k, so i'm writing a counterpoint to the worthiness of black history for the school paper, and i dont want to get shot for it. so tell me, is this tasteful enough to be reasonably secure in my safety?
Every February, it comes and goes. It’s the most racially charged month of the year, and not in a good way.
Black History Month, although it once served a purpose, has been effectively rendered worthless by several factors.
Although it’s certainly important to understand the past of America’s minorities, one must not forget his own culture as well. If there is to be a Black History Month in today’s open, generally racially equal society, we must then assign history months for all other cultures as well.
As the celebration of black history originated in a time of vile racism, it’s certainly understandable that it came to be. However, the month has served its purpose, and because history class doesn’t know skin color, black history month no longer has any true value.
In fact, Carter G. Wilson, the creator of Negro History Week, the predecessor to Black History Month, fully expected the week to fade out of existence once it served its purpose, which it certainly has.
As long as black history month exists and stands alone, racism will exist. In a time when black history is fully known to all, it does nothing but place black people on a pedestal. It suggests that black people are somehow less important than the rest of us, and it encourages people to look at blacks in a different light than the rest of the world.
Not only that, but it suggests that the achievements of the rest of America’s minorities are unimportant and not applicable to everyday life. As many of the greatest comforts in America would not exist without our vast genetic pool, this is utterly untrue. However, as long as blacks and blacks alone have a history month, many people will continue to harbor this view as their own.
On the other side of the fence, why should black history be confined to one month? The simple answer is that it should not be.
Black history should be celebrated every single day of the year, as should the histories of all races. Every culture in America is rich and unique, and to expect the achievements, differences, and important aspects of each to be confined to a single month can be described only as ignorant.
Black History Month is an absurd, worn out practice that should be laid to rest. It has served its purpose and is no longer needed. America has dropped its racist tendencies and has become an open and accepting country. The histories of our minorities are not some great secret withheld for a few; they are common knowledge fit for the possession of the masses.
“I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal,’” Martin Luther King Jr. once said. “I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood.”
As long as we’re celebrating our differences, and not our similarities, that table of brotherhood cannot exist, and we will find ourselves no closer to equality than Dr. King’s generation.
Every February, it comes and goes. It’s the most racially charged month of the year, and not in a good way.
Black History Month, although it once served a purpose, has been effectively rendered worthless by several factors.
Although it’s certainly important to understand the past of America’s minorities, one must not forget his own culture as well. If there is to be a Black History Month in today’s open, generally racially equal society, we must then assign history months for all other cultures as well.
As the celebration of black history originated in a time of vile racism, it’s certainly understandable that it came to be. However, the month has served its purpose, and because history class doesn’t know skin color, black history month no longer has any true value.
In fact, Carter G. Wilson, the creator of Negro History Week, the predecessor to Black History Month, fully expected the week to fade out of existence once it served its purpose, which it certainly has.
As long as black history month exists and stands alone, racism will exist. In a time when black history is fully known to all, it does nothing but place black people on a pedestal. It suggests that black people are somehow less important than the rest of us, and it encourages people to look at blacks in a different light than the rest of the world.
Not only that, but it suggests that the achievements of the rest of America’s minorities are unimportant and not applicable to everyday life. As many of the greatest comforts in America would not exist without our vast genetic pool, this is utterly untrue. However, as long as blacks and blacks alone have a history month, many people will continue to harbor this view as their own.
On the other side of the fence, why should black history be confined to one month? The simple answer is that it should not be.
Black history should be celebrated every single day of the year, as should the histories of all races. Every culture in America is rich and unique, and to expect the achievements, differences, and important aspects of each to be confined to a single month can be described only as ignorant.
Black History Month is an absurd, worn out practice that should be laid to rest. It has served its purpose and is no longer needed. America has dropped its racist tendencies and has become an open and accepting country. The histories of our minorities are not some great secret withheld for a few; they are common knowledge fit for the possession of the masses.
“I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal,’” Martin Luther King Jr. once said. “I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood.”
As long as we’re celebrating our differences, and not our similarities, that table of brotherhood cannot exist, and we will find ourselves no closer to equality than Dr. King’s generation.
