Black History Is US History

As Black History Month draws to a close, I have reproduced the following article I originally read on one of my favourite blogs, Booker Rising (http://bookerrising.blogspot.com/). It raises interesting, thought-provoking points.

Yours, wherever you may be,
Daniel C. Wright

Tracy Mack, a black copy editor for the Chicago Tribune, on retiring Black History Month: "It has been said before, but it bears repeating: Black history is American history. The same could be said for all of this country's ethnic groups. These histories have intertwined to make America unique, and they deserve equal respect. To reduce these groups' contributions to just one month of stories about 'trailblazers' is ludicrous. As grateful as I am to Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X and Harriet Tubman, their stories have become obligatory sagas of Black History Month. Unlike many of the blacks in recent years who have called for an end to Black History Month, I am not a mouthpiece for conservative Republicans. And although actor Morgan Freeman has been quoted as saying that he, too, believes the month should end, I disagree with his suggestion that racism will end if we stop talking about race."

Ms. Mack continues her commentary: "Most depressing is that the majority of American students are woefully deficient in the knowledge of their history, education assessment exams have shown. In 2002, only 57 percent of 4th graders knew that differences over slavery in the North and South were one of the primary causes of the Civil War, according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress. If the goal is for Americans to have a lasting understanding of blacks' contributions to this great country, then neither Black History Month nor the current school curriculum seems to be working. It's time for a change. I don't pretend to know the complexities of setting school curricula. But I do know that black history has to be part of a larger, more thorough approach to history. If left on its own, black history might not seem important to some, and therefore, students might not enroll in the program.....At first I thought my idea to end Black History Month was unique. Carter G. Woodson had the wrong idea when he started Negro History Week in 1926, I thought. But I discovered that Woodson never intended for the week, which was renamed and turned into a monthlong celebration in 1976, to be a permanent fixture. He thought black history should be included in American history and that a month is not enough time to learn one group's significant contributions."My response: It is not an either/or situation.

Why not both?