“The events which transpired five thousand years ago, five years ago or five minutes ago, have determined what will happen five minutes from now; five years from now or five thousand years from now. All history is a current event.”
- Dr John Henrik Clarke -
What do you think about Black History Month?
Personally, I don’t believe in it. In fact, I’m not ashamed to admit that for as long as I can remember- I’ve secretly hated it.
The preface of “Black” to “History” denotes that the history of Black people is not the same history as anyone else in America. Black history is American history. Our blood, sweat and tears are in every inch of its foundation.
By separating the accomplishments and contributions of Black people, those details become less important than all the other details of American history.
But rather than push for greater integration into mainstream textbooks, we have Black History Month- 28 days of highlighting “notable” African Americans.
Give me a break.
The official version of American history, particularly in how it is taught in schools, has always been Euro centric and “safe”, it has always been “comfortable”. As a child, American history didn’t seem all inclusive; I was never attached to it; never saw myself adequately reflected in it.
Black history however, was allllll mine, whether I wanted it or not. Every February, Black people, or those married to a Black person, or those who are parents to a Black child, suddenly become certified experts on Black people and their history- at least, that’s what everyone else seems to think. We all wake up February 1st to find unearned honorary doctorates we can’t shake, like a ball and chain or scarlet letter.
Teachers were always calling on me to educate my classmates on figures in Black history.
Black History Month never made me more curious about my “roots”. It gave me no appreciation for my ancestors or their accomplishments. Real life experiences and honest conversations and profound, life changing pieces of literature (and my own family) are what gave me a sense of pride, and love, for self, for people, for my ancestors and for “my” history.
When it comes to what I actually learned, well, Black History Month taught me about a select few. Soon they became the only Black people of prominence or worth of recognition. I’m sure you know them too; Harriet Tubman, Martin Luther King Jr., Bill Cosby, Frederick Douglas, W.E.B. DuBois and Malcolm X.
Black history isn’t taught, it’s brushed over. Some teachers take every short cut imaginable though the curriculum; projects, games, quizzes and even speeches for students to recite at “Black History Month Celebrations”, all printed from random websites. Without ever giving the information a critical second look for accuracy or age appropriateness. Without truly engaging the students or the information blindly passed to them.
Black History Month has become nothing more than a token. Something to have for the sake of being able to say we have something.
We Americans are strangers to America. We have treated her as fragmented, instead of whole- as one. What we as a country really need is to then reinvent how we see History- as one thread. We do not know enough about the details of who and what has made this country what it is today.
It is with all of this in mind, that I motion for the eradication of Black History Month, to be replaced by fully integrated American History.
A time when we consciously push to the deepest corners of knowledge and history to raise the people, experiences, and defining moments of the past, and the moments of the present, which carry us into a collective future tomorrow.
Is there a second?
My first post on the new site. I like the look.
Back to the topic: I seem to recall you doing this topic last year – not that there' anything wrong with that. It's worth revisiting. I'll give you half a "second". I agree with all of your points, but I'm just not ready to let go of Black History month (warts and all) until we are closer to having a fully integrated American History. Unfortunately, for all of the progress we have made to that end, I'm afraid we still have too far to go. My concern is that if we give up the effort to maintain even token recognition without something else in place, things will just revert back to the way they were.
Anyway, that's my two cents.
(oh, and the 20 character limit for names is bumming me out)
Yup, did this last year. Sadly, I'll be doing it every year. Here's a question for you- should we wait for integrated history, and stick with BHM until then, or scrap BHM to create a heightened need for integrated history?
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Black History Month is still needed. If only for the reason that Black History isn't taught in most schools today as it is. Even when it is taught, it's awfully limited. I agree, I'd rather it be bundled into American History, but most teachers won't do that because they grew up with the notion that Black History is taught in February as separate from American History. (Don't even get me started about how screwed up and skewed American History in general is.)
The whole thing reminds me of when kids ask why there is a Mother's Day and a Father's Day, but no Kid's Day. The usual response is that "every day is Kid's Day". Same goes for folks that get all indignant / ig'nant and ask why there isn't a White History Month. I say give them what they want.
I'm thinking we should start by creating a "White History Month" where we relegate white history to one month and use the other eleven months (or nine months, if we're talking about school time) to focus on all the other races and cultures that have been excluded from the dialogue.
Probably, it should be White Male History Month (or Rich, White, Male History Month). But, you get the the point. Until we can view contributions of individual groups to American history as deserving to be acknowledged and studied in their own right; the stories of those groups will only be regarded as sidebars to what most people consider American History.