African-American inventor Eugene Burkins and his machine gun, USA, sometime at or after 1900
African-American inventor Eugene Burkins and his machine gun, USA, sometime at or after 1900
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4 comments
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Why does it say African-American inventor? The man is an American inventor? I understand some want to stress that African Americans played a key role in history, but e.g. in Europe nobody would say African-French or African-German… it would actually be regarded as quite discriminating.
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In America, there's a long history of denying or downplaying the achievements of non-white Americans. As such, it's often considered 'good form' to highlight the ethnicity of marginalized groups, especially in the past, with regards to their achievements in a deeply racist society.
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I’m not sure. If I would be African-American, I would be much prouder if it’s would simply say “American inventor”. But since I’m plain white, perhaps I better shut up.
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There's a long history and a lot of context to it, unfortunately.
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