NASA names headquarters after first Black female engineer Mary W. Jackson • Hacker News Board

Re: NASA names headquarters after first Black female engineer Mary W. Jackson

#11

Post by HenryKissinger » Thu, Jun 25, 2020, 2:32 AM UTC

Becoming a NASA engineer in those days must have been extraordinarily challenging. That Mary Jackson, a black woman, succeeded in doing so in a society, and a professional culture (engineering) dominated by white men (nothing against white men, am a white man myself, just pointing out an objective fact, please put your pitchforks away) speaks to her talent and the grit it took to achieve what she achieved.

A well deserved announcement.

Re: NASA names headquarters after first Black female engineer Mary W. Jackson

#12

Post by earthboundkid » Thu, Jun 25, 2020, 2:39 AM UTC

a-wu wrote: post #10

warent wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not much of a movie watcher but this one is an outstanding one! Highly recommend it to anyone who hasn't already seen it.

A great movie indeed however it uses the white savior trope gratuitously. The scene where Kevin Costner’s character lets Octavia Spencer’s character into the mission control room never happened in real life.

I didn’t read it as Costner being a “savior”. She had all the agency and action. She just needed someone to give her a fair shake. I should go back and read the book though because I’m curious about where they bent the story for dramatic purposes.

Re: NASA names headquarters after first Black female engineer Mary W. Jackson

#13

Post by dontspeak » Thu, Jun 25, 2020, 2:45 AM UTC

When are you going to patch the https proxy bug?

Re: NASA names headquarters after first Black female engineer Mary W. Jackson

#14

Post by cyberlurker » Thu, Jun 25, 2020, 2:47 AM UTC

I've seen negative comments of people claiming this is fruitless and that it pretends to solve racism forever (here and elsewhere).

No one involved in naming this thought that was the case. They are giving overdue recognition.

I can't imagine why people would be negative about this besides feeling threatened.

Re: NASA names headquarters after first Black female engineer Mary W. Jackson

#15

Post by Rebelgecko » Thu, Jun 25, 2020, 2:49 AM UTC

TedDoesntTalk wrote: post #4

This woman should be on the front of a limited edition $100 US bill.

No offense to Salmon Chase, but the bill denomination your face shows up on is not proportional (even logarithmically) to one's importance or worth as a human being

Re: NASA names headquarters after first Black female engineer Mary W. Jackson

#16

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Jun 25, 2020, 2:51 AM UTC

Rebelgecko wrote: post #15

TedDoesntTalk wrote: post #4

This woman should be on the front of a limited edition $100 US bill.

No offense to Salmon Chase, but the bill denomination your face shows up on is not proportional (even logarithmically) to one's importance or worth as a human being

[deleted]

Re: NASA names headquarters after first Black female engineer Mary W. Jackson

#17

Post by faitswulff » Thu, Jun 25, 2020, 2:54 AM UTC

a-wu wrote: post #10

warent wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not much of a movie watcher but this one is an outstanding one! Highly recommend it to anyone who hasn't already seen it.

A great movie indeed however it uses the white savior trope gratuitously. The scene where Kevin Costner’s character lets Octavia Spencer’s character into the mission control room never happened in real life.

Yeah, that trope is regrettable. Don't forget the entirely fictitious scene where Costner's character "ended" segregated bathrooms by taking down a "whites only" sign.

Re: NASA names headquarters after first Black female engineer Mary W. Jackson

#18

Post by SmallPeePeeMan » Thu, Jun 25, 2020, 2:55 AM UTC

TedDoesntTalk wrote: post #4

This woman should be on the front of a limited edition $100 US bill.

Not sure why you’re being down voted, unless it’s by racists or people afraid of change. I like the idea.

Re: NASA names headquarters after first Black female engineer Mary W. Jackson

#19

Post by nickff » Thu, Jun 25, 2020, 2:56 AM UTC

cyberlurker wrote: post #14

I've seen negative comments of people claiming this is fruitless and that it pretends to solve racism forever (here and elsewhere). No one involved in naming this thought that was the case. They are giving overdue recognition. I can't imagine why people would be negative about this besides feeling threatened.

NASA seems to have started a pattern of naming things after people featured in movies, rather than those who contributed deeply to its achievements. Re-naming the Dryden Center to the Armstrong Center appears to have been part of an unfortunate trend.

Re: NASA names headquarters after first Black female engineer Mary W. Jackson

#20

Post by grugagag » Thu, Jun 25, 2020, 2:56 AM UTC

cyberlurker wrote: post #14

I've seen negative comments of people claiming this is fruitless and that it pretends to solve racism forever (here and elsewhere). No one involved in naming this thought that was the case. They are giving overdue recognition. I can't imagine why people would be negative about this besides feeling threatened.

I dont know if feeling threatened but aware this person’s contribution was not the reason for the naming but the fact that black people were supressed. It’s a generous move but not highly meritocratic. People might have a problem or two with that. I want to remind them we dont live in a meritocratic society anyway and the powerful snatch the merit away like a giant magnet. It will naturally bruise some egos and pump up some other ones and appear to make a bit of justice. The question is, will black americans be treated as second class citizens in 10, 20, 50 years from now?