Georgia peanuts and GWC

by Helen Gibson-Ausbrooks
(McAlester, Oklahoma, USA)

There is a show called "America's Heartland" that airs on my local PBS station in Oklahoma, OETA. I just watched the show this morning and the segment on Georgia peanuts. It gave all kinds of kudos to the Georgia peanut growers, to President Jimmy Carter, to how much peanut butter is consumed to how many color crayons can be made from an acre of peanuts, but never a mention of the man that made peanuts popularity as a food, or commercial crop! Never a single mention of George Washington Carver. Even after all his inventions using the peanut and it's agronomical success when crops were rotated, his name was never mentioned, nor his picture shown. Those speaking and spoken to during the segment, were "Lily White"! Even after making their millions on his back, he is still not given his just due.

Why? This is the 21st Century, and they are still not giving a Black man credit. Those white peanut farmers who appeared in the "Heartland" segment, would not have been as successful had it not been for THAT BLACK MAN!