Black History Month: A Thinkpost

[penpusher]

am·biv·a·lence
amˈbivələns/

noun

the state of having mixed feelings or contradictory ideas about something or someone.

"the law's ambivalence about the importance of a victim's identity"

I have previously stated that there are times, based on your level of knowledge or experience, when there is a clear level of ambivalence about being an African-American citizen in the United States. These tend to be around days of National celebration, like Independence Day, Columbus Day, and yes, the month of February, which has come to represent "Black History Month."

The reason why the shortest month of the year became the month to celebrate African American history was, in fact, a reasonable element. It began as "Negro History Week" in 1926. This was chosen to be observed during the second week of February to coincide with the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln (on the 12th) and Frederick Douglass (on the 14th).

In 1970 Kent State University expanded this concept to the entire month of February. By 1976, President Ford acknowledged the event, as it had expanded to learning institutions all over the country.

There is a lot of ambivalence when we talk about Black History. Isn't "Black" History just "history?" Why do we need a "Black History Month?" Doesn't celebrating Black History during February downplay those elements the rest of the year? Why is there no "White History Month"?

These are questions that have been asked of black people since the Bicentennial.

There are a lot of questions, a lot of issues, a lot of split opinions on Black History Month. Most famously, in a "60 Mintutes" interview with Mike Wallace, Morgan Freeman, who actually wasn't talking about this particular element as a topic of discussion, the conversation just meandered over into it, gave this famous quote, that a lot of people looking to squelch any celebration of black people love to play over and over again:

Watch on YouTube

There are some serious issues with this concept, which has continually been trotted out since this interview happened in 2005, a dozen years ago. The first is it suggests that Black History is relegated to one month. Clearly it is not. It also suggests that Black History is not the same as history. We know that isn't true either.

Freeman also states that if we simply stop talking about racism, it will ebb away. But no social problem ever disappears without society confronting it, examining its moving parts, understanding how it works and who is benefiting from it and then dismantling it, piece by piece.

The problem that we have is similar to my issue with the Day 16 entry in my 30 Day Music Challenge. In case you need a refresher, that was the day listed as "A Song You Used To Love But Now You Don't" and my selection was Louis Armstrong's "What A Wonderful World." Here we have a wizened black man stating that we need to stop talking about race in America if we are going to resolve it. That is exactly what the White Nationalists want to hear. A message like that allows them to ignore everything else because they found one black guy to say that we should ignore it.

I would note that Mr. Freeman has not said anything of this sort since that time, so if he felt as strongly about it now as he did then, he definitely has not expressed that.

I would say that if we actually did use Black History Month as a method for learning some facts, for understanding some truths, for building some empathy, for examining our society, it would be worth it.

But that's not up to me.

Comments

[staxxy]

I am just glad that black history month has grown from "look at these most famous black people from history who are not rocking the boat because either they have been dead for more than 100 years, or because the message about their success does not change the perceptions of today, or MLK" to "not every invention that was patented by white people was actually invented by those white people" and "okay, so really, Imma lay some truth on you about how shit really went down, and let's talk about how your perception of black people was shaped by People With Agendas" But mostly I am glad that conversations about the not white people of history that START in February ONLINE keep going throughout the year sometimes. As much from expanding the breadth of historical knowledge as from finally acknowledging the work that people who are not white men have done. I appreciate that what started as a week of black History almost 100 years ago has become more of a year long conversation as sites, and studios, and stations push to come up with Brand New Stories to tell.

I am confident that we would not have gotten the Hidden Figures story for at least another 100 years without it. It should not have to take a governmental effort to open up these conversations at all. Maybe someday it won't. I would very much like it if people were able to recognize and celebrate awesome people everywhere that have made a positive impact on shaping our world. <3

[penpusher]

I think Black History Month is a positive, but there is an underlying feeling that Morgan Freeman was onto something about how it would be better if we didn't have to call it out just to give it the attention it deserves...

The problem with Freeman's statement is that it is never the minority voice that can make that happen in a circumstance. It has to be the people who are in charge, but that requires some enlightenment and a sense that what is being gained is more than what they stand to lose. This is why racism is still retaining that stronghold on our society.

Individually, we know and understand these truths to be self-evident. But the system is still favoring one over the other, so, we can make positive statements while retaining the Status Quo and the parade marches on...

Thanks for these thoughts!

[staxxy]

I agree with you about that underlying truth, and I am hopeful that we will get there one day. I am not suffering from a delusion that it will happen in my lifetime though (although, my perspective on my lifetime is that if I last another decade it will be a major coup).

[penpusher]

Yeah. I have full understanding that this won't happen in time for me to see it, but maybe it'll happen a little sooner than it might have, like in time for Star Trek to become a reality.