Neil
deGrasse Tyson believes that the United States has lost
the sense of adventure, forward-looking expectation, and
appreciation for innovation that was stimulated by President
Kennedy�s call for space exploration. He bemoans this
loss and is quite willing to recount the many scientific
and material benefits that flowed from the activities
of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
in this regard. Not least among these benefits that Neil
highlights was the investment in and emphasis on math
and science education in our schools. Like so many of
us, deGrasse Tyson, who is named for a French navy officer
who fought in the revolutionary war, has a short-sighted
view of the past and, therefore, a misinformed view of
the future.
As
an African American science dilettante myself, I love
my astrophysics� brother�s fame and status as one of the
US�s top popularizers of basic science. Neil is replacing
such Caucasian notables as Carl Sagan. He, like President
Obama, is another First for our community.
Like Obama and so many other Firsts,
brother Tyson seems to be uncritically surfing on a US
public narrative that is filled with untruths, misconceptions,
faulty understandings, and missing facts that has been
destructive to African Americans and that is bringing
mankind to extinction. We only need to look at the current
Tea Party efforts across the South to shape school curricula
to enshrine Jefferson Davis as a hero, to deny the slave-holding
of many of the US Founders, and to tout the accomplishments
of unbridled capitalism to see how these lies get implanted
in the public narrative.
Tyson
must own up to the fact that the US space race was a Cold
War policy at its heart. NASA walked hand-in-hand with
the military in an effort to out-do the Soviets. Much
of what we call science in this country is not basic science;
it is military science. Yes, there are spin-offs from
military science that have been marginally beneficial
for nonmilitary uses but the huge investments are not
made with this in mind and the investments come to an
end when the military uses for that line of inquiry decline.
No one, especially Mr. Tyson, should be blind to the fact
that the direct benefits from direct investment
in basic exploration and research would far out strip
military science in delivering benefits that are general
and sustainable!
Neil
is, also, wrong if he thinks that it is a loss of the
spirit of adventure that is to blame for the decline of
the space program or that the decline of the space program
heralds a loss of the spirit of adventure. Rather, it
is the collapse of the US�s primary heavy military competitor,
the Soviet Union, and the over achievement of the military
advantage of space technology that is to blame. That military
science over-reach resulted in the scientific absurdity
of the National Missile Defense or Star Wars program
which has faded to invisibility when confronted with the
actuality of computer capabilities, ballistic realities,
and offensive decoy distribution capabilities. It is not
the ancillary nonmilitary benefits that have driven the
government investments in this program; it is dishonest
to speak of these spin-offs while being silent on the
primary motivator.
To
tell the truth, the historical spirit of adventurism in
the US has always been more related to greed, dominance,
and militarism than it has been to basic exploration,
basic science, or discovery. Newt Gingrich�s promotion
of a moon colony ought to be a
wakeup signal to the presence of this dishonesty. Do not
forget the military taint to the Lewis and Clark Expedition,
the US government�s very first investment in this type
of activity? Our investments in innovation have historically
been harnessed to a sense of manifest destiny that
grows out of assumed supremacy, greed, accumulation, and
materialism. And it has always been backed up with violence
and militarism. Because Neil deGrasse Tyson seems not
to see this, I must tag this good natured man a
Buffalo Soldier.
Dr.
Tyson seems to be blind to the �teachings� of nature and
not cognizant of the underlying motivators lurking behind
the major actions in US history. Nature�s �teachings�
are more about sustainability than
never-ending growth and imperial expansion. Nature�s �teachings�
are more about cooperation, adaptation, co-evolution,
and symbiosis than they are about the survival
of the fittest or dominance. I join with
brother Tyson in calling for increased investments in
math and science education and basic research exploration;
however, I call for such increased investments that stand
apart from the un-sustainability of greed and militarism.
Being an astrophysicist, who is prominent, should not
blunt Neil�s ability to perceive the truths that are found
in the life �lessons� of this planet.
My
brother Neil and all brothers and sisters should see and
speak against the obscured messages that were in Kennedy�s
call. I know that Neil is not a historian, nor a rhetorical
expert, nor a sociologist; but as an African American
with status - as a First � he
has an obligation to see and expose the subterranean imperialist,
racists, �monsters� that inhabit the US psyche. We all
have that as a first rank obligation.
BlackCommentator.com
Guest Commentator, Wilson Riles, is a
former Oakland,
CA City Council Member. Click here
to contact Mr. Riles.
