An Idiot’s Guide to Black History Month

[Honeykiss1974]

From Bondage to Books: An Idiot’s Guide to Black History Month
R. E. Thomas
Retriever Weekly Staff Writer
University of Maryland-Baltimore County

Another February has passed and another Black History Month is behind us. Thank God. The requisite 28 days of penance for the ills of the country’s forefathers has been paid; the gods of blackness are appeased and everyone can put away their pictures of Dr. King and stop watching the Bernie Mac show. Farewell, Black History Month. Good riddance.

Some have said that Black History Month, young as it is by holiday standards, is not long for this world. We’re becoming a multicultural society, the argument goes, and every month is Black History Month. But if May is Black History Month, and June, too, that whole Underground Railroad bit is going to get old pretty fast. I mean, honestly, how much Black History is there, really? Surely not enough to fill a whole year.

Blacks have been in this country, what, 200 years? 300 at best (it’s been a while since I saw Amistad; I have trouble remembering). That’s three PBS specials, if you stretch it; four if you let Ken Burns at ?em. But we really don’t need to; we all know about "Black History." Africa, slavery, Civil War, Jim Crow, Aretha Franklin, Civil Rights, MLK blown away, what else do I have to say?

Oh, and Colin Powell. And Oprah.

To be fair, when you lay it out like that, there is a good amount to talk about. Maybe the month should be annexed to March. Or January, since that’s when MLK’s birthday is, anyway. It’d be killing two birds with one stone.

But two months is a lot different than twelve months. Nobody has twelve months of history; not even white people. (Who learns about George Washington over the summer? No one, that’s who.) It all seems a little excessive.

There’s been a poster on display in the middle of the campus bookstore since the beginning of February in honor of Black History Month. Provided by Ballantine Books, it has pictures of Colin Powell, Toni Morrison, Muhammad Ali and a few non-famous African-Americans. The sign reads "From slave to scholar. African-American History Month." A more brilliant summation will never be found.

Blacks came to the country as slaves, now they’re out of the cotton fields and writing books and teaching schools and doing all sorts of white person stuff. It’s miraculous.

But at the heart of the matter, this is why Black History Month is only one month, (and the shortest month, but that’s just a coincidence). It’s a simple arc; if it were a movie, it’d be boring. Jungle savage-to-slave-to-best-selling author. Am I missing something? Blacks have won tons of Oscars, they have at least one Nobel Peace prize; they have like three magazines all about them, they make all the music; blacks even have their own channel. Blacks are everywhere, so much so that most of the time you don’t even notice them, unless there’s a lot of them or you’re in a bad neighborhood. What more could you possibly want?

So, maybe, instead of expanding Black History Month to the theoretical "every month," we should just rid of it all together. Who needs it? Not blacks. We all know the stories; we all know the history. And, obviously, African-Americans have overcome whatever obstacles stood in the way. Do you think 50 years ago there would have been an entire display devoted books by blacks in a college bookstore for a whole month? Of course not! (Well, maybe at Morgan, but that’s the way it’s supposed to be.) But now there is; Dr. King can rest in peace. For if Toni Morrison and Colin Powell, who apparently started off as slaves, can now be considered scholars and worthy of our attention, then all is right in the world.


R. Eric Thomas is assistant features editor. at The Retriever Weekly. He can be reached via email at eric@trw.umbc.edu.
**********************************


Where shall I begin.......

[Honeykiss1974]

I forgot to post this too. Aparrently, someone has started a petition about this. Here is the link http://www.petitiononline.com/UMBC/ and here's what the introduction says:

Quoted from www.petitiononline.com
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It has come to our attention that an article was printed in the The Retriever Weekly, produced at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. There is an article at this website address called:From Bondage to Books: An Idiot’s Guide to Black History Month by R. E. Thomas, that is blatantly racist and demeaning to the legacy of millions of Blacks killed and affected by the evils of slavery. It also says that now that black history month is over that it is a "Good Riddance" People we must not let this kind of racism be perpetuated especially by a COLLEGE NEWSPAPER that serves a diverse student body, as well as any one that is writing a public article be so blatantly racist. In signing this petition the undersigned is showing The University of Maryland, Baltimore County, that this kind of thing will not be tolerated. This petition calls for the firing of the article writer, R. E. Thomas, and we call for a public apology by the editor of the college paper.


Sincerely,

The Undersigned

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[1savvydiva]

Originally posted by Honeykiss1974
I forgot to post this too. Aparrently, someone has started a petition about this. Here is the link http://www.petitiononline.com/UMBC/ and here's what the introduction says:

The link didn't work HK!!!

[RedefinedDiva]

The link is www.petitiononline.com/UMBC/

[stardusttwin]

Is the author black or white? Maybe I'm missing something but I thought this was tongue in cheek satire discussing how African American History month has been trivialized...

From slave to scholar. African-American History Month

For if Toni Morrison and Colin Powell, who apparently started off as slaves, can now be considered scholars and worthy of our attention, then all is right in the world.

How many times in school did you yawn through the same reports on MLK jr., Underground Railroad and other same "safe" topics? Or argue with a teacher because you dared to vary from offered topics to do research and present information that was new to the teacher (and not in their handy guide for the month)? I think people are missing the authors point. Or maybe I'm giving him too much credit?

[Honeykiss1974]

Originally posted by stardusttwin

How many times in school did you yawn through the same reports on MLK jr., Underground Railroad and other same "safe" topics? Or argue with a teacher because you dared to vary from offered topics to do research and present information that was new to the teacher (and not in their handy guide for the month)? I think people are missing the authors point. Or maybe I'm giving him too much credit?

Actually in high school, we never covered any of the topics you just mentioned so I don't know what you mean.
It wasn't until I attended an HBCU that we explored OUR history from a variety of angles and viewpoints.

But I do see what you're say though.

[librasoul22]

Originally posted by stardusttwin
Is the author black or white? Maybe I'm missing something but I thought this was tongue in cheek satire discussing how African American History month has been trivialized...

Yeah, this is what I got from it also.

[Confucius]

Originally posted by librasoul22
Yeah, this is what I got from it also.

Ditto. Or else his writing skills are just so horrible that he had to write something provokative to bring attention to himself.

[Steeltrap]

The author is African-American and the article was written as a satire. I learned this on another list I belong to. When I can get back on my e-mail, I will post her comments.

[Honeykiss1974]

Originally posted by Steeltrap
The author is African-American and the article was written as a satire. I learned this on another list I belong to. When I can get back on my e-mail, I will post her comments.

Hmm, I wonder who started the petition? Dag, hopefully someone from UMBC will post and tell me the "real deal".

[Steeltrap]

...sent by Mr. Thomas, the author of the article, himself. I've edited this to not include the critic's name:

Dear Ms. S______,
>
> I think you'd be surprised to know that we could not agree more.
>
> I think the confusion is the result of the tone I took. It is
>written
>as
> satire and its tone is sarcastic, even caustic. The position that
>I
>took was
> that one would have to be an idiot to truly believe the things
>that
>are
> written in the article, hence the title: An Idiot's Guide to Black
>History
> Month. Now, please don't misunderstand, I'm not calling you an
>idiot,
>but
> rather those who actually believe those things.
>
> I wrote this way, instead of straight-forwardly stating my
>grievances,
>because
> 1) I knew it would get read and what good is an opinion is no one
>hears
>it? 2)
> I wanted to produce the same response in the reader that the sign
>I
>mentioned
> in bookstore produced in me--outrage, shock, and anger leading to
>action.
>
> I have immense pride in my heritage and thank God everyday for
>giving
>me the
> lineage that He did. To see it so belittled so easily distressed
>me
>greatly.
>
> I think it's preposterous the derth of black actors in Hollywood,
>the
>number
> of books by blacks on the bestseller list, the number of blacks in
>Washington,
> running the country. Colin Powell, Oprah, Halle Berry--they're all
>used
>as
> examples of the achievement of the race, but it's really tokenism.
>People
> point to them as evidence of advancement, and though surely they
>wouldn't have
> gotten where they are without the support of their ancestors, it
>is a
>cop-out
> for America to forget about the need for unilateral equality
>simply
>because a
> few have broken through.
>
> Though I made absurd statements with hopes of making a point in
>the
>article,
> one thing I wrote is true: the bookstore did have a sign that
>said "From slave
> to scholar. African American History Month." As a black person, as
>a
>reader,
> as an American, I was incensed by this sign. It's an insulting and
> essentialist untruth to say that the entirety of our history boils
>down
>to the
> difference between Roots and Reading Rainbow. We are more than
>that;
>we've
> always been more than that and until we get beyond defining
>ourselves
>and
> being defined by oppression, we'll never truly be free, we'll
>always
>be
> ghettoized and tokenized and there will never be true
>understanding of
>black
> history, making the month a futile exercise for all involved.
>
> I hope I've cleared some things up for you. Please do feel free
>to e-
>mail me
> with any further comments, questions or concerns.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> R. Eric Thomas
>