Black History Month is right around the corner...

[azulmagia]

Is it a good or bad thing that Black History Month isn't held when watermelons are in season?

[Technocolor lapdragon]

black history month, a time when all black peopel celebrate the overcoming of their time in slavery. I wish i kjnew a nicer way of saying that such a claim is poor in evidence. Slavery has been going on for thousands of years, the greeks did it, the white man did it with the indians, the spaniards did it to some degree with the mayans, and overall, even in africa there has been slavery. Even now, sexual slavery is very prevailent claiming thousands od lives and causing more problems than anything else. I wonder why there isn't a plain, latant antislavery month.

African american peopels contributed a lot to the culture of today, but before the 1940s and whatnto when ther was a clear line of race between black and white, we had a clear distinction between us and every other race. The chinese were so abused in america in the 1800s that it drove them underground, and if not for the undferground railroad that they were forced to create, you'd have no transp[ortation of good in san fransisco.

As abused as the african american population was, i have to wonder when or if there will be an asian history month, or something else along those lines. Because 50% of our population is black, mabe a little less but in a majority of what i see around me, it means thatwhile they do contribute to our society, we need to look at the PERSON, not the skin color the person was born with. Not all black peopel liek basketball and listen to rap, or write R & B songs about sex...

[Jacque De Molay]

I disagree with Morgan Freeman.

[Mrtyu-Mara]

Jacque De Molay

I disagree with Morgan Freeman.

That's nice, but I'm going to have to ask you to elaborate, being in the extended discussion and all.

[Jacque De Molay]

Ontological Empiricism

Jacque De Molay

I disagree with Morgan Freeman.

That's nice, but I'm going to have to ask you to elaborate, being in the extended discussion and all.

Of course, I think that we need black history more than ever. I have witnessed a different lower set of expectations for myself in America because of my skin tone when compared to my friends of different backgrounds.

[silkandflowers]

It would be better if any history aside from white straight male history was focused on and well known in general, but sadly we still live in a world where white history, straight history, and men's history is still prioritized over the history of people of colour, queer history, and women's history.

So if the alternative is to never hear about black/queer/women's history at all, I'd say it's better to at least have one month of the year dedicated to those areas of history.

That said, it's obviously not perfect, because of course there are other people of colour whose history ought to be focused on, and in any case sequestering all talk of black history to only one month of the year might give people an excuse to ignore it for the rest of the year buuuuut the reasoning behind having a black history month is sound, at least. Better some than nothing, right?

[frozen_water]

Jacque De Molay

Ontological Empiricism

Jacque De Molay

I disagree with Morgan Freeman.

That's nice, but I'm going to have to ask you to elaborate, being in the extended discussion and all.

Of course, I think that we need black history more than ever. I have witnessed a different lower set of expectations for myself in America because of my skin tone when compared to my friends of different backgrounds.

Do you honestly think a month is going to help that?

[Annata Cannata]

First of all, there are other history months- http://smithsonianeducation.org/heritage_month/
Second of all, the reason there are history months is because thats the only time their history will be taught. Despite what you learn in school there are other Black people that accomplished things besides Martin Luther King Jr. And do we even learn about any specific Native American people besides Pocahontas? The problem is that public school teaches about only one or two token non-white people and call it a day when there is so much more.

[Mrtyu-Mara]

Annata Cannata

First of all, there are other history months- http://smithsonianeducation.org/heritage_month/
Second of all, the reason there are history months is because thats the only time their history will be taught. Despite what you learn in school there are other Black people that accomplished things besides Martin Luther King Jr. And do we even learn about any specific Native American people besides Pocahontas? The problem is that public school teaches about only one or two token non-white people and call it a day when there is so much more.

Question: If these months are dedicated to other parts of history, whether racial or gender, why is Black History Month the only one we (I suppose I am using this as a royal 'we', though I may not be the only one) ever actually hear about? When walking around college campus in or near the month of February, I see plenty of signs for Black History Month, but none for the others.

To be perfectly honest, I had no idea that March was Women's History Month, that May was Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, that September 15 to October 15 was Hispanic Heritage Month, or that November was American Indian Heritage Month.

The only one that seems to be popular is Black History Month. The only thing I knew that happened in October was that it was the month for Breast Cancer Awareness.

I am certainly glad you pointed this out to me, because it shows me how lacking my education system was in other departments of heritage months.

[God Emperor Akhenaton]

Honestly I don't think Black History Month gives black history the justice it deserves. I mean really all this month covers are the 20th century Achievements of black people. Which really accounts for very little of their history. I mean for ******** sake, talk about the Boers or the Zulu's for once.

[silkandflowers]

Ontological Empiricism

Annata Cannata

First of all, there are other history months- http://smithsonianeducation.org/heritage_month/
Second of all, the reason there are history months is because thats the only time their history will be taught. Despite what you learn in school there are other Black people that accomplished things besides Martin Luther King Jr. And do we even learn about any specific Native American people besides Pocahontas? The problem is that public school teaches about only one or two token non-white people and call it a day when there is so much more.

