Is "Black History Month" still necessary?

[Honeykiss1974]

Is "Black History Month" still needed today? If its purpose is to educate/highlight the contributions of our history is it doing that? Or does it prevent our history from being intergrated into mainstream history lessons/classes because it fosters the belief that our history is only significant one month a year?

Let's discuss?


I myself as torn on this issue.

On one hand, I feel that our contributions and history should be acknowledged throughout the year and isolated to just one month. We are the backbone of American society, but yet our contributions are not even mentioned (even as a byline) in any discussions concerning US history until February? That's some bull.
On the other hand, I feel like something is better than nothing.

[CrimsonTide4]

I understand your question and I can see how we would love to just be integrated year round and not just in February.

I love Black History Month and because of the lack of total curriculum integration for Black History, it is still very essential.

Last year I wrote Black Facts on the board, www.blackfacts.com
and I wrote 2 of the X amount of facts on the board. One day I wrote about Roots and Alex Haley. Do you know a lot of my 9th graders had no idea who he was. They had heard of Roots but did not know it was a book. They just thought it was a really long movie. Somewhere along the way before walking into my classroom, someone should have told them about Alex Haley's study of his family history.

Plus a lot of Black History teaches the Top 5 Tried and True:

1. Martin Luther King
2. Rosa Parks
3. Slavery - underground railroad, Harriet Tubman
4. George Washington Carver
5. Frederick Douglass



Our HISTORY is DEEP. It was not until I began my study of Delta and learned about some of the other orgs' founders and histories that I learned some little known Black History.

But we should know that every day is Black History. Just because it might be focused on by the United States in February does not mean this is only when WE as Black people need to study Black History.

Yes, BLACK HISTORY MONTH is very much necessary, but we need to expand it past the most popular or well known parts of our history.

[brickhouse492]

Yes, I agree with Crimson Tide4. It is essential.

My daughter had to learn a line for her school play on Thursday. Her classmate asks, what do you know? She responds: I know that Black History Month was established in 1926. I love that.

Then, she came home with a homework assignment. Write the names of 2 persons who contributed to the improvement of the black people in America. She wrote Rosa Parks and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. We discussed the assignment.

These are some of the positive effects of Black History Month on our children. My baby is 4. I don't remember having assignments like this growing up.

[aurora_borealis]

I am just irritated at my work that we had TWO Valentine's displays up and not ONE for Black History Month. Someone said we had a "Celebrate Diversity" one to honor Dr. King in January so we didn't need to do one. We also have a big time Jazz festival this month, which is named after a very famous and prominent black musician, which the school of music is named after, so there is focus on him, and I get the feeling since he is black that covers us for Black History Month.

I made a display today and the sign I requested got changed by my boss from BLACK HISTORY MONTH to...

AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY MONTH.

I have never heard it called that EVER. And I think that BLACK History Month includes all the people that are black that immigrated more recently from other places. Come to think of it I think there are more black Africans in this town than I know "African Americans" (and by that I mean people who have had their families living here in the US 100s of years). I know my friends and family all call themselves black, and feel connected with Africa, but consider themselves American since they have been here so long, and aren't first or second generation.

Input on this, or am I just crazy? Be gentle I wrote this at 2:30.

P.S. I think we still need Black History Month because there are too many ig'nant fools and clowns out there. I had to explain to someone that Huey Newton DID NOT HAVE A BAND IN THE 1980's called "THE NEWS".

[TonyB06]

As a concerted effort Black History Month (BHM) is okay, but, as in other matters, we don't do enough at home to take it past 28 days every February. I'm generalizing a bit and apologize to the GC teachers for doing so, but it seems the school BHM units don't go a whole lot beyond MLK, Rosa Parks and Freddie Douglas. No disrespect to the big 3 but we're so much deeper than that.

But on the flip side, "we" lose our dang minds when Ludacris gets kicked off a Pepsi commerical or someone takes a shot at a legend (i.e. Barbershop 1); which suggests to me that we're not doing a whole lot of educating our children on black history anyway.

aurora_borealis, your p.s. was HILARIOUS

[kiml122]

I do feel that Black History Month is essential for our youth, but personally I do not like the term "Black History Month". Why you ask....because just like I tell my white counter parts, I am black 365 days a year, and this year 366 days a year.

I do particpate in the Black History Month things that we have going on at work. I am usually on a committee that is doing something and having someone brought in to speak. Also each year I send out Did you know fact black facts every day during the month. This is cascading through out the entire company.

[aurora_borealis]

As a person *this* close to a history degree I wish the content would be changed to show that "Black History" is part of everyone's history in the U.S. Black people have been here hundreds of years, and though not all experiences are shared, the history of all people in this land is shared by all of us. I am one of those people that find new knowledge to be exciting and invigorating, and to be honest I have read the same things over and over again about the white settlers at Jamestown etc and it is starting to get BORING, so I seek knowledge on my own or when I am blessed with a professor that wants us to be aware and educated.

P.S. TonyB06 I got another one for you...someone got their hands on "Roots" and said..."Oh that cloth black people wear, is Kunta Kinte cloth!!!" (said after the Kente cloth display in Anchorage). I wouldn't doubt they would think Chaka Khan and Shaka Zulu are cousins, or maybe Ghengis Khan

[Jill1228]

What she said! I was a history major too. Also I look forward to the beginning of the year. I am a postage stamp fan, so one thing I LOVE is to see who is going to be featured on the Black Heritage Stamp. It is even more interesting when Postal workers ask me the significance of the person.

For example, last year I lived in Blaine, WA. Town of <3000. 5 stoplights.
Blaine is pretty much for their SMALL but strong school system. The other thing they are known for is being the Peace Arch Town and Border Town...go any farther and you are in Canada. (I could walk to the end of my street, hop the fence and I was on Zero Ave in Canada)...

Also cheap gas, and dairy products...Canadians come down in droves to get "the hookup"

Last year I went into the Blaine Post office (they have a large post office for a small town)

Thurgood Marshall was on the Black Heritage Stamp. I was SO excited to see him featured that I ordered 2 books. So the postal worker asks me what was his significance. So I told her. She knew he was a judge but did not know that he was the atty who took on Brown v Board of Ed.

So yeah folx need to be educated. I LOVE learning about Black History

Originally posted by aurora_borealis
As a person *this* close to a history degree I wish the content would be changed to show that "Black History" is part of everyone's history in the U.S. Black people have been here hundreds of years, and though not all experiences are shared, the history of all people in this land is shared by all of us. I am one of those people that find new knowledge to be exciting and invigorating, and to be honest I have read the same things over and over again about the white settlers at Jamestown etc and it is starting to get BORING, so I seek knowledge on my own or when I am blessed with a professor that wants us to be aware and educated.

P.S. TonyB06 I got another one for you...someone got their hands on "Roots" and said..."Oh that cloth black people wear, is Kunta Kinte cloth!!!" (said after the Kente cloth display in Anchorage). I wouldn't doubt they would think Chaka Khan and Shaka Zulu are cousins, or maybe Ghengis Khan

[CrimsonTide4]

I think this is an appropriate hijack.

Black History Month Slideshow


Pass it on.