In view of the televised, Black atrocities in Ferguson, Missouri, Chicago, Illinois, Detroit, Michigan, and other American cities, many people might find it surprising to discover that, the greatness of today’s America has much to do with Black American achievements and inventions.

Many early American inventions were either outright created, or improved upon by Black Americans. The following are only a few of such inventions:

• The Refrigerator (John Standard)
• The Toilet Stool (Thomas Elkins)
• The Personal Computer or PC (Mark Dean)
• The Traffic Signal (Garrett Morgan)
• The Rotary Blades for the Lawn Mower (John A. Burr)
• The Elevator Doors (Alexander Miles)
• The Fire Extinguisher (T. Marshall)
• The Steam Engine lubricator (Elijah McCoy/dubbed; The Real McCoy)
• The Letter Drop mailbox (Phillip B. Downing)
• The Gas Mask (Garret Morgan)
• The Carbon Filament for the incandescent light bulb (Lewis Latimer)
• The Folding Chair (Brody and Surgwar)
• The Door Knob (Osbourn Dorsey)
• The Fold-up Wall Bed (Sarah S. Goode)
• The Ironing Board (Sarah Boone)
• Peanut, pecan, and soybean products processing (George Washington Carver)
• The Air Conditioning Unit (Frederick M. Jones)
• The Baby Buggy (W.H. Richardson)
• The Cellular Phone (Henry T. Sampson)
• The Clothes Dryer (George Sampson)
• The Biscuit Cutter and Elevator-Safety Products (Alexander P. Ashbourne)
• The Blood Bank/blood Plasma (Dr. Charles Richard Drew)
• Even down to the invention of Potato Chips (George Crum)

Though there are countless of other black American beginnings; the one, most overlooked and most crucially important is the fact that, Black Americans were largely among the founding pioneers of the American, Republican Party!

As a matter of fact (s), their activities in establishing the Republican Party were what many black Americans did to help to win their freedom from slavery (See the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854).  Republican Party founding Legislators in many of America’s Southern states were black.

So then, if much of Black America have proven to be intellectually sound; how then did millions of this group of Americans arrive at having the highest rate of teen pregnancies; the highest rate of prison incarcerations; the highest rate of abortions; the highest rate of HIV infections; the highest rate of school drop-outs; the highest rate of children, born to families without a dad; the highest rate of young male deaths? Just the thought of such wide-spread dismantling of a brilliant group of Americans is almost too horrid and too incomprehensible to phantom. 

Like many other Americans, most Black Americans, at one time, were a humble, but mighty, and productive people.  They were a part of what one might term; “America’s salt-of-the-earth!”

Make no mistake!  Whether intentionally or un-intentionally, there ‘are’ definitive causes for black America’s unraveling! It has been said that: “The Road to Hell, is Paved with Good Intentions!”

Therefore, the ‘one’ destructive and most profound cause of this group’s dismantling is Black America’s unwavering support for the Democrat Party or for Democrat Party Policies.

This profundity has occurred while at the same time, a large majority of black Americans have allowed themselves for decades, to be talked out of their true, political heritage known as The Republican Party! They have allowed themselves to be firmly turned against their political roots.

The Republican Party is the Party where slaves and white sympathizers gave their lives to end slavery in America (1863).

This Party is the Party that fought to ensure inalienable rights to Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for all Americans, to include former slaves and for all subsequent generations to follow.

Inalienable rights fought for by the Republican Party are those human rights endowed by the God of The Universe and guaranteed by The United States Constitution and The Declaration of Independence.

The Republican Party is the Party of Abraham Lincoln; Frederick Douglas, Sojouner Truth, Harriet Tubman, James Weldon Johnson, Hiram R. Revel (U.S. Senate 1870); Joseph H. Rainey (U.S. Congress 1870’s); Booker T. Washington, Etc. It is also the Party of historical black colleges and of the founder of the NAACP 1909 (Joel E. Spingarn).

Though Thomas Jefferson was not a Republican, one of his later, most profound quotes was: “The Republican is the only Political Party in America that is Not at Eternal War, With the Rights of Human Kind!”

There are other distinct causes for the epic break-down of black America, but the most glaring is an overwhelming majority of black Americans have consistently sealed their own destructive fate by spending too many decades, voting for, and supporting The Democrat Party or the grand-daddy of the Ku Klux Klan; the Jim Crow; Segregation Laws; lynching-s, hanging-s, etc.

Joseph Rainey, a former slave, who turned Republican Congressman (1874-1879), definitively warned black America to stay clear of the Democrat Party. While Acting House Speaker, and while standing in the Well of Congress, Mr. Rainey said: “Freedom is much more desirable than slavery, and we can remain free forever, if we remember to avoid or stay away from, the Democrats!”

Geraldine Lewis is a business owner and an author.

Follow Geraldine on Twitter @GeraldineLewis