Question: If these months are dedicated to other parts of history, whether racial or gender, why is Black History Month the only one we (I suppose I am using this as a royal 'we', though I may not be the only one) ever actually hear about? When walking around college campus in or near the month of February, I see plenty of signs for Black History Month, but none for the others.

To be perfectly honest, I had no idea that March was Women's History Month, that May was Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, that September 15 to October 15 was Hispanic Heritage Month, or that November was American Indian Heritage Month.

The only one that seems to be popular is Black History Month. The only thing I knew that happened in October was that it was the month for Breast Cancer Awareness.

I am certainly glad you pointed this out to me, because it shows me how lacking my education system was in other departments of heritage months.

Possibly because there's been more awareness raised for Black History Month where you live?

I knew about Women's History Month and First Nations' History Month, though I can never remember which months they are. They're advertized and talked about in magazines, on posters, in newspapers. It's possible that where you are it's just that the communities/student unions or whatever that are in charge of raising awareness for and advertizing the other months aren't as organized or as good at putting out information about them as whoever's in charge of organizing and raising awareness for Black History month.

[Das Rabble Rouser]

Around where I live BH month is pretty stupid.

1. G.W. Carver invented peanut butter.
2. Rosa Parks was a grumpy old woman who wouldn't give up her seat.
3. MLK Jr had a dream and got shot.

Repeat those 3 stories and that's all they taught. Really the first of the month the school teaches those 3 stories and reminded us it's black history month then left the subject untouched for the rest of the month.

Like Morgan Freeman said black history is American history (or whatever other nations have black history in their culture). I don't think we need a month dedicated to focusing on black people, but rather I think it should be a general part of history like WWII or Lewis & Clark's exploration.

[HDMI]

HDMI

~~~
If I hadn't seen the video I never would have looked at it this way. He makes some good points. Also, I didn't know they reserved this in United Kingdom. The more you know.
~~~

HDMI

[Riviera de la Mancha]

Ontological Empiricism

So I wanted to discuss the relevancy of "Black History Month", why we should have it, and why only one particular month is designated to one race.

Black History Month is an annual observance in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom (in October) for remembrance of important people and events in the history of the African American diaspora. This is the month that all of the hard work of the people who put in for African Americans to be free is celebrated.

While yes, this should definitely be celebrated, why should only this history be remembered each year?

I'd like to include a clip of Morgan Freeman's criticism against Black History Month, only 55 seconds long, but I feel he makes a valid point:

Morgan Freeman states: "I don't want a Black History Month. Black history is American history."

He feels it is ridiculous, and asks which month is White History Month, which month is Jewish History Month. There are no other months in the United States designated to a certain part of history, so why is February dedicated solely to Black history?

So I want to see some civil discussion on:
Should Black History Month be celebrated? Why, or why not?
Should we dedicate other months to other races and their history? Why, or why not? (I feel some answers to the first question may dip into this one).

You know what really needs to be discussed?

Why is it that people continue to think that there is only one month for one race. Pretty much every racial group has its own month that's nationally recognized, and a few have months recognized by individual states.

That, and why everyone d**k-rides Morgan Freeman and Bill Cosby when it comes to African American culture. I have a few black friends and, I have to say, none of them let me in on the convention where those two men were selected as the arbiters on all things black. Eh, who knows though... Lord knows I never got the memo for the meeting where us Hispanics/Chicanos/Latinos were all going to agree that Gabriel Iglesias was funny...

[Riviera de la Mancha]

Technocolor lapdragon

black history month, a time when all black peopel celebrate the overcoming of their time in slavery. I wish i kjnew a nicer way of saying that such a claim is poor in evidence. Slavery has been going on for thousands of years, the greeks did it, the white man did it with the indians, the spaniards did it to some degree with the mayans, and overall, even in africa there has been slavery. Even now, sexual slavery is very prevailent claiming thousands od lives and causing more problems than anything else. I wonder why there isn't a plain, latant antislavery month.

African american peopels contributed a lot to the culture of today, but before the 1940s and whatnto when ther was a clear line of race between black and white, we had a clear distinction between us and every other race. The chinese were so abused in america in the 1800s that it drove them underground, and if not for the undferground railroad that they were forced to create, you'd have no transp[ortation of good in san fransisco.

As abused as the african american population was, i have to wonder when or if there will be an asian history month, or something else along those lines. Because 50% of our population is black, mabe a little less but in a majority of what i see around me, it means thatwhile they do contribute to our society, we need to look at the PERSON, not the skin color the person was born with. Not all black peopel liek basketball and listen to rap, or write R & B songs about sex...

Pro-tip: THERE IS AN ASIAN HISTORY MONTH.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asian_Pacific_American_Heritage_Month

If I said it once, I have said it a thousand times...

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