Black History Month? Is it separation or just realistic?

under74

So I got to thinking after seeing 60 minutes this last week. Morgan Freeman said Black History month is "ridiculous" and pointed out that it keeps African-Americans seperated from other Americans.
I guess my thinking is that the school text books haven't really changed since I was in school. My nephew who's in 7th grade showed me his history book for school and it seems no different from when I was in 5th grade--a paragraph about Harriet Tubman, one sentence about George Washington Carver, a page about Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King and one sentence about Malcolm X. This I think shows how little people in the US know about what an impact African Americans have had in this country. So I don't know...I think african american history should be the same as regular american history...the same way I think Borders shouldn't have a seperate section for African American authors. At the same time as far as history goes I don't think anything can change until textbooks and those teaching history become more educated on the matter.

What do you all think?

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/12/14/60minutes/main1127684.shtml

lonelysheep

I think african american history should be the same as regular american history...

So do I. It was rough trying to cram all of black history lessons into one month and expect to remember it ever again.

under74

They have black History Month in Germany?? :)

lonelysheep

Lol......wouldn't that be something!

DevonMcBride

I agree with Morgan Freeman, it's separation. We don't have Native American history month, Latin American history, or Asian American history month. So why do we have black history month?

mrsjones5

I've always wondered why it's the shortest month of the year?

stillAwitness

I always thought Black History month was a bit overrated.

And yet I've always destested the textbooks back in high school anyway. They always talk about the influential black american movers and shakers of our society. But what about those like Marcus Garvey? Jean-Claude?

Growing up in Florida, you're around all kinds of different ethnicities of blacks- haitian, jamacain, trinidarian- the list goes on forever. And I always had to expierience first-hand the racisim that black americans have against blacks who are not from this country. They think there better than us, they make fun of our accents, joke about us coming over here on a boat. What a shame! So i detest Black history month all the same.

mrsjones5

joke about us coming over here on a boat

That's a bit silly of them to say dont ya think? since most blacks' ansestors came here by boat too.

Josie

Dune

@ Devon Mcbride. They do have all of those months. Native/Latin american months are around october.

A part of me is like "black history month" who cares? I mean, BHM hasnt done anything for blacks as a whole. I dont think showing black children examples of great men and women of their color really is enough to inspire them to do better in school/life. I always find it funny when i see the less concientious rappers givingtheir two cents about harriet tubman. and later that day you see the same guy in some music video shooting a police officer or grabbing on some random female.

Panda

I also saw Morgan Freeman on 60 minutes and agree with his very reasonable statement that labels may cause divisions. In the US we have way too many fplks who make a living on creating the black/white divide. Black history month does not represent Black history it only represents Black separate from White, so we encourage the "Other" mentallity .

I taught my students that there is one race, the human race ... and we had great conversations (and debates).

Black History Month? Is it separation or just realistic?

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