November 2018


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Politically Correct, or Perfectly Civil


The Hampton Roads Messenger 11


Dr. Christine Darden Discusses NACA/ NASA 2017 Hall of Honor Inductees


Dr. Christine M. Darden BY HAMPTON.GOV


Convention in 2012. Photo by Matt Gagnon


BY DR. JULIANNE MALVEAUX Megyn Kelly giving a standup news report from the floor of the Republican National


At this writing, Megyn Kelly


is off the air at NBC. Aſter her horridly vapid statement saying she didn't see anything wrong with blackface, she apologized the next day and even invited journalist Roland Martin on to take her to school. Roland did a brilliant job in explaining the history of blackface and the way it demeans African American people, and it was great that he had the opportunity to educate, not only his odious host but also the millions who watch Megyn Kelly daily. So Kelly tearfully apologized, and she listened to Roland and television commentator Amy Holmes as they talked about race. But does Kelly "get" why her remarks were so objectionable.


not so sure.


Roland says she does, but I'm She prefaced her apology


by saying that she was not a "pc kind of person."


I'm not sure what that


means, and what is wrong with being "politically correct" if it means being perfectly civil, informed, and mindful of others.


If African American people


say that blackface is offensive, it's not a big deal, Megyn. It's offensive. Whether you know the history or not, if members of a group say something is wrong, why not accept it? Or does your white skin privilege allow you to determine what is offensive and what is not?


Tis is not the first time Ms. Kelly


has put her foot into racial quicksand. Confident in her Aryan-ness, she proclaimed that Santa Clause is white, and so is Jesus. To declare Jesus white, given his geographical roots on the African continent or in the Middle East, is to embrace a special kind of both spatial and historical ignorance.


But


if you are vested in the world being a narrow white Caucasian, then you are free to spew racist myths, or shall we say, "fake news." On the Santa tip, since Santa is not a real person, but a fairy tale figment of someone's imagination Santa's race is subject to the imagination. Kelly seemed to have a problem with a Black Santa. Why? Does a Black Santa offend her lily-white sensibilities? Is she so seeped in whiteness that she can't think outside the box? And did NBC throw the talented Tamron Hall under the bus for that? Speaks to their own racial bias and sense of white superiority!


Kelly has


It is tragic to consider that Megyn three young children who


are undoubtedly being influenced by her warped racial views.


But NBC


may, perhaps, be reconsidering their relationship with Kelly.


It would be a


great loss if she were bounced off the air, though there are some who think she has learned her lesson sufficiently to continue her career. What if, instead of losing her job, she was involved in a "black immersion" experience? What if she had to spend a month in a dormitory at Bennett or Spellman College, spending time with the young Black women she seems not to have taken into consideration heretofore?


What


if her conversation with Roland Martin could be the first of many, and she was directed to spend time with Essence Editor Emerita Susan Taylor, with NNPA Chair Dorothy Leavell, with Jada Pinkett Smith, with Rev. Jesse Jackson, and with others. Might that make a difference for the ill-educated Megyn Kelly? Or maybe she should just read a book or two.


Commission report


Fiſty years aſter the Kerner it


is clear that


there are still two Americas, one Black, and one white. Two Americas, with two different realities, and few bridges to understanding. Tis is why, even in all-white communities, Black history must be taught. Tis is why our textbooks ought to speak, realistically about enslavement, Reconstruction, Jim Crow, and lynching. Tis is why we need to bust the myth that lynchings were about sex – Black men lusting aſter white women. Actually, too many lynchings were about economic envy – white men lusting aſter Black people's property. Aſter white vandals destroyed the Greenwood section of Tulsa, Oklahoma, one report actually described the cause of the devastation as "Too Many N---rs Having Too Much Money."


Megyn Kelly is not the only


white person who is ignorant of American history (because the history of Black people really is American history). White ignorance is one of the reasons I look askance at some aspects of the #MeToo movement.


White ignorance is a


choice, especially among adults who can educate themselves and expose themselves to the totality of history. Megyn Kelly chose to expose herself to Roland Martin and Amy Holmes. Too bad she shot off her uninformed mouth before she got educated! Perhaps she will now remove the term "p.c." from her vocabulary unless she happens to mean perfectly civil.


mathematician and engineer, Dr. Christine Darden, one of the “Hidden Figures” in the book by Margot Lee Shetterly, will present an overview of the 2017 NACA/NASA Langley Research Center Hall of Honor as part of the Hampton History Museum’s Port Hampton Lecture Series on Monday, November 5, 7:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.


