SECOND THOUGHTS: Attack on history proves Black History Month’s relevancy
In 2015 I wrote an article about the importance of Black History Month and why we need one. In 2018, I wrote a sequel examining whether we still need a Black History Month considering how far society has come.
In a perfect world we would not need a Black History Month or any month dedicated to a specific culture because it’d be a world where everyone’s contributions to history are acknowledged and history is told in an unbiased manner. Alas, I may be idealistic, but I do not think we are in that perfect world by any means and many politicians are proving this.
Today, there is an ongoing fight against true history in exchange for a biased history that distorts truth and tries to sugarcoat and hide the history of racism in the United States. From the contemporary battles against critical race theory to the long running whitewashing of history and less-than-stellar historical textbooks, one has to wonder if anyone is going to understand the nature of slavery in the United States in the next few years. In Texas and across the country, politicians are working to ban books (with great pushback) that discuss race and racism and even make attempts to remove the requirement to discuss the history of racism. It still boggles my mind that there are many who do not even know who Malcolm X was.
In a society in which Black history is distorted, there is an absolute necessity for Black History Month. Black History Month was originally created as “Negro History Week” by Carter G. Woodson to ensure the history and contributions of Black Americans were recognized in such a whitewashed culture. This week eventually grew to a month when it was proposed by Black educators at Kent State University. The month became officially recognized by U.S. President Gerald Ford in 1976 and continues to be celebrated today.
In a present day world in which history continues to be whitewashed, the need for a Black History Month and the many other months dedicated to various cultures’ history and heritage continues to be shown. If our history books and classrooms cannot teach the current and future generations proper and inclusive history, then that leaves its people to rely on these designated months to make an effort to encourage and educate the masses on history of non-white people in this country.
Black History Month is more than just a month about learning about important figures. It is a time to discuss the very institutional racism that so many are afraid to acknowledge in the first place. When one learns of the history of Black people in America, it tells the story of what it means when institutions like slavery and Jim Crow can continue to have an impact even today. One might point to the disproportionate rate that Black people and Latinos were affected by COVID-19 as an example of structural racism in healthcare that many do not consider because of a lack of historical context taught to most.
Learning such history demonstrates the importance of knowing how the systems that are supposed to bring justice and ensure freedom are rooted in a very immoral past that we have to do a better job of understanding and correcting so that the United States can truly be the so-called great republic and democracy it is.
We are in a unique time period in which many continue to either not care enough about history or try to distort history. In such a world one might as well take advantage of these months to learn the kind of history our society deserves. A month being created to acknowledge the history of a culture is a sign that such acknowledgment is not found regularly enough in average historic education. As the dark (or should I say white) cloud continues to float over true history, it is clear that these months are needed now more than ever.
