Podcast Episode 13...Who Still Needs Black History Month?

Houston, TX - I don't recall celebrating or even hearing about Black History month until I was about 11 years old attending my first all Black inner city school. Prior to the sixth grade I had attended majority or all white private schools, with the exception of fifth grade, which was my first year in public education. And even that was heavily White populations, including the staff. 

I never encountered any bigotry or serious prejudice during those year. However, I didn't see or hear much about Blacks participating in the development of this country. In fact, in the private schools slavery didn't exist in my history books, to my recollection. I guess Blacks just mysteriously popped up in the USA. 

I was blessed to have a father, who happened to be a former supporter of the Black Panthers movement during the 70s, who taught me and encouraged me to learn about Blacks in America. So I wasn't deprived of the knowledge of who I was, but I was deprived of seeing a true account of my heritage in the birth and development in this country. Even when I attended the inner city public schools, I found that Blacks were relegated to only a few pages in the history books. According to those books, we made very, very little contributions to this great country. But I knew better, thanks to my parents.

It was for that very reason Black History Week (which later became Black History Month) was started by a staunch Republican named Dr. Carter G. Woodson in 1926. His desire was to impart the missing facts in American history about the significant contributions that Blacks had made. He felt that if Americans opened their minds to learning the truth of history knowledge would eventually remove the ignorance of hatred for a people who had been the back bone of the structure of America. Dr. Woodson felt that due to knowledge there would be a day when the need for Black History Week would grow obsolete, because schools and universities would present factual accounts of America's story. One day American history would be inclusive of all the contributions made by the people who called her home. 

However, today Dr. Woodson's dreams have not come to pass. Yet many Americans (Blacks and White) have come to hate this month of celebration, despite the fact that it is not the only cultural or ethnic celebration on the American calendar.

Questions that many of us could ask ourselves and others, why has Black History Month become the hated celebration? Are the reasons valid? How do we make Dr. Woodson's hope a reality?