part of the Langley Research Center’s Centennial Celebration, these


individuals, who worked at both Te Langley Research Center National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) or at only one, are being recognized for leadership, design of facilities, work in Atmospheric Sciences,


refinement of designs of vehicles for various flight environments, and military aircraſt. Tis was the second class of inductees, the fist induction was held in 2015, as part of the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the NACA, which became NASA in 1958.


on supersonic flight and reducing the sonic boom for nearly 25 of her 40 years of service. She served on the selection team for the 2017 inductees. Among the inductees are fellow “Hidden Figures” Mary Winston Jackson, Katherine Coleman Goble Johnson and Dorothy J. Vaughan, along with honorees Clinton E. Brown, Robert A. “Bob” Champine, Norman L. “Norm” Crabill, Smith J. “Smitty” DeFrance, Charles J. “Charlie” Donlan, Cornelius "Neil" Driver, Roy V. Harris Jr., Harvey H. Hubbard, Dr. Joel S. Levine, James S. Martin, Jr., Dr. M. Patrick McCormick, Edward C. “Eddie” Polhamus, Dr. James H. Starnes, Jr., Dr. James H. Starnes, Jr., Dr. Floyd L. Tompson, and Charles H. “Charlie” Zimmerman.


from the NASA website: Smith J. “Smitty” DeFrance (1896


More about other 2017 Inductees


-1985) spent 18 of his 43 years with the NACA and NASA working at the NACA Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory, where he gained fame as a test pilot in flight projects and as designer and manager of unique wind tunnels that helped gain worldwide recognition of


leading edge of technology. He was selected to become the first Engineer- in-Charge (Director) of the new NACA Ames


Moffett Field, California, in 1939 and transferred to begin operations there in 1940.


(1921–2005) successfully overcame the barriers of segregation and gender bias to become a professional aerospace engineer and leader in ensuring equal opportunities for future generations.


(1918 - ) is an African-American mathematician who made valuable


Katherine Coleman Goble Johnson Mary Winston Jackson Aeronautical Laboratory at the laboratory at the Darden worked at NASA Langley flight testing,


Inducted on June 1, 2017 as 18


Hampton, Virginia- Retired NASA


contributions to critical aeronautics and space programs of the NACA and NASA. Overcoming the constraints of segregation and gender bias, she progressed from mathematical tasks, such as computing experimental flight and ground-test data using a mechanical Frieden calculator for the NACA, to the application of spacecraſt trajectories and spacecraſt control calculations for NASA. Her life, 33-year career, and contributions are discussed in the best-selling 2016 book “Hidden Figures” by Margot Lee Shetterly and the Academy-Award nominated motion picture of the same name. Her story has become widely known and is a stimulus for the interests of young people in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) activities across the nation.


Dorothy J. Vaughan (1910–2008) was the first African- American female supervisor of NACA, advancing


expert in digital computers and their applications in NASA programs. About Dr. Christine M. Darden


native of Monroe, North Carolina, was employed by the NASA Langley Research Center on June 27, 1967 and assigned to the Re-Entry Physics Branch of the Laboratory’s High Speed Aerodynamics Division as an Aerospace Technologist (AST) Data Analyst.


the Computer Office of this Branch supporting the engineers until 1972, when she was reassigned to an Engineering Section to work on minimizing the sonic boom of aircraſt flying at supersonic speeds.


the engineering section, Darden developed a computer code to give guidance on designing airplanes to generate a minimized sonic boom. Darden later facilitated a group of industry, academia and government engineers, who coordinated the NASA approach to reducing the sonic boom. She also personally lead the Design and Operation element of this approach—where analytical and computational methods were used, and models were designed, built, and tested in the supersonic wind tunnels, and reports written as the research progressed.


aſter years of research, a successful flight test validation of the design approach was held in California. During her career, Darden authored 52 technical reports and articles and was awarded a NASA Gold Medal for her contributions to the NASA Sonic Boom Program.


to the Senior Executive Service at NASA Langley as Director of the Ae- ro-Performing Center Management Office.


as the Langley Assistant Director for Strategic Planning and the Director of


She subsequently served


Communications and Education. In March 2007, 3 months shy of 40-years of service at NASA Langley, Darden retired from Federal Service.


Bachelor’s Degree in Mathematics Education from Hampton Institute (now University), a Master’s Degree in Applied Mathematics from Virginia State College (now University), and the Doctor of Science Degree in Mechanical Engineering from George Washington University in Washington, DC.


Joint Langley Alumni Association (LAA)/ NASA Langley Team which recommended the 2017 Inductees into the NACA/NASA Hall of Honor.


Dr. Darden served on the Dr. Christine M. Darden has a the Office of Strategic In 1999, Darden was appointed In 2002, As her first assignment in Darden worked in Dr. Christine M. Darden, a to become


the an


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