Pioneering black physician to be honored in NYC

[Blue_Tires]

NEW YORK — He couldn't go to medical school in New York, so James McCune Smith went to Scotland for his degree and returned home to treat the city's poor.

The degree he earned in 1837 made him the nation's first professionally trained African-American doctor. He set up a medical practice in lower Manhattan and became the resident physician at an orphanage.

Celebrated during his lifetime as a teacher, writer and anti-slavery leader, Smith fell into obscurity after his death in 1865 and was buried in an unmarked grave.

On Sunday, descendants who only recently learned they had a black ancestor, will honor Smith at his Brooklyn grave. It will be marked with a new tombstone.

"He was one of the leaders within the movement to abolish slavery, and he was one of the most original and innovative writers of his time," said John Stauffer, a professor of African-American studies at Harvard University who has written about Smith and edited a collection of his works.

The story of why Smith was nearly overlooked by history and buried in an unmarked grave is in part due to the centuries-old practice of light-skinned blacks "passing" as white to escape racial prejudice.

Smith's mother had been a slave; his father was white. Three of his children lived to adulthood, and they all apparently passed as white, scholars say.

Smith's great-great-great-granddaughter, Greta Blau of New Haven, Conn., said that none of his descendants was told that they had a black ancestor, let alone such an accomplished one.

Blau came across her family connection while taking a course in the history of blacks in New York City. It was there that she came across the name James McCune Smith, which rang a bell. The name was inscribed in a family Bible belonging to her grandmother, Antoinette Martignoni.

Blau consulted with Stauffer, and they did some research and determined that the James McCune Smith who was known as America's first black doctor was indeed her forebear.

"I never, ever would have thought that I had a black ancestor," Blau said. She added, "We're all really happy. ... He was a really amazing person in so many ways."

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iEaYwM-YJ6UJGeo3OnWcdeS6A8cQD9IEF0B80

[bliss_eternal]

1. While I understand...

...much of the anger and resentment around the issue of "passing," I don't understand the lack of compassion, empathy and the ways so many were punished for doing so. I also don't get so much of the divisions (based on colorism), that continue today.

Some act as if people w/beige, yellow, tan, cream, olive or light (hue) skin--somehow willed it from the womb, to spite the browner members of the culture. :crazy: The perception that they somehow get a better deal in society, seems to ignore the fact--they're still black. At the end of the day, they face the same discrimination...because someone intolerant isn't going to give them a pass, because they aren't as brown, as another black person.

All of this is just to say, it all seems so silly, and only serves to keep us divided.

Having said all of that, I'm so glad to see that this physician was honored, posthumously. That his story was shared. I can only imagine his passion for medicine. Given that he wouldn't be stopped from studying, based on race--going all the way to Scotland to complete his degree.....wow.

[bliss_eternal]

2. one more thing...

...while sharing my thoughts on the issue of division based on varying shades, w/in the race...may i just say, i intensely dislike seeing people of color describe other people of color based on their coloring and attaching individual value judgements to one's looks? for example, describing someone as "light and ugly" or "dark and pretty", etc.

black pearl, redbone, half-breed, high-yella' and other such descriptions are equally offensive, disturbing and say more about the person using such terms, than the person they are attempting to describe, imo.

talk about mind shackles. :puke:

:rant: