I think Black History Month should be discontinued. What’s all the fuss about anyway? Schools have been de-segregated, interracial marriages and children are on the rise. Heck, we even have a black president. I was raised to be color-blind. I don’t see color. I don’t look at facial features and traits to judge another, why should we celebrate people of a different color?
Since 1926, the United States has been “celebrating” Black History Month. It’s unclear how the U.S. actually celebrates the month because most of the efforts to advocate for equality and to teach about black history are taken on by black museums, scholars, professors, or other proud black Americans. Black History Month has slowly faded into gray over the past years. Learning about the achievements, less than stellar moments, and struggles of black people isn’t even widely studied in universities or high schools. So, if there isn’t really much celebrating going on, why celebrate black history month anyway?
Of course, the above reasoning and questions, although sadly very valid, are absolutely preposterous and outrageous. Yet, some people in our country have made such proposals as this I’m sure. What is so important about black history month? How did it come about? Does it matter that we celebrate black suffrage now that we have a black president? Having a black president must mean that the struggle is over. Shouldn’t blacks be over it by now?
Celebrating people of a different color:
Black History Month was brought about by the diligent and passion efforts of man by the name of Dr. Carter G. Woodson. (How many of you know who that is?) Dr. Woodson, was the son of ex-slaves that went from working in Kentucky coal mines, to attaining his doctoral degree from Harvard University, and pioneering a system of studying black history. In Dr. Woodson’s studies, the overwhelming reality that blacks were not present in the history books thankfully inspired this great man to begin writing black people’s history and preserving their designated positions on the sands of time. Interestingly, Dr. Woodson began with a Negro History Week which later grew into black history month. Contrary to conspiracy theory, February is NOT black history month because its’ the shortest month of the year. Dr. Woodson chose a specific week in February to commemorate the birthdays of Frederick Douglass and President Abraham Lincoln.
Dr. Woodson’s contributions to black history do not end with establishing Negro History Week in 1926. Before this reaching this milestone, in 1915 Dr. Woodson founded the Association for the Study of Afro-American Life and History which is now called the Association for the Study of Afro-American Life and History. Dr. Woodson took a third step in marking black history by founding the esteemed Journal of Negro History now known as the Journal of African American History. So why do we study black history? Because of its significance not only to black history but as the efforts of black Americans have shaped the America that we live in today. Barack Obama would not be sitting in the Oval Office without the work of millions of black Americans who preceded him. His presidency would not have drawn such a fervor in the U.S. over the past few years if we didn’t understand the cultural implications of this revolutionary mark of American history. We study black history because it is U.S. history and it is integral to maintaining the respect of black achievement as even more milestones are surpassed.
Shouldn’t blacks be over it by now?
The progress of equality in this country is a testament to the spirit of individuals that reside in this country. The mark of progress is not in passing legislature to integrate schools, giving blacks the right to vote, or being able to walk down the streets of Birmingham without being sprayed by fire hoses. The mark of progress is the genuine sentiment of the average American with respect to blacks. Looking on the outside of things is never a good indicator of what is happening at the core. Like the old saying goes: “Never judge a book by its cover.” Moving from riddles to reasoning, let’s see why blacks and other non-blacks are not “over it” by now.
Most recently, the acclaimed and talented musician John Mayer made a drunken spectacle of himself during a Playboy interview. Amidst his drunken stupor, Mayer uttered the word n***** and made blatant racist comments about his ex girlfriend Kerry Washington and Holly Robinson Pete. Gravity surely was bringing him down in this interview! Now all things being equal, let’s take into consideration that Mayer’s interview was with Playboy and one couldn’t expect major philosophical insight from the line of questioning that they were probably partaking in. Secondly, John Mayer was under the influence of alcohol, and like Kanye West taught us, alcohol and media DO NOT mix. Though an old saying would still suggest that: “A drunk man’s words speaks a sober man’s mind.”
Of course, not too afar off was Senator Reid’s comments about Barack Obama’s light skin and his not having a negro dialect. As we can see from our previous studies during this series, Stokely Carmichael spoke about these unacceptable utterances of comparing the speech of blacks to “Negro dialect”. If we hadn’t studied Carmichael, it may have been easier to dismiss Reid’s comments. Luckily, we have the history of Carmichael and the Black Panther Party to show us that although things look like we’re progressing forward, we are still fighting the same or similar battle in the present day.
