GREAT BLACK PEOPLE IN HISTORY Vol: Cowboys, Generals,Soldiers, Politicians and more

[216301baller]

Epic thread in the making

 

[jaysrcrak]

Is the first post cut off for anyone else?

Yea it was for me too.

[h1]Was an African American cop the real Lone Ranger?[/h1]


By Sheena McKenzie

, CNN



updated 12:15 PM EDT, Tue August 6, 2013



View media item 527406





(CNN)
 -- More than a century before Johnny Depp wore a terrifying crow headpiece in new Disney film "The Lone Ranger," another hero of the Wild West was carefully arranging his own remarkable disguise.



Sometimes he dressed as a preacher, at other times a tramp, and occasionally even a woman.



But beneath the elaborate costumes was always Bass Reeves -- a 19th-century Arkansas slave who became a legendary Deputy U.S. Marshal, capturing more than 3,000 criminals with his flamboyant detective skills, super strength and supreme horsemanship.



Sound familiar? As one historian argues, Reeves could have been the real-life inspiration behind one of America's most beloved fictional characters -- the Lone Ranger.




"Many of Reeves' personal attributes and techniques in catching desperadoes were similar to the Lone Ranger," says Art Burton, author of "Black Gun, Silver Star: The Life and Legend of Frontier Marshal Bass Reeves.
"



"He was bigger than the Lone Ranger -- he was a combination of the Lone Ranger, Sherlock Holmes and Superman," Burton told CNN. "But because he was a black man his story has been buried. He never got the recognition he deserved."



Legendary Lone Ranger



It's a world apart from the fictional Lone Ranger, who remains one of most the iconic Wild West heroes of the 20th century.



First appearing on a Detroit radio station in 1933, the masked man on a white stallion who brought bad guys to justice was hugely successful, with the series running for over two decades. It spawned novels, comic books and an eight-year TV show starring the most iconic Lone Ranger of all -- actor Clayton Moore.



Indeed, Disney's new film -- featuring Armie Hammer as the Lone Ranger and Johnny Depp as his trusty native American Indian sidekick Tonto -- is just the latest in a long line of films depicting the legendary lawman.



So what's that got to do with Bass Reeves -- one of the country's first African American marshals, who was born almost 100 years before the Lone Ranger made his radio debut?



Hi-Ho Silver!



Quite a lot, argues Burton, pointing to similarities such as their gray horses, penchant for disguises, use of American Indian trackers, and unusual calling cards -- Reeves gave folks a silver dollar to remember him by, while the Lone Ranger left silver bullets.



As for the iconic black mask, the link is more symbolic. "Blacks at that time wore an invisible mask in a world that largely ignored them -- so in that societal sense, Reeves also wore a mask," said Burton, a lecturer at South Suburban College in Illinois.







"When the Lone Ranger first started appearing in comic books he wore a black mask that covered his entire face. Why would they do that? There was deep physiological connection going on."



Then there's the Detroit link. Many of the thousands of criminals captured by Reeves were sent to the House of Corrections in Detroit -- the same city where the Lone Ranger character was created by George Trendle and Fran Striker.



"It's not beyond belief that all those felons were talking about a black man who had these attributes and the stories got out," said Burton. "I haven't been able to prove conclusively that Reeves was the inspiration for the Lone Ranger, but he was the closest person in real life who had these characteristics."



Real life superhero



In fact, if the newspaper clippings, federal documents, and handed-down stories are anything to go by, Reeves wasn't just a lawman -- he was a 6 foot 2 inch moustachioed muscleman who was so honorable he even arrested his own son.



Born a slave in Arkansas in 1838, Reeves headed to the Civil War front line in the 1860s, working as a servant for his master in the Confederate Army.



While there, he managed to escape to the Indian Territory -- now the state of Oklahoma -- living with native American Indians and learning their languages and tracking skills.



He was a combination of the Lone Ranger, Sherlock Holmes and Superman
Art Burton, historian



So renowned were the father-of-10's shooting skills and horsemanship, that in 1875 he was appointed Deputy U.S. Marshal.



"He was a big guy for his time," said Burton. "If you got in a fight with Reeves it was the worst decision you could make in your life -- it accounted to suicide.





"He was also an excellent horseman -- the Indians taught him how to make himself appear smaller in the saddle, helping him with disguises."



Such was the skilled rider's love of horses, he even bred them on his farm. Indeed, many of the first U.S. jockeys were African American slaves who had originally worked in their master's stables.



Lost legacy?



In his 32-year career, Reeves became a Wild West celebrity, with folk songs springing up about the marshal with almost mythical strength.



He died in 1910, at the impressive age of 71, just as segregation laws were starting to take effect in his home state.



Last year, a seven-meter bronze statue of Reeves, in all his gun-slinging glory atop a horse, was unveiled in Fort Smith, Arkansas.



"He's one of America's most important heroes and it's sad his story isn't known more than it is," said Burton. "But unfortunately, the majority of black history has been buried.



"Even today, nobody knows where Reeves is buried -- I like to tell people he's still in disguise."

