Why Black History Month Shouldn't Be a Single Month
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Black history is an essential part of all history—and that’s something that should be acknowledged and celebrated all year long.
Like a lot of relationships, my feelings about Black History Month are complicated. On the one hand, I deeply appreciate the time to intentionally celebrate the brilliant contributions to American culture and history by people who look like me. But while absolutely worthy of celebration, the stories of African American contributions to our culture and history have become repetitive over the years. Harriet Tubman was so brave. Martin Luther King, Jr. was the best orator of all time. George Washington Carver sure was a whiz with peanuts! Year after year, I hear a dutiful recitation of the same familiar facts, so much so that I fear that the result is the mistaken impression that this is sum total of all the African American contributions to history.
Confining the history of an entire race of people to a 30-day period not only shortchanges the significance of those contributions, but it also allows the greater truth to be erased. When I ask my African American friends about this, I often hear some version of: “I’d rather have one month than no months.” But is that really the choice?
The importance of acknowledging Black accomplishments
A quick search with Professor Google reveals that Black History Month traces its origins back to 1926 when the aptly named Association for the Study of African American Life chose a week in February to coincide with the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. In 1926, just a little over a half-century after the abolition of slavery, Black people were still strenuously making the argument for their humanity. The creation of that week was an important historical marker; its creator, Carter Woodson, was addressing Black people as much as a larger audience. There is nothing so motivating as to know that people who look like you achieved great things.
https://www.rd.com/culture/why-black-history-month-shouldnt-be-a-single-month/
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