Growing up, Black History Month was always fun for me. We talked about important figures in the black community like Martin Luther King and Harriet Tubman. All of this is undoubtedly important. Carter G. Woodson, the founder of Black History Month said, "If a race has no history, it has no worthwhile tradition. It becomes a negligible factor in the thought of the world, and it stands in danger of being exterminated." I agree with this sentiment wholeheartedly. So why my disdain for Black History Month?
I hate Black History Month because it's become a hall pass for racists to pretend to care about black people for four weeks, despite the fact that they ignore the racial economic gap, police brutality, and racial profiling for the other 48.
I hate Black History Month because it shouldn't be necessary. The curriculums used to teach in Black History Month are only used in February, despite the fact that America's racial history has been influenced by many African-American leaders and activists. Twenty-eight days doesn't begin to scratch the surface of the complicated animal that is black history.
I hate Black History Month because most Americans don't know the first thing about prominent leaders in the black community. Martin Luther King's name is most often used as a way to shame black people for protesting, even though he spent his whole adult life doing just that. If most people don't have an accurate picture of what MLK was about, then how far in the dark are they about other leaders in the black community? I'd be willing to bet that most people don't know who Medgar Evers and Fannie Lou Hamer are.
I hate Black History Month because people eschew talking about the ugly parts of the struggle to focus solely on the parts where victory is won. The violent and ugly parts are important as the triumphs. Conversations on topics like segregation always talk about the Brown v. Board case in 1954. That case is undoubtedly influential. However, how many times does Emmett Till get brought up when discussing segregation? His story is important because similar things happen in today's America. Fake news became a very prevalent issue in the 2016 presidential election. When the president tweets out fake stats from nonexistent crime agencies, people like Dylann Roof become empowered in their supremacist beliefs. Roof said that he visited the Council of Conservative Citizens website after Google searching the phrase 'black on white crime'. The CCC is a white supremacist group that argues against the mixing of races. They've been known to dabble in alternative facts(better known as lies). Alternative facts often led to shallow graves for black people during segregation. Those who don't learn history are doomed to repeat it.
Black history should be taught year-round. If it was, the average American would have a better knowledge of historical figures in the black community. People like Medgar Evers, Fannie Lou Hamer, and Emmett Till would be household names, not historical footnotes. Twenty-eight days doesn't begin to scratch the surface of the complicated animal that is black history. That's why I hate Black History Month.
