I voted that we still need black history month because as others have stated if we didn't have it there's a chance that school boards would think of other "more important" issues to put in place of it and the thorough lessons of Black History will be sprinkled throughout the year thereby allowing folks to sleep through certain areas they don't want to hear and still pass. It's harder to sleep through a whole month and still pass but "Arg not another negro on chapter 5! I think I'll sleep this through." I wish we didn't need a Black History month, but I understand students would need more than a year to truly learn Black History so I'll take a month . There is a college that requires them to pass a Black History class in order to graduate and I think that is excessive so I am not a radical Black History supremist (just to make it clear). What I would need to know to achieve a more accurate answer to this question is to have better knowledge of what is being taught in schools these days, maybe they have added more Black History in the curriculum? I just do not want the new generations of Americans to think that Black History isn't as important to America as it stands today as it really is. Without surviving slavery and the civil rights movement America would not be as strong as it is today. I'd want the new generations to remember Black History as being beneficial to America as it was to Black people. The more equality there are between the races the more power as a country we have and it's a shame racists do not see that. That, to me, is the major importance of a Black History month.
There is an event about Contributions of Blacks and Africans in Islam at UH going on thursday. February 22... 1:00-2:30 Free food...
Thanks AB, my position is not all that rooted in stone, which is why I wanted to see the debate from all sides. DD
I dunno, does every other damn high school in the South need to be named after Robert E. Lee or Jefferson Davis? Some things just mean more to some people than others, and we accept that. I'd be willing to bet there are Hispanic and possibly Asian and Native American history months, weeks or days, but that they're less publicized due to their proportion of the population or other reasons.
What distinguishes those guys? The fact that they are black? Sorry, I think people just need to be educated on American history - and they will learn about whites, blacks, mexicans, and native americans. Black history month is tokenism and more to make people feel good then anything else. If you want to educate people on Black americans contributions - if you really want to do that, you just need to look at American history without a biased lens. It's all there.
Ironically enough, we probably get more attention in the month before (NFL Playoffs) and the month after (NCAA Tourney).
Brother, I think you're nuts. My graduation years are '02 and '06, for what that's worth. But - two things. First, black history month isn't just about school. Second, I'm pretty sure you're just flat wrong. How much time in history class did you spend on the Sumerians, Babylonians, Phoenecians, Hittites, Egyptians, Romans, Greeks, Ottomans, Prussians, Byzantines? How much time did you spend on anything south of the Sahara?
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I know I feel good about black people during February. It's perplexing to read the takes that explain to everyone how the implemented remedies to a history of racism are tokenism and aren't needed as long as we're not biased. That's brilliant.
This thread is severly disturbing to me. I think it could quite possibly be more disturbing than the Tim Hardeway one...
what about a thadeus history month? Every day the lesson will read: "You know that guy thadeus? HE KICKS ASS!"
I think we might be taking Black History Month a little too seriously. Black History Month shouldn't be about studying blacks to the exclusion of others for one month or cramming in as much about Black history into one month as possible. If its considered more as supplement to regular history then it need not be burdensome or divisive. Similar to how studying the history of World War II need not be about Japanese Internment but that should be included in the history of World War II.
