For half a decade now, influential young scientists have denounced NASA's decision to name its deep-space telescope after James E. They said this man oversaw a purge of gay employees.
Hakeem Oluseyi was sympathetic to the critics. He talked to historians and wrote an essay in Medium in 2021.
There is no evidence that he is guilty of the allegations against him.
He thought that would be the case. He wasn't right.
The battle over the naming of the world's most powerful space telescope has become more bitter. The fire was doused by NASA in November. The accusations against Mr. Webb were found to be incorrect by the chief historian.
The federal government discriminated against gay employees. There is no evidence to link the firing of individuals for their sexual orientation to the actions of the man.
Critics said the NASA report was biased. They said that he should be held responsible for any anti-gay activity at NASA and the State Department.
Prescod-Weinstein, a scientist at the University of New Hampshire with a low six-figure social media following, wrote that it was likely that Mr. Webb knew what was happening with security.
Who is worthy to be remembered and how past human accomplishment should be balanced with modern standards of social justice are at the center of the controversy. It echoes a debate among historians about using the moral lens of today to interpret past eras and people.
Historians say a politically engaged, critical reading of history is unavoidable if it isn't too strict.
James Oakes, a historian of American slavery at the City University of New York Graduate Center, said that they approach the past with double vision.
Astronomy and physics have been touched by that debate.
In October, the Royal Astronomical Society in Britain declared that Mr. No astronomer who submits a paper to the society should use the word "James" The abbreviation is JWST.
NASA needs to issue a formal and public report on its naming decision, according to the American Astronomical Society. Three of the top scientific publications, Nature, New Scientist and Scientific American, published essays and editorials critical of Mr. Dr. Oluseyi said Scientific American rejected his proposal to write about his findings after he pointed out flaws in its essays.
The editor of Scientific American declined an interview and wrote in an email that the coverage had been thorough and fair.
Michael PowellThe fight over the name of NASA's new telescope has been going on for years. The most powerful space observatory in history was named after a man who led a purge of gay employees. I was interested in how the debate brought together questions of history and morality, and how we try to understand the morals of people who lived far away. This was not just a battle over history, but a battle reflecting modern times, which led to angry accusations among warring scientists.
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A majority of signatures come from faculty and graduate students.
Dr. Prescod-Weinstein said in an interview that this is about who we canonize. It is not possible to exonerate a dead white guy who was in a repressive government.
The dispute has grown very personal. While not always naming him, opponents in text and social media have assailed Dr. Oluseyi for his time as a professor at the Florida Institute of Technology.
He was the first in his family to graduate from high school and went on to get a PhD in physics. He was described as an inspiring teacher by many students at Florida Tech.
The last few years have been difficult. He denied that he behaved badly as a professor and asked the reporter to ask any questions about his past.
According to Dr. Oluseyi, the revolutionaries have become prosecutors.
He cut a complicated figure. Black engineers and scientists were brought in to integrate NASA. In 1964, after George Wallace, the white segregationist governor of Alabama tried to block such recruitment, Mr.
He was an under secretary at the State Department during the Truman Administration. The political right wanted to destroy the legacy of Roosevelt. When they attacked the State Department, they tried to get rid of employees they said were communists and gay Americans.
According to David K. Johnson, a history professor at the University of South Florida, the lavender scare was an attack on the New Deal.
He said that it turned into a moral panic.
These times were hard to believe. Between 5000 and 10,000 gay employees were pushed out of government in the last 20 years.
The Secretary of State denounced the practice of defaming diplomats. Records show that President Harry Truman told Mr. Webb to slow-walk the Republican investigation. The NASA report states that Mr. Webb did not give the Senate investigators the personnel files.
The telescope was named after Mr. Webb because of his work trying to get a man on the moon. The decision was unimportant because the telescope was not yet built.
The telescope was near completion. Matthew Francis wrote an article for Forbes about the problem of naming observatory for bigots. He wrote that the man who led the anti-gay purge at the State Department was contemptuous of gays. He credited Dr. Prescod-Weinstein with tipping him off and she retaliated by attacking Mr.
A portion of Mr. Francis' article has been deleted without warning. Mr. Francis didn't want to be interviewed.
The State Department official who oversaw the purge spoke negatively of gay Americans.
There was a question of moral responsibility. BrianNord, a physicist with the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, argued that leaders are responsible for standing up for people who are marginalized.
Dr. Prescod-Weinstein wrote that if he was a radical freedom fighter, he wouldn't have served in the Truman administration.
