Nowhere is there a more diverse set of collectibles than those pertaining to the history of the African- American race here in the United States. Authentic black antiques are difficult to come by because this race was so impoverished. The approximately 12 million Africans shipped to America during the Atlantic slave trade from 1492 to 1888, came with little more than the clothes on their backs. What few possessions they had from that point, were mostly crude, handmade necessities that haven’t weathered the test of time. What is referred to as ‘Black Collectibles’ are those objects that reflect the cultural history of African-American men, women and children during this period and henceforth. This diverse set of collectibles includes the good, the bad, and the ugly.
The ‘good’ are historical artifacts that depict African-Americans in the best possible way, extolling the positive contributions they have made, not only for their race, but for the good of all. A sterling example would be World War II artifacts from the heroic Tuskegee Airmen of the U.S. Army Air Corps. Patches, photographs, and other militaria from the historic 332nd Fighter Group and the 477th Bombardment Group. Astonishingly the Chicago Defender reported in 1945,that based on information supplied by the 15th Air Force, no bomber escorted by the Tuskegee Airmen had ever been lost to enemy fire. This was later dispelled in a 2006 report, but the total number of bombers lost when the Tuskegee Airmen were flying escort, totaled only 25! In all, there were only 996 pilots and approximately 15,000 ground personnel. To read about the famed Tuskegee Airmen and their exploits visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuskegee_Airmen
Photographs and personal belongings from famous African-American inventors, athletes, musicians, and entertainers, are additional ‘good’ collectibles, but are extremely hard to find. Most are in Black history museums as they should be.
The ‘bad’ I categorize as any Black collectible in poor condition, whether it be a ‘positive’ or ‘negative’ collectible. Neglect of any serviceable or decorative item is inconsiderate, and Black collectibles were probably more neglected than others. For anyone not to see the historical value in these items is just one more atrocity to endure. To disregard the safe-keeping of these collectibles is to further devalue this race, which leads me to the ‘ugly.’
Negative Black collectibles is what I refer to as the ‘ugly.’ The cartoons, figurines, etc., that depict disrespectful stereotypes of the African American race. Surprisingly, many collectors of these negative collectibles are African-American. Almost all of them will tell you (and I ask them) that it’s their race’s history, and unless you preserve it, history is likely to repeat itself. A point well taken, but I myself, prefer to focus on positive Black collectibles.
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