Are obstacles a catalyst to greatness?

Does oppression fuel the journey toward greatness?

I find myself increasing annoyed by comments that generalize about the abilities of people as a group; specifically those that are used to support racist beliefs and ideas.

It would wonderful if people were accepted equally and were judged the same but we all know that this is not true.

That is why it becomes a big deal when a person that is not American born and not Caucasian accomplishes anything in a filed that has always been dominated by Whites. That is why it becomes a big deal when a Black accomplishes anything that can be classified as greatness.

People question why Black becomes an adjective in these cases and the answer is not as simple a history lesson. When a people has been forbidden to participate in an activity or to join in a team effort because of a belief that they are inferior and they proceed to not only perform honorably put excel, it would seem to be enough but it never is.

When people that are labeled inferior attempt to prove otherwise they are weighed down with obstacles in an attempt to prevent them from proving the lie.

Many suffered death threats, physical and verbal abuse, lack of operating equipment for training and locked doors. Yet with all of these obstacles they managed to succeed and to excel.

Did the obstacles placed before them spark their greatness or would they have been even greater if given an equal playing field?

Have we been shooting ourselves in the foot?

I know that that it is bad form to bump your own post. But something happen this week that had me puzzling this questions again.

Forgive the typos. As you can see it is way past the allotted time for making corrections.

You can also see that I did not get one response to this inquiry.

If I don't get a response this time I will just chalk it up to another great mystery and add it to another observation without an answer.