Historians who specialize in gay history said such expectations are out of place. There was not a gay rights movement in 1949 and Mr. Webb did not lead efforts to oust gays.
Dr. Johnson said that the activists who said that James Webb should have spoken against the purges were anachronistic. No one in government could say that this was wrong. Gay people are also included.
Gay Americans were not allowed to work in the federal government under an executive order signed in1953. During the 1960s it applied to all federal agencies. Police arrested a NASA budget analyst in an anti-gay sting. He was no longer employed by the company.
Critics say Mr. There was no evidence that Mr. Webb knew of this case in the agency. James Kirchick is the author of "Secret City: The Hidden History of Gay Washington."
He said it was unimaginable that a high-level functionary would block a broad federal law.
In 1998 President Clinton enacted an executive order prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation.
Professor Oluseyi believes that Mr. Webb is willing to face down a segregationist governor. The fight for civil rights was a moral one. He said he was born in the south. He was a hero in that moment.
Ms. Prescod-Weinstein is part of a group of Black women who work in theoretical cosmology. She says her writings on race and gender are inseparable.
She said that the civil rights versus gay people schtick is marginalizing. Straight people are arguing about something. I am a black queer Jewish person.
Given the messiness of history how should we name memorial? According to Dr. Prescod-Weinstein, no government leader of that era would be remembered. She called for the Kennedy Center to be renamed for Tubman.
Sarah Tuttle is an astronomer at the University of Washington.
She said that the bar should be raised. Telescopes were named after physicists and astronomer. Why not mention it in that tradition?
The debate about why the telescope is named after him should start again, according to a Penn State astronomer who signed the petition.
The former president of the National Society of Black Physicists and winner of the National Medal of Science is puzzled by this argument.
Dr. Gates said that great accomplishments need a community. Some are scientists and some are engineers. We owe him a lot of money.
Professor Gates doesn't agree with the idea that NASA should apply the values of 2022. He noted that he is old enough to have been in a segregation high school.
He said that moral judgments can be made but not to the point of saying that they should have known. The dialogue doesn't accomplish anything.
When he wrote his essay, Dr. Oluseyi criticized journalists and an astronomer for not thoroughly researching the accusations. He said that the scientist had spread false information.
Dr. Prescod-Weinstein said that Dr. Oluseyi was writing poorly researched articles that were hit pieces on her.
She said that the leader of a professional society and a senior scientist was going out of his way to justify historic homophobia.
Peter Plavchan, an astronomy professor at George Mason University, welcomed the man he helped recruit to the school.
Dr. Prescod- Weinstein objected. She said that Dr. Oluseyi had advocated for a gay person.
She wrote that the welcome Dr. Plavchan received was a reminder that senior men in astronomy can treat junior women poorly.
She received an apology from Dr. Plavchan, who said that he believed she owed him and the astronomer an apology.
He said that he felt marginalized by Hakeem's writing.
There is a back story to Dr. Oluseyi's hiring at GeorgeMason. The attacks against Dr. Oluseyi had changed.
Dr. Plavchan heard from a professor at a different university that Dr. Oluseyi was accused of sexually harassing a woman.
According to Dr. Plavchan, George Mason was the one who reported these accusations. Florida Tech officials were looking through records. Hamid K. Rassoul, a physics professor at Florida Tech and former dean, said there was no evidence to support the charges. George Mason was appointed in the fall of 2020.
Some of the same accusations were pushed by Dr. Prescod-Weinstein. It continues to be the case that academic institutions play pass the harasser. She questioned why journalists didn't ask why he left his job.
Dr. Prescod-Weinstein didn't reply to any of the emails.
In early December, as The New York Times examined various accusations, an anonymous person who had worked in a lab at Florida Tech began sending text messages to this reporter. Some of the claims were false.
The doctor apologized for Hakeem. He's damaged his reputation due to these rumors. The accusations were promoted in a shameful way.
The telescope will retain its name, according to NASA. The bitterness is still present. Critics are suggesting that Dr. Oluseyi and his defenders are due for a correction.
Several prominent astrophysicists were interviewed but did not speak publicly. Dr. Gates said that people are on the side of caution. It's inevitable that a campaign will denigrate a professional reputation.
There is a chance of damage to his reputation. He sounded plaintive for a short time.
The doctor said that he didn't care about the man. I had no desire to be found guilty. What should I do after finding the truth?
Noyes was a researcher.
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