Scroll down to read this post.

 

My February birthday fund-raising campaign for Behind the Black it now over. I sincerely and with deep gratitude thank all those who donated. Without your support I could not keep doing this, not so much because of the need for income to pay the bills, but because it tells me that there are people out there who want me to do this work. For those who did not contribute during the campaign, please consider adding your vote of support to Behind the Black, by giving either a one-time contribution or a regular subscription, in any one of the following ways:

 

1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.

 

2. Donate through Gabpay, using my email address zimmerman @ nasw dot org.
 

3. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
 

4. A Paypal Donation:

4. A Paypal subscription:


5. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
 
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652


Today’s blacklisted American: Black scientist blacklisted for doing good research

Oluseyi Hakeem, blacklisted
Hakeem Oluseyi, Space Science Education Lead
for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate

They’re coming for you next: Today’s blacklist column describes an effort to not only cancel from history the man who led NASA for almost the entire 1960s space race, but to also blackball a scientist for doing good research that proved the campaign was not based on any facts.

Shortly before the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope last year, a petition was instigated to get it renamed because of accusations that Webb had persecuted homosexuals during his term as NASA administrator in the 1960s. As is now typical of our modern bankrupt intellectual class, as soon as this petition was issued more than 1,700 people signed it, all accepting at face value its accusations against Webb without any further research.

One scientist, who happened to be black, took a more detailed look at those accusations however and found them to be spurious. As Hakeem Oluseyi wrote:

In full disclosure, I never met James Webb, who died in 1992. I have no idea what was in his heart and mind. But what I can say conclusively is that there is zero evidence that Webb is guilty of the allegations against him.

Rather than exposing a bigot — as Webb was described in two popular articles reporting this story in 2015 — my research suggests that the purveyors of these allegations wrongly accused an innocent man who was, among more well-known achievements, a hero of diversity and inclusion in American government. He worked with Lyndon Johnson and John F. Kennedy to use NASA facilities in America’s southern states to promote racial integration and equal opportunity in employment.

Oluseyi notes at length the facts. He also notes at length the close-mindedness of the intellectual community on this subject. Except for one person outside of himself in academia, no one was willing to research the history in detail. That one person did no research himself, merely wondered, based on the nature of the accusations presented against Webb, whether more research was needed.

Did Oluseyi’s work open the minds of this close-minded science community? Of course not. The initial campaign against Webb was instigated by physicist Chanda Prescod-Weinstein of the University of New Hampshire. In response to Oluseyi she and her allies immediately launched a new campaign, to get him blackballed as well.

Oluseyi was soon also tagged and said that he has been unable to have letters published in the journal that attempted to point out the allegedly flawed evidence cited by Prescod-Weinstein and others. So, not only are journals declaring the matter effectively closed, but they will not allow readers to see opposing views.

Even former colleagues publicly denounced Oluseyi. George Mason’s Peter Plavchan, who said that he welcomed Oluseyi to that school as a visiting professor, tweeted a note to Prescod-Weinstein that “I do believe [Oluseyi] owes you and LGBTQ+ astronomers an apology.”

As a space historian who has interviewed numerous people and researched extensively the early history of NASA, reviewing much of the same original source material that Oluseyi referenced, I very confidently endorse Oluseyi’s conclusions. Webb, like almost everyone at NASA at that time, was not a bigot and did whatever he could to end discrimination within the agency he headed. He was also an imperfect human being, and to demand he meet today’s standards or to condemn him for failing to achieve perfect racial/sexual harmony in his life is not only unjust, it is unrealistic and extremely hateful.

In the end, this story — like all my blacklist columns — once again highlights the close-minded, vicious, and hateful culture that now permeates today’s intellectual class. They do not think, they do not research, they do not care, and above all, they hate with an empty-minded fervor that at times can be truly horrifying.

If something does not change soon in this culture, the future they will bring us will only see even greater evils, including outright genocide. For when you refuse to consider the possibility that you are wrong, as Prescod-Weinstein and her allies are doing, the only solution in the end is the final solution, to kill your opponents so you need not face the truth.

Conscious Choice cover

Now available in hardback and paperback as well as ebook!

 

From the press release: In this ground-breaking new history of early America, historian Robert Zimmerman not only exposes the lie behind The New York Times 1619 Project that falsely claims slavery is central to the history of the United States, he also provides profound lessons about the nature of human societies, lessons important for Americans today as well as for all future settlers on Mars and elsewhere in space.

