyler Perry's success. He now owns the biggest movie studio complex in the country.

I'm glad you felt lazy Officer. :D I agree with @Pecos. The way you post your comments and links is easier to manage, especially if I'm not able to read all of them at the same time. Also easier on the eyes and less confusing. BTW The History Channel website says the article you posted the link for about race-genetics-science-africa is no longer available.
 

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