Great thread OP. Repped
History is whatever the people who write it wish it to be. Makes you think what they lie to us about.

 

[elpablo21]

I hate titles like this, along with "black history month" and "black entertainment television". It's hard to blur racial lines when race is pointed out constantly.

How does it make it hard to blur racial lines?

I dont feel like taking pride and gaining knowledge in your culture and it's history has anything to do with further segregating yourself from other people of different backgrounds.

 

[cashbanks]

dude complaining about black history month?

 

[cashbanks]

dbl

 

[reggiekiller]

[h1] [/h1]
This is some good stuff here too.  Thomas Dumas, father of Alexander Dumas author of Three Musketeers
[h1]Thomas-Alexandre Dumas[/h1][h1] [/h1]

General Alexandre Davy de la Pailleterie, also known as Alexandre Dumas, (25 March 1762 – 26 February 1806) was the first black  general  in French history and remains the highest-ranking person of color  of all time in a continental European army.[sup][1][/sup]  He was the first person of color in the French military to become brigadier general, the first to becomedivisional general, and the first to become general-in-chief  of a French army.[sup][2][/sup]  Dumas shared the status of the highest-ranking black  officer in the Western world  only with Toussaint Louverture  (who in May 1797 became the second blackgeneral-in-chief in the French military[sup][3][/sup]) until 1989, when the American Colin Powell  became a four-star general, the closest United States equivalent of Général d'Armée, Dumas's highest rank.

Born in Saint-Domingue, Alexandre Dumas was of mixed race, the son of a white  French  nobleman  and a black  slavemother. He was born into slavery because of his mother's status but was also born into nobility because of his father's. His father took the boy with him to France in 1776 and had him educated. Slavery was illegal in metropolitan France and thus any slave would be freed de facto by being in the country. He helped him enter the French military.

Dumas played a pivotal role in the French Revolutionary Wars. Entering the military as a private at age 24, Dumas rose by age 31 to command 53,000 troops as the General-in-Chief of the French Army of the Alps. Dumas's strategic victory in opening the high Alps  passes enabled the French to initiate their Second Italian Campaign against the Austrian Empire. During the battles in Italy, Austrian troops nicknamed Dumas as the Schwarzer Teufel  ("Black Devil," Diable Noir  in French).[sup][4][/sup]  The French – notably Napoleon  – nicknamed him "the Horatius Cocles  of the Tyrol"[sup][5][/sup]  (after a hero who had saved ancient Rome[sup][6][/sup]) for single-handedly defeating a squadron of enemy troops at a bridge over the Eisack River  in Clausen (today Klausen, or Chiusa, Italy).

Dumas served as commander of the French cavalry forces on the Expédition d'Égypte, a failed French attempt to conquer Egypt and the Levant. On the march from Alexandria to Cairo, he clashed verbally with the Expedition's supreme commander Napoleon Bonaparte, under whom he had served in the Italian campaigns. In March 1799, Dumas left Egypt  on an unsound vessel, which was forced to put aground in the southern Italian Kingdom of Naples, where he was taken prisoner and thrown into a dungeon. He languished there until the spring of 1801.

Returning to France after his release, he had a son with his wife: Alexandre Dumas, who became one of France's most widely-read authors of all time. The novelist Dumas' most famous characters were inspired by the life of General Dumas.[sup][7][/sup]The general's grandson, Alexandre Dumas, fils, would become one of France's most celebrated playwrights of the second half of the nineteenth century. Another grandson, Henry Bauër, who was never recognized by the novelist Dumas, was a prominent left-leaning theater critic in the same period.[sup][8][/sup]  The General's great-grandson, Gérard Bauër, son of Henry Bauër, was also an accomplished writer, in the twentieth century. A great-great-grandson, Alexandre Lippmann  (grandson of the playwright Dumas fils), was a two-time gold medalist in fencing at the 1908 and 1924 Olympic games (he won silver in 1920).

 

[am1x90xnike]

How does it make it hard to blur racial lines?

I dont feel like taking pride and gaining knowledge in your culture and it's history has anything to do with further segregating yourself from other people of different backgrounds.

Honestly, I can dig the whole "black" thing, but I, as a proud black man, would prefer to be either Negro or American. I never liked the term black, Thrugood Marshall fought so damn hard to get the "N" in Negro capitialized, and now Negro is somehow a bad word, I bet it'll get the *** treatment. Gotta love America.

 

[sooperhooper]

All I'm saying is, we keep proclaiming how race shouldn't be an issue or race shouldn't be brought up... Yet blacks keep pointing it out. People might not see where I'm coming from. If not, that's cool.

 

[am1x90xnike]

All I'm saying is, we keep proclaiming how race shouldn't be an issue or race shouldn't be brought up... Yet blacks keep pointing it out. People might not see where I'm coming from. If not, that's cool.

You do realize that there is a literal pigment difference between black and white people and no matter how much we avoid the subject, that pigment difference will still be there so it's kind of hard to ignore.

 

[ruxxx]

You do realize that there is a literal pigment difference between black and white people and no matter how much we avoid the subject, that pigment difference will still be there so it's kind of hard to ignore.

