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Category: black history month

02/02/08 04:24 - 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. )
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