tuskegee culture pride and shame

8/3/2019 Tuskegee Culture Pride and Shame

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Tuskegee Airman, Tuskegee Experiment:

Cultural Impacts of Pride and ShameBy, Mosheh Adamu aka BFAP thaAnthropologist

For some us the words Tuskegee Airmen do not go far without remembering the

Tuskegee Experiment. It is very difficult to separate these two pivotal events in AfricanAmerican history. Anthropologically speaking, the questions I have, are how do histories

of pride and shame affect culture, specifically HipHop (African American)?

On one hand, we have the Tuskegee Airmen, a group of men who exhibited tremendous

courage and pride while fighting foreign enemies in the air and domestic enemies on the

ground. On the other hand we have over 600 people who became the source of syphilis inthe African American community for generations as a result of the government-

sanctioned Tuskegee Experiment. While the story of brave fighters has inspired

generations of people who are confronted with discrimination, oppression, racism andsexism to become airplane pilots; the systematic infection of African Americans between

1932 and 1972, has impaired generations of people with paralysis, blindness, dementiaand shame.

For HipHop and all the other African societies, on the African continent and throughoutthe diaspora, oral history is stronger than any print, visual or digital media. Not only are

folk tales, songs and poetry transcribed from one generation to the next, but entire

histories of peoples, nations and events are accounted for as well. Other than just names,places and dates, historical particularism helps account for the emotions and feelings that

are emphasized in storytelling and cultural development.
http://www.blackarchives.org/node/88http://www.blackpast.org/?q=aah/tuskegee-syphilis-experiment-1932-1972http://www.blackpast.org/?q=aah/tuskegee-syphilis-experiment-1932-1972http://www.blackarchives.org/node/88http://www.blackpast.org/?q=aah/tuskegee-syphilis-experiment-1932-1972


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The Tuskegee Airmen have always been talked about in the barbershops, church services

and one-on-one conversations with elder veterans who are still alive to tell these storiesfrom their own personal experiences. More than the any media or public education

source, oral histories is where the pride is really transported between generations. These

examples help children and adults hold their heads up high with knowledge of the pastthat encourages them to move forwards in the faces of adversity. Educational systems

(mainstream and independent) and curricula are instated to provide further

encouragement. The good stories become the benchmark for Black History Monthevery year.

The genealogists, family historian and black people who are interested in tracing their

roots; uncovered these stories, simply by talking to the elders in their families and

communities. These researchers have no problem extracting the prideful stories, but whenit comes to the painful or shameful stories its always a family secret.

The V.D. as it was so colorfully

referred to was only the beginning ofthe battles with sexually transmitted

diseasesin many HipHop communitiesin the southern and northern United

States. The definitions, symptoms and

treatment of STDs are widely

discussed in the health classes in bothmainstream and independent

educational systems. It is always the

talk of the town, the beauty shops.Everyone wants to know who got what

and from whom. In many cases, people

who have and are infected will not talkabout it openly and may even keep the

information from their sexual partners.

It is so shameful, that people will carrythese secrets to their graves, allowing

other people in the community to

remain unaware of the dangers of

sexually transmitted disease from afirst-hand account.

Although it is not known if any of theTuskegee Airmen actually had

syphilis, but it is very plausible

considering the large base of infectedpeople at the time. Keep in mind there were no positive treatments until the 1970s.

Furthermore the stories and oral accounts will always focus on the courage and pride of

these men, but if any one of them was infected with the disease, before or after the war, it

will be kept as a family secret and not rendered to the historical or public record.
http://www.cdc.gov/std/http://www.cdc.gov/std/http://www.cdc.gov/std/http://www.cdc.gov/std/http://www.cdc.gov/std/


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Where is the real historical lesson in that? If we are only feeding ourselves with joy, we

are doing the children and ourselves a major disservice, because joy and pain are one inthe same. Pride does not exist without shame. Yeah lets tell the children that there were

great airplane pilots who fought in World Ward II, but lets also tell them about the

history and origin of sexually transmitted diseases in African American communities.Lets tell the stories to install pride. Lets tell the stories to reduce shame.

I leave you with the immortal words of the old skool R&B group, Frankie Beverly and

Maze

Over and over you can be sure

There will be sorrow but you will endure

Where there's a flower there's the sun and the rain

Oh and it's wonderful there both one in the sameJoy & Pain Joy & Pain (1980)
http://www.mazemuze.com/flash/Renaissance/index3.htmlhttp://www.mazemuze.com/flash/Renaissance/index3.htmlhttp://www.mazemuze.com/flash/Renaissance/index3.htmlhttp://www.mazemuze.com/flash/Renaissance/index3.html

tuskegee culture pride and shame

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