Yeah but there's SOOOOO much more to it than that.

Some folks just don't get it (not talking about you).

 

[beh235]

The first post is cut off for me. We get this far and no mention of Catcher Freeman? 

 

[Humbled]

Dumas had some strong genes... So much success in that bloodline. Great thread. Please keep this alive.

 

[cashbanks]

All I'm saying is, we keep proclaiming how race shouldn't be an issue or race shouldn't be brought up... Yet blacks keep pointing it out. People might not see where I'm coming from. If not, that's cool.

who keeps proclaiming these things other than white people?

race is an issue and should be discussed people are still treated differently in this country because of their skin color how is it not an issue?

I'll ask you this with the majority of our history in this country intentionally erased or outright lied about. Should we say no more black history month and just ignore the accomplishments of blacks in this country all together seeing as thats pretty much the only time it's brought up?

 

[elpablo21]

All I'm saying is, we keep proclaiming how race shouldn't be an issue or race shouldn't be brought up... Yet blacks keep pointing it out. People might not see where I'm coming from. If not, that's cool.

race shouldnt be an issue but how do you get to the point if we keep saying it shouldnt be brought up?

and this thread in particular is talking about black people in a positive/informative light? Do you think that's holding this country back from progressing in race relations? Im sorry it just doesnt make sense to me.

Its almost like some people think information like this is trying to belittle other races or something, I just dont get it.

 

[fantastic4our]

All I'm saying is, we keep proclaiming how race shouldn't be an issue or race shouldn't be brought up... Yet blacks keep pointing it out. People might not see where I'm coming from. If not, that's cool.

I disagree that it shouldn't be brought up. We are all different and pointing out differences doesn't mean that one is better. Same with people that say they don't see race. You see it, and trying to pretend otherwise is intellectually dishonest. Instead of trying to bury race, we should embrace the differences of ourselves and others. More dialogue, not less.

 

[beh235]

All I'm saying is, we keep proclaiming how race shouldn't be an issue or race shouldn't be brought up... Yet blacks keep pointing it out. People might not see where I'm coming from. If not, that's cool.

You ask why it should be brought up. By and large it's part of history, particularly American History that has been ignored. It's to the point where when you talk about Black History Month, the automatic response or thought in people's heads is MLK, Malcolm X, Barack Obama and Jay Z. Not to denigrate them as people but how sad is that? An entire history being condensed to a few current people (relatively speaking) and repeated over and over with no broader scope. Black History began with the Civil Rights movement? Not so. This has potential to be a great thread and I hope would shed some light to those who aren't aware of how rich Black History is. 

 

[hand2handking]

cant even have a thread like this without someone questioning why

 

[brakgirl14]

Although he's biracial, I think Alessandro De Medici should be mentioned.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/secret/famous/medici.html   

 

[str8drop]

All I'm saying is, we keep proclaiming how race shouldn't be an issue or race shouldn't be brought up... Yet blacks keep pointing it out. People might not see where I'm coming from. If not, that's cool.

I'm gonna go ahead and assume you're trollin

 

[D StaXX]

Dumas had some strong genes... So much success in that bloodline. Great thread. Please keep this alive.

Don't know my dad's side of the family that well but my last name is Dumas and my great great grandfather is from France.
I highly doubt it, but it would be cool if I were a descendent of the family.

 

[i lax bro]

cant even have a thread like this without someone questioning why

So if we had a thread named Great White people in History Vol: cowboys, generals, george carlin, soldiers, politicans, and more there wouldn't be anyone questioning why theres a white thread? Just playing devils advocate

 

[the qbz]

So if we had a thread named Great White people in History Vol: cowboys, generals, george carlin, soldiers, politicans, and more there wouldn't be anyone questioning why theres a white thread? Just playing devils advocate

You don't need a thread when its force feed through the media. History is old be the win ers of the battles.....not the losers they are made to look stupid and weak

 

[a55a5in11]

I dont see how anybody could complain about this thread. Its about great black people in american history. The same history that made it 5 times harder to be black than white

 

[knowledgebones72]

Although he's biracial, I think Alessandro De Medici should be mentioned.


http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/secret/famous/medici.html
  

Oh my God I swear that was gonna be the next person I post!

Him and his cousin (strong Black presence in the Medici bloodline) Cosimo were those dudes. They had a huge hand in the start of the Italian Renaissance.

Plus it's cool to know that the First and Second Dukes of Florence were Black dudes.

If you look at Cosimo I De Medici's life, it seems so interesting. First of all, he looks exactly like Kid from Kid 'n Play. Secondly, he was mad young when he died, but he still fought in a bunch of wars, belonged to all these secret Illuminati type orders, and when he got killed it was an assassination. Yet he was still known as one of the greatest patrons of the arts in his time, that's an amazing life.

BTW I'm Black. My family came here from Cuba, but I'm Black. Just like Black people in Cuba are Black. just like Black people in the DR are Black. Just like Black people in London are Black. just like Black people in Nogeria are Black. just like Nlack people in Portugal are Black. and so on and so forth.

 

[D StaXX]

I see what you did there.