 "Photo: Courtesy of Chris Young")
January is Celebration of Life Month. May is Jewish-American History Month. October is Chili Month. There are all sorts of different months celebrating all sorts of ideas and concepts. Yet, some feel that having February be Black History Month is counterproductive for our society. Why do we need Black History Month if everyone is supposed to be equal? Everyone would be up in arms if there was a White History Month. The reality is that February is Black History Month and it is necessary to give African-Americans a sense of pride and knowledge of the great feats accomplished by other African-Americans.
Carter G. Woodson started Black History Month in 1926 in the form of Negro History Week. In 1976 it became a month long celebration. The 15th Amendment of the US Constitution was ratified in 1870, prohibiting “the government from denying a citizen the right to vote based on race, color or previous condition of servitude”. Just because the government wasn’t allowed to prevent African-Americans from voting, doesn’t mean that everyday civilians didn’t try their hardest to prevent African-Americans from voting. Slavery was barely abolished in the United States 145 years ago. It wasn’t that long ago that African-Americans didn’t have all the same freedoms that white people enjoy.
We still hear people use the “n-word” all the time, in popular music and sometimes even in everyday conversation. Race and prejudice are still an issue, even though it may not be as prominent as it was 145 years ago. However it still takes place in the form of racist jokes based on stereotypes and racial slurs. When filling out certain forms and applications, you might have to check a “race/ethnicity” box. Is this really necessary if race isn’t supposed to make a difference? It appears to me that race is still an issue, despite what we tell ourselves. In some places racism is still as rampant as ever. These are all reminders that race is still an issue. Something is hindering our society’s progression of disregarding race, but celebrating and recognizing February as Black History Month is not it.
Black History Month is not meant to remind us of our differences and segregate us. It’s meant to give African-Americans a sense of cultural pride and knowledge. A while ago, the only black history that was taught in schools was slavery and the occasional extraordinary African-American such as George Washington Carver. Now African-Americans learn about people such as W.E.B. DuBois, the founder of the NAACP, or Shirley Chisolm, the first African-American woman to be elected to the US House of Representatives. Celebrating Black History Month is a step in the right direction for aiding African-Americans in learning about their history.
Editor's Note: The opinions expressed in this column represent those of the writer and not of the newspaper staff, faculty, staff, or the college.
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