It’s Time for Blacks to ‘Bury Black History Month’
By Sinclere Lee
NEW ORLEANS (BNW) –To celebrate Black History Month is a slap in the face to Blacks in this country in that our long and rich culture dates back before the written history, and to be given this acknowledgement by the very people who refused to make the acknowledgement in the first is inconceivable… especially when those people’s history only date back a few hundreds years.
The refusal to acknowledge Black contributions to the building of this country reeks of hypocrisy, the denial of social justice and racism. It lets America off the hook for its past transgressions against Blacks as well. The whole thing is a mockery to this democracy, and as a result, Blacks need to bury Black History Month and let it rest in peace.
Black History Month started out as Black History Week in 1926. At first, America never wanted Black Americans to know their history because it was too horrible to mention. But, Black history goes back before American history. Black Americans where in this country from day one… we have been in America at least as far back as colonial times. However, it was not until the 20th century that Blacks gained a presence in American history books.
In my opinion, there is more bad to said about Black History Month than good. First, the month itself is the worse month of the year. For example, it’s the coldest month of the year, it has the shortest number of days, and it has been reported that there are more suicides and murders in February than any other month of the year.
Consider this, if you had to give a people a month to acknowledge their history — because of racism you refused to acknowledge it in the past — selecting the month of February could be considered by some as an extension of the racism. You feel me?
Dr. Carter G. Woodson whose parents were former slaves is considered the father of Black History Month. He spent his childhood working in the Kentucky coal mines until at the age of twenty he enrolled in high school.
Dr. Woodson graduated within two years from high school and later went on to earn a Ph.D. from Harvard. As a scholar, he was troubled to find that American history completely ignored Blacks from history, and when Blacks were mentioned, it was largely some negative stereotype.
As a result, he decided to take on the challenge of writing Black Americans into this country's history. In 1915, he founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History, which is now called the Association for the Study of Afro-American Life, and History. A few years later, he founded the “Journal of Negro History.” In 1926, he stared Negro History Week as an initiative to bring national attention to the contributions of Black people throughout American history.
It was Woodson who chose the second week of February for Negro History Week because it marked the birthdays of two men who greatly influenced the black American population, Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln. However, February has much more than Douglass and Lincoln to show for its significance in black American history.
Black History Month is also a way for patronizing white Americans to separate themselves from the misdeeds of their country. It speaks volumes when a country like America has been so rotten to a segment of its society that it has to dedication a month to try to undo a great injustice.