A virus is so hard to fight off because the DNA of the virus copies the virus of the host cell and hides amongst the DNA of the cell. The cell cannot distinguish the viral DNA from its own. The cell is not even aware that it is being attacked until it’s too late. The viral DNA looks, moves with, and assumes characteristics of the host cell. John Mayer, although still an amazing artist, is a living example of this. He played music like a regular Atlanta man and he even dated black women! He was not the person who we would think would utter such horrible words, but when the alcohol got to him, we saw his true colors. Same goes for Harry Reid. He’s a politician with power. He isn’t even supposed to say things like light-skinned making Barack more acceptable to America or making allusions to a “negro dialect”. Although the flow of things may seem steady, these examples awaken the American consciousness to the reality of unfair perceptions of blacks that remain today.
As a black American, I was not properly educated on my history. Not until college when I took a class entitled “The Psychology of the African-American Experience” was I formally instructed on the significance and meaning of being black in America. My question to the readers is how well were you or were you not educated on black history? Was this a result of where you were located geographically in the country? Do you wish you learned more or less and do you think that black history month is still important?
Other Posts by Eryn on Black History Month:
Black History’s Leading Literary Lady
The Black Panther Party For Self Defense
Intelligence of Interference? COINTELPRO and the Black Panther Party
“How they sold Marcus Garvey for rice”-LH
Yes you’re a woman…just a different kind
Vote to Discontinue Black History Month
Where’s my Forty Acres and a Mule
Too black to be white, too white to be black
I don’t date outside my species!
Eryn is a Bostonian native who currently resides in the Metro New York area. She completed her B.A. in Psychology from St. John’s University where she also studied Mandarin, Chinese. Eryn has conducted psycho-social, medical, and environmental research. When she’s off the clock, Eryn spends time learning about world cultures, languages, and the best restaurants in town. She is currently working on her first novel A Beautiful Autymn. You can find more of Eryn’s work ranging from free-writes, poetry, and social analysis at http://autymn.wordpress.com
I am a white female from Oregon, and living in a very white, very suburban area and the extent of my black history month education consisted of a poster of MLK and, in elementary school watching the Ruby Bridges. I really think that what you learn depends on your area, and the culture of that area.
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This article approaches a few very interesting subjects. You touch upon the important point that the fact that we have a biracial president does not mean we are living in a post-racial society. There is a lack of education on black history in many areas, and it shows the importance of articles like yours. Keep it up.
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I like your article. Very intelligent for our time and worth considering. But, in my area, I feel black people need to know where we came from and why we are here. Not in a bad, slave kind of way but in an educational kind of way; that’s what Black History Month is about.
I liked the marketing of Black History 360. It gives us anecdotes daily that we are here for a reason and that is to continue our legacy. Our children are bombarded by our culture that is dominate and degrading. We need to be polished individuals that are insistant upon continuing what so many have accomplished. Let’s continue that with Black History Month. They need to know.
cynetraverona@yahoo.com
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Cynetra,
This article poses the question that is raised from some people who question the validity of Black History Month. I want to explain why black history is so important. We need to know our history. It’s so essential. This article breaks down the reasons why. If we don’t know our history, there’s a danger of it repeating itself. This month, I’m trying to tell the stories, pose the questions, and give charachter summaries of people, places, and events that are less known. Please subscribe to my RSS feed and you’ll receive updates to all articles for this months Black History Month series. It’s so great to know that people are reading this article, taking it seriously, and most importantly taking Black History Month seriously. If you scroll above, there are links to the articles that have preceded this one in the series. I hope you return and I look forward to you commentary.
EAB
erynashlei@yahoo.com
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i think black history month needs to go on look at this
on the day of the first inauguration to take place in the city a small band of citizens gathered to watch thomas jeeferson assume office. our young and fraigle democracy had barely finished a long and contentious election that tested our founding ideals and there were those who feared our union might not endure it was a perilous moment but jefferson announced that while we may differ in opiinion we all share the same principles so yes america we should contiue black history {to be contied]
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Yolanda,
You’re absolutely correct. For the sake of posterity and cultural preservation, we absolutely need to continue black history month. Where are you from geographically in the US, northeast, south, midwest, west, or southwest? How well were you educated in black history?
I think that black history month needs to continue but with a renewed effort on the part of the many to make it worth all of Dr. Carter G. Woodson’s efforts and to preserve the great historic fabric of America.
Thank you for commenting. Please subscribe to my RSS feed and be involved in this month’s Black History Month series.
Take care!
EAB
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I liked it. And to be perfectly honest, if it weren’t for the intentional focus that Black History Month instigates, I wouldn’t know a thing about any of those people you mentioned.