 
Conscious Choice: The origins of slavery in America and why it matters today and for our future in outer space, is a riveting page-turning story that documents how slavery slowly became pervasive in the southern British colonies of North America, colonies founded by a people and culture that not only did not allow slavery but in every way were hostile to the practice.  
Conscious Choice does more however. In telling the tragic history of the Virginia colony and the rise of slavery there, Zimmerman lays out the proper path for creating healthy societies in places like the Moon and Mars.

 

“Zimmerman’s ground-breaking history provides every future generation the basic framework for establishing new societies on other worlds. We would be wise to heed what he says.” —Robert Zubrin, founder of founder of the Mars Society.

 

All editions are available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and all book vendors, with the ebook priced at $5.99 before discount. The ebook can also be purchased direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit, in which case you don't support the big tech companies and I get a bigger cut much sooner.

 

Autographed printed copies are also available at discount directly from me (hardback $24.95; paperback $14.95; Shipping cost for either: $5.00). Just email me at zimmerman @ nasw dot org.

9 comments

  • Jeff Wright

    This one really makes me angry. The screechers owe him an apology.

  • wayne

    J B Peterson
    The Logos at Ephesus (12/26/22)
    “Narrative and the lens through which we view the world” [excerpt]
    https://youtu.be/9ByjCwumwBM?t=2347

    “…there are predators of the spirit which are much worse than snakes, that are waiting in wait, for you.”

  • Phil Berardelli

    David Webb is a radio talk show host I deeply respect. Related to this topic, he once said that the only way to deal effectively with people like this was to frighten them — and I would add, out of their wits. Yes, they hold sway, largely because of their verbal aggressiveness and their unbridled tendency of snap judgments. But they are not the real majority and, more important, they base all of their heinous actions on the assumption that we will not exact real punishment. If I were they, and I knew that the opposition numbered in the tens of millions, most of them armed, to put it crudely I would not want to piss them off. It is long past time to punch back to the point where these individuals would no longer dare provoke our response.

  • Cotour

    Objectify and dehumanize your existential enemy, or who you believe is your existential enemy, or who you are instructed is your existential enemy and there is nothing that can stand in your way.

    And this is precisely what every true believer “Progressive” (D), Climate Warrior, Social Justice Warrior etc, etc, believes. And so whatever destruction that is determined to be necessary is justifiable. Up to and including murder. Strategy Over Morality in other words.

    And then what? And that question is answered in only one way.

    (Ah, Jacob Bronowski, a blast from the past)

  • beau

    Chanda Prescod-Weinstein: hyphenated last name whiner that likely sees all the -isms in everything, everywhere at all times.

    given the total information, this featured whiner should be blacklisted.

  • Sandra L Gonzales

    Terrible times, it’s Salem witch hunts all
    Over but on steroids

  • Cotour

    Those in Salem who burned witches truly believed they were burning witches.

    And that is what we are seeing here today in America, true believers. Fully trained and indoctrinated believers.

    And that reality is what should scare everyone.

    You know, besides our own government (D & RINO) actively flooding our country with illegals and purposefully destroying our economic system and degrading our military in order to deliver the country to the Globalist agenda.

    Then what?

    They do not seem to go there.

  • Shaun

    Extremely well researched/sited, written, and articulated piece from Haseem. So glad he has at least least some vindication from ESA. Now for the rest of the world to acknowledge the facts.

  • Greg the Geologist

    If anyone was wondering what the late Benedict XVI meant by the phrase “dictatorship of relativism”, this is certainly a clear demonstration. I’ve seen Dr. Oluseyi on a number of space-related documentaries, and I have always appreciated his ability to construct a lively image of the processes he’s describing in the most concrete terms possible, really clarifying his point. As he’s a clear thinker and speaker, might not sit well with the Left (although of course I have no idea of his personal politics – nor should it matter when approaching scientific questions honestly).

Readers: the rules for commenting!

 

No registration is required. I welcome all opinions, even those that strongly criticize my commentary.

 

However, name-calling and obscenities will not be tolerated. First time offenders who are new to the site will be warned. Second time offenders or first time offenders who have been here awhile will be suspended for a week. After that, I will ban you. Period.

 

Note also that first time commenters as well as any comment with more than one link will be placed in moderation for my approval. Be patient, I will get to it.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *