02/02/08 04:24 - 31ºF - ID#43149

Why do we still call it Black History?

As you all probably know, the month of February is nationally known as "Black History Month". From an educational standpoint, I have a problem with this calendar tradition for a number of reasons. I remember being in 11th grade and all of our English classes had to write essays on the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Speech: " I have a dream". Instead of writing an analysis of what I thought the speech meant, like most people do, I decided I would write about how I think the month of February should be dedicated to Cultural Diversity rather than "Black History." I wasn't sure how my English teacher would react to my take on the topic, but she was a great teacher and she appreciated my honest thoughts. ( I didn't win the essay contest, but i really didn't care about that anyway.)

Why do we still call it "Black History"???

The term "Black History" itself seems to have racial overtones to it. Or am I dumb? The events that happened in our country that everyone considers "black history", including the entire slave trade and efforts by black people to change that, it is American History. It should be taught the same as all other events in the time line of American history, and of course emphasized as many of the major milestones that shaped the ideology of our country.The efforts of well known black people that fought against racial injustices should be taught just as we teach about well known women who fought for womens rights. Women were allowed to be beaten by their husbands, they had no rights, and they were traded for, $, farm animals and other material possessions. There were injustices among the sexes, the races, and the religions. Americans were an ignorant, inhuman people- TO THEMSELVES just as much as they were to outsiders. But our country has come a long way, and yes I believe that it is important to educate our people, especially our youth, about the events that happened. But I think its more important to put the major emphasis on how far we've come and celebrate the fact that our country as a whole has begun to progress and many of those injustices are not faced on a major level here anymore. And while there are still many ignorant attitudes that endorse racial inequality, I think our generations have been much more tolerant and open-minded than many of those who came before us. That in itself i think is something to celebrate. Also, If you're born in America you are an American, no matter what color you are. If you are white you are an American of European Descent. If you are born in Africa and come to America to live, then you would be considered an African American. I think its important to start teaching these more technical terms to our young in an effort to emphasize the fact that we are Americans of all colors- and among ourselves here in America we should promote Unity rather that continuously pointing out and emphasizing our differences. The notion of "Black History Month" I believe, is keeping the anger of past generations alive and spreading those ideologies to our younger generations. I'm really serious abut this, and I may do some research to find out what the next step to making this change actually happen would be. What do I do, write my congressman or something?

YAY For CULTURAL DIVERSITY!!!!!

I was watching Def Comedy Jam last night and there was an Indian guy on there who cracked a joke about how "brown is the new black" thanks to the recent fear of terrorists. But when he introduced himself he commented about the fact that because he wasn't black or white people couldn't tell what the hell he was. And I really thought about this because you hear latinos joking about how people can't tell whether their Mexican or Peurto Rican. Asians joke about how people can't tell whether or not they're chinese, Japanese, or Korean. People from the middle east are confused for Pakistani, or Indian, or whatever. The list goes on. I think that so much focus put on black vs. white puts the other nationalities that make up this supposed great melting pot of a country in the shadows and its making us very ignorant about the other cultures that we share our country with. Why do we joke about it as if its funny to be stupid? When we hear people from other countries call us "stupid Americans" do we really sit there and make fun of ourselves as well, I mean we should for a minute because it is kind of funny but I don't think we should take initiative to educate ourselves. I think A good way to do that would be to dedicate the month of February to learning about other cultures and their affects on life in America. Live in the present, not the past- looking forward is the only way to progress. Especially right now with all of this tension between other countires and us.

Ok, Im done for now as this is really long and my baby girl is about to wake up... but one more thing...

"Is America Really Ready For A Black President?"

I heard one of the reporters ask this question on tv after the debates and I wanted to throw a shoe at her. As far as American History is concerned, this is HUGE for our country to have 2 minorities competing in the same presidential race... and to have either of them win will be a major victory in their respective minority category. But in the grand scheme of things, with the current state our country is in, to ourselves and world wide, I think hearing her ask that question seemed so dumb to me. I think Obama presents himself as an educated man, he speaks with knowledge and intelligence, and regardless of whether or not America is "ready for a black president" we certainly need those qualities in a leader. ( I don't know about you but I think Bush's inaccuracies, redundancies, and his lack of ability to speak the English language make us look really dumb to have him as our national representative. )

metalpeter writes at 11:53:27 02/03/08 - Comment #31249: Wow I love the post I have so much to say about it.

First (e:ajay) I have heard that before and it is all ways funny. But if they wanted to screw blacks just pick a summer month when no one is in school, or if you want to make it less obvious go with December with all the holiday stuff no one would even remember it was black history month.

The reason why there is a Black History month is because history is told from someones perspective. I have heard it is from the Winners perspective. Or as some people would call it His Story , Meaning the white man's story. What has traditonaly happend is that people who where black and should be in the stories are excluded and aren't talked about or learned about and that continues and continues. So because of that the only real way to teach about that is to have a different set of stories about black achievement. I also think that currently that is the best way of doing things. Hey maybe some day there won't be a need to have a seperate month. But I doubt that will happen. The reason is even if some days all new histroy books are written and put into schools then who says the teachers have to mention the blacks. What if a teacher doesn't care about there acomplishements or thinks that they are less then the ones of whites (not in a racist way) just that they are minor. Then ad in if race is a factor then you might still never hear about blacks in history that is why that month is so important. An interesting example of this sort of is what I learned about the Civil War. In high School I was told it was all about the slaves and that they counted as people 1/10 I think and where property. Now in college I was told, no slavery was a small back issue that didn't really figure in that much that it was really all about the South being agrucutal and the notrh being industrial. I don't know if it was because college is more advanced or if there where different political agandas but in any event the story was still kinda the same but very different.

The Asian Joke I think was stolen. Margaret Cho had a joke that went something like this about this "it is the racism it is the stupidity, this guy calls me a chink, Hello I'm not a Chink I'm a gook" it is a classic joke and I'm sure I butchered it a little bit

In terms of America being ready for a Black President we could be. But some people say he isn't black that he is an arab. His last name is Obama and he doesn't look black. Granted this is all whites I have heard this from but there is something in the black community that I hear he isn't black enough. He is Part white also, so maybe he will be embraced since he is light skinned. I'm kinda touching on something called Colorism that is even stranger to me then racism but is kinda the same. Of course he has to beat clinton first.

Most racial terms make no sense. "Black" I get cause at one time africans where black. But a lot of people we call black have Brown Skin. In terms of the term African American the term is incorrect because of how it is used. If it was used for people who came from a country in Africa and where living here then yes that would be correct you could maybe extend that to there kids. Or if they where with other AA's who still did things like they did there and it was a community then maybe you could still use the term. But the term is applied to everyone who is black. The term from African Decent would be correct in most cases. But whe are talking about in some cases familes who have been in america for hunderds of years. In my case my ancestors where not in America untill after slavery was abolished so My family line in this country is shorter then blacks. That is true for some families and not for others. So if you follow that Logic I could be an "irish american" but see I don't work the docks so that wouldn't make any sense. The term African American is used for anyone who is black including Haitins, Jamicans and not sure where else. But people from those countries have a completely different history and would not say they are from Afica. Also what about white africans. Yes there are white Africans if they come to America then they should be called "african americans" but they have white skin so they are called white.

I just wanted to add that the womens Sufarage movement was covered when I was in school along with the civil rights movement. One would think that, it would make people more tolerant and more excepting. I think that it has done that. I think that race relations have a long way to go but think that whites will never be completely excepted by blacks and vice versa. I don't mean middle class and rich blacks who good solid families. I think skin color differences can be over come. But when there is such a difference is Soco-economic status and culture (music, dance, movies) it can never really be gapped. But maybe I'm wrong but I doubt it, cause I can tell you it is a lot easier to hate then it is to love and except. You may think I'm racist and I am a little bit but the next time you see someone get into the endzone of a football game watch all the celebrating and dancing and actin all up in your face and then see what happens if a whit guy scores. That being said I wish the NFL was a more fun league (not taunting just fun) I loved when was it TO or Chad Johnson brought out that phone and pretend to call some one. I wish he would have taken a picture of that and really called someone instead of dialing 6 numbers. Yes race is a complex issue and things won't get better with out talking honestly. The second you call someone a raciest is the second they will never change at all.

ajay writes at 04:52:30 02/02/08 - Comment #31223: I heard Feb was picked because it's the shortest month of the year...

(don't recall the comic who said said that; was it Chapelle?)