Albert Einstein visited Lincoln University in 1946. Lincoln University was founded in 1854 under the name of Ashmun Institute and it became the historically black university in the United States for issue official diplomas. The Nobel Prize winning scientist said:
“The separation of races is not a disease of people of color. It’s a white disease.
I do not intend to be silent. “
[HBCU: Historically black colleges and universities. Traditionally black universities are institutions of higher education in the United States. They were created before 1964 with the aim of serving the black community.
From the Harvard Gazette: “In 1946, the Nobel Prize in Physics visited Lincoln University in Pennsylvania, the alma mater of Langston Hughes and Thurgood Marshall and the first school in America to award university degrees to blacks [Refers to their university for students who have graduated from it]. At Lincoln, Einstein gave a speech in which he called racism “white disease” and added, “I have no intention of remaining silent about it. He also received an honorary doctorate and gave a lecture on relativity to Lincoln students. »»
The reason why Einstein’s visit to Lincoln is so little known is that it has been largely overlooked by the mainstream press, which regularly covered Einstein’s speeches and activities. (Only the black press largely covered the event.) Lincoln’s visit is also not mentioned in any of Einstein’s major biographies or archives.
In fact, many important details about Einstein’s life and work are lacking in the numerous studies he has been the subject of, and particularly with regard to his opposition to racism and his relations with African-Americans.
Fred Jerome and Rodger Taylor, authors of “Einstein on Race and Racism” (Rutgers University Press, 2006), argue that these omissions must be recognized and corrected. Jérôme and Taylor spoke on April 3 at an event sponsored by the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research. Sylvester James Gates Jr, professor of physics at the University of Maryland, also spoke at the event. [William Edward Burghardt Du Bois dit W. E. B. Du Bois is a sociologist, historian, civil rights activist, Pan-African activist, editorial writer and American editor.
According to Jerome and Taylor, Einstein’s statements to Lincoln were by no means an isolated case. Einstein, who was Jewish, was made aware of racism by the years of Nazi-inspired threats and harassment he endured during his tenure at the University of Berlin. Einstein was in the United States when the Nazis came to power in 1933 and, fearing that a return to Germany would put him in danger of death, he decided to stay by accepting a position at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey and became an American citizen in 1940.
Although Einstein was grateful to have found refuge there, his gratitude did not prevent him from criticizing the ethical failings of his new home.
“Einstein realized that African Americans in Princeton were treated like the Jews in Germany,” said Taylor. “The city was strictly segregated and there was no high school where blacks could go until 1940.”
Einstein’s response to the racism and segregation he witnessed in Princeton (Paul Robeson, born in Princeton, called it “the northernmost city in the South”) was to cultivate relationships in the African-American community of the city. Jérôme and Taylor interviewed members of this community who still remember the white-haired and tousled head of Einstein walking through their streets, stopping to chat with the locals and distributing candy to the local children.
A woman remembers that Einstein paid the school fees for a young man from the community. Another said he invited Marian Anderson to stay with him when the singer was refused a room at the Nassau Inn.
Einstein met Paul Robeson when the famous singer and actor came to perform at Princeton’s McCarter Theater in 1935. They discovered that they had a lot in common. Both were concerned about the rise of fascism and both supported efforts to defend the democratically elected government of Spain against the fascist forces of Francisco Franco. Einstein and Robeson also worked together on the American Crusade to end the lynching, in response to an increase in racial killings as black soldiers returned home after the Second World War.
The 20-year friendship between Einstein and Robeson is another little-known story, says Jerome, but that omission may soon be rectified. A film is being prepared on this relationship, with Danny Glover as Robeson and Ben Kingsley as Einstein.
Einstein continued to support progressive causes throughout the 1950s, until the pressure of the anticommunist witch hunt made this dangerous. Einstein used his prestige to help a prominent African American in 1951, when W.E.B. Du Bois, 83, founder of the NAACP, was accused by the federal government of not registering himself as a “foreign agent” for relaying the Stockholm pro-Soviet peace petition. Einstein offered to appear as a character witness for Du Bois, which convinced the judge to drop the case.
Gates, an African American physicist, said on PBS Nova that Einstein had been one of his heroes since he learned the theory of relativity as a teenager, but was not aware of its positions on civil rights until recently. Gates says that Einstein’s approach to physics was to ask very simple, almost childish questions, such as, “What would the world be like if I could drive along a beam ?” from light ? ” “He had to develop his ideas on race through a similar process. He was able to ask the question, “What would my life look like if I was black? “
Gates said that reflecting on Einstein’s involvement in civil rights had led him to speculate on the value of positive action and the purpose of diversity it aims to promote. In many cases, the strength and resilience of a system can be attributed to diversity.
“In the natural world, for example, when a population is under the influence of a stressful environment, diversity ensures its survival,” said Gates.
Culturally, the global influence of American popular music could be attributed to the fact that it is an amalgam of European and African musical traditions.
These examples led him to conclude that “diversity really matters, regardless of the moral argument.” Gates says he believes “there is a science of diversity waiting to be discovered by researchers. “
Sources:
Ken Gewertz, “Albert Einstein, Civil Rights Activist” (Harvard Gazette, April 12, 2007).