Throughout the history of the United States, whites have systematically oppressed blacks through institutions such as slavery and Jim Crow laws. Even though these repulsive institutions no longer exist, black people still remain implicitly subordinate to white people in American society. Discrimination and prejudice has been especially exposed now more than ever with the election of our President Donald Trump and the various ideologies of his supporters. This has been contributing to the growing divisiveness of America today.
Basically, the very foundation of American democratic freedom has been built on the oppression of black people. Rather than attempting to reconstruct the definition of American democratic freedom to incorporate blacks as equal to whites, American society has neglected its shortcomings and explicitly created a civilization of people that dominates minority groups, including black people.
Black History Month celebrates the cultural achievements and legacy of African-American people in the United States. Instead of embracing this holiday to commend the profound role black people have had in American history, many white Americans say things such as, “Why isn’t there a white history month?” or “Why do we need to have a month to celebrate black people anyways?”
It is important to reflect on American history when white Americans ask questions such as these. White America has consistently and overtly degraded African American people. Even with their wide array of achievements throughout the history of America, black people seem to have to constantly compete with the dominating nature of the white race. A White History Month is not necessary because Americans are all extremely aware of the successes of white people, and extremely unaware of the successes of black people in American history. In a way, a form of White History Month happens every day in the United States, it simply isn’t publicly mentioned.
An episode of Jeopardy in 2014 paid homage to Black History Month by having a respective “African-American History” category on the show. It seemed as though the contestants knew more about rather frivolous facts than the achievements of important black characters in American history. This demonstrates everything that is wrong with American society.
Black History Month, in memorializing the accomplishments of a minority, honors the positivity and strength in overcoming hardship. In latent terms, if systematic racism toward black people did not exist in America, there would be no need to rely on the celebratory aspects of Black History Month. In the ideal world, black culture and the culture of other minorities alike would be celebrated in the same way white culture is celebrated: every day.
Instead of hating on the existence of Black History Month, many white Americans need to focus on the aspect of appreciation for diversity and cultural achievement. The contributions from minorities such as African-Americans contribute to the multiplicity of American society, and rather than questioning its existence, people should be appreciating the fight against institutionalized inequality in the United States. Even though we cannot go back and undo the wrongs that white people have inflicted on black people, we can choose to actively fight the racism that exists in our institutions, and ameliorate the relationship between white and black races by respecting the contributions of black culture to the “melting pot” that is American society.
Respecting Black History Month is not going to amend racism and end discrimination, but it will ensure that the legacy of important black historical figures will be maintained and that their message of securing equality with white people is an ongoing, rather than forgotten, fight.