And I hated John Mayer before he said anything racist. His songs just plain suck.
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[...] Vote to Discontinue Black History Month Share and Enjoy: [...]
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[...] Vote to Discontinue Black History Month [...]
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I really like your articales and find them very helpful.
I came across this one while doing research for my church’s Black History Program and had to comment due to recent events.
I work in a prodominately white business and when I shared with co-workers my project, they thought Black History Month is racist. They feel that blacks won’t let the past die and that it is blacks that continue to practice segragation. It seems that some whites think that the recent strides blacks have made in our country means that we are now all squared up. One white person said to me that by bringing up past injustices can lead some blacks to look differently at their white friends and start to use the race card in ways they wouldnt have before. I will show them your article which says everything that I believe in and gives good reason why we need to always have Black History Month.
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JaJuan,
Thank you so much for reading and I hope that you read as many articles as you need for church’s black history month. I wish I could say it ain’t so about your coworkers but I know it is hence this article. Unfortunately, the younger generation of blacks and non-blacks have been taught to believe that racism, segregation, and inequality are all a part of some ancient history. The article that I wrote: “Forty Acres and a Mule” goes into this more deeply. Blacks were not freed after the Civil War. There were covert and overt systems set in place to ensure that blacks did not receive equal education, protection by the law, the right to vote and all of these inevitably explicates that blacks were not allowed the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Your coworkers are talking about an extremely small portion of black people who would go above and beyond and start rioting against whites. It just wouldn’t happen. Ask them that if black rights and Civil Liberties are so secured, why did George W. Bush have to resign the Voting Rights Act in 2006 to renew this act? It’s not that afar off. Brown vs. the Board of Education which got rid of the separate but equal nonsense was only in 1954, my mothers earlier years. The right to vote without all sorts of imposed sanctions was only 1964. The 60′s as you’ll see from reading all articles in this series were incredibly ruthless and dangerous times for blacks. We did not FREELY excercise these liberties in the 60′s. So, now, earliest we’re talking is the 70′s for really approaching some sort of level-like grounding. Let’s say at max, 1970 (pushing it because the black liberation army fought well into the mid 70′s) that’s still only 40 years ago. That’s not a whole heck of alot of time to get things right and eradicate a psycho-social evil like racism. But the majority of people are taught not to think like us. They’re taught “not to see color” and that my friend is the most dangerous part of all.
Please stay in close touch. I want to hear what your friends have to say about this article and all the others.
Your friend,
EAB
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<>… ] link is being shared on Twitter right now. @zenx, an influential author, said RT @1ndus: Xtreme <>… ]
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[...] Vote to Discontinue Black History Month [...]
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I’ve gotten to know people from other cultures. Not only do they KNOW their history but they are proud of who they are. The problem with blacks in the U.S. is a lack of knowledge about their history. I would strongly suggest that blacks read the MIS-EDUCATION OF THE NEGRO by Carter G Woodson. Much of what is said in the book still holds true today.
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Danne,
Can you elaborate on the parts of the book that you are alluding to? I would like to know more of your thoughts on this topic. It will help me to understand the public’s opinion on this issue.
Thank you,
Eryn
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Hard to pin-point because so much that was written in the book, by Carter G Woodson, rings true to me. Example, the chapter on “How we drifted away from the Truth” alludes to the “planned” exclusion of Black contributions in the history of the humanity. You stated something very relevant – “Unfortunately, the younger generation of blacks and non-blacks have been taught to believe that racism, segregation, and inequality are all a part of some ancient history (by the way, I’m of the older generation).” When one’s history is ignored or never taught as an integral part of this country’s history – this is the result.
There is so much that we don’t know about our history. And believe me, I’m guilty of not knowing of the many contributions blacks have made. But I am making up for it by reading as much as I can about my people.
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Danne,
I’m so glad that you found these articles. Please look through all the articles in the black history month series. I didn’t cover everything, but I did cover stories of lesser known names, histories, and landmark events. Did you hear about the Governor of Mississippi celebrating Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and Confederate General Robert E. Lee on the same day? Or, Gov. Bob McGonnell who completely omitted slavery from his Confederate History Month proclamation saying only that it was “evil and inhumane”? Isn’t that ridiculous?
What are your thoughts on Barack Obama’s role as the first black president in addressing issues of race, inequality and injustice? Should he stay quiet or speak up?
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sometimes Sales Management takes a lot of effort and skill.*.*
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