Ernest Wilkins: Discrimination In Modern Society

The world says, intelligence and talent are the criterion a man is judged upon. Is it really so? Even in the most modern and civilized of societies discrimination prevails in forms numerous and indirect.

In a most modern society, where we humans call ourselves advanced and rational, here is a story of a man whose life was shaped by indifference to his racial identity. We often tend to hush up or conclude the debates on colour, creed and gender disparities terming them evils that haunted the society in the past. But what about the discrimination these *marginalized* faced and continue to face on a day to day basis! Right to dignity of life though not constitutionalized is something as fundamental to each human as is breathing. Ernest Wilkins,

He skipped grades, were given promotions and at a tender age of 13, he became the youngest ever student of the University of Chicago. He was celebrated as “Negro Genius” by the media, which proved that his intelligence couldn’t spare him of the “Negro” tag. He portrayed a meticulous university career. At the age of 17 he graduated in Mathematics, the following year he was awarded an M.S. He then continued with his doctoral studies at Chicago and submitted his dissertation Multiple Integral Problems in Parametric Form in the Calculus of Variations which earned him his PhD, at the age of

Wilkins in short tried at times to conceal his racial identity in order to gain acceptance in the “white” circles. His niece, Carolyn Wilkins in her book, “Damn Near White : An African American Family 's Rise from Slavery to Bitter Sweet Success” discusses about the internal conflicts of the family and individuals in detail.

However, Ernest Wilkins played an instrumental role in the uplifting a lot of young talents from the “Black” community and inspired millions of passionate hearts. He taught in the Applied Maths and Mathematical Physics departments of Clark Atlanta University from 1990 to 2003. In the course of life, he married Maxine.G.Melone in 1984 and in 2003 tied knot with Vera Wood Anderson.

In his marvelous career he received numerous honours and awards for his contributions. He was elected to Phi Beta Kappa in 1940 and Sigma Xi, the Scientific Research Society in 1942, held fellowships in the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Nuclear Society and was inducted to the National Academy of Engineering and was also awarded the Outstanding Civilian Service Medal by the United States Army, to name a few