Am I the only person who doesn't like Black History Month?

[Zetsubou^-^]

i agree that it doesn't really add anything beneficial. if any thing it just pissed me off having to hear/read about slavery and black oppression in school (for several years), and then be constantly reminded of it every feb. you can't even get away at home because they show stuff on tv every commercial.

if my ancestors participated in slavery, i will say i certainly don't condone it, and i probably wouldn't do it if it was allowed again, but i cannot and will not be held responsible for my ancestry or my race's past. i refute the notion that sin or bad deeds passes along bloodline, because its just petty. slavery has been outlawed since the end of the civil war, and racial equality has been a protected right since the 60's. the only reason anyone still thinks this is relevant is because people keep touting past events and making lines between races. personally i hate that race is defined as a separation of color or features in humans. its a shame there aren't any humanoid races besides us, because then human color wouldn't matter anymore and the word race could have a more significant purpose.

PS:as far as im concerned the only allowable slavery is of pokemon. =D

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

I'm with Morgan Freeman. It's carefully compartmentalizing emotions into specific days for maximum sales.

Possibly it should start with looking real hard at the name Black History and not just sugar coating it, but chucking it out completely and looking at where Africa (and all the other nations deemed to be "Black") have influenced and changed our modern world.

Then they should do the same for the rest of the cultures (Is there a John Logie Baird day? I think he managed to do something quite important....)

And not just leave it standing there with a Trollbait name.

 

[Klarinette]

I remember in seventh grade, it was a super huge deal for some reason, just that year. There were a lot of readings and assignments about it and I kind of sat there like, "Okay..."

I really didn't know what else to think besides:
-Slavery sucked
-Harriet Tubman was a badass
-Rosa Parks' proverbial balls were huge

If that's all they were trying to say, I totally got it.

 

[DesiPrinceX09]

I never notice anything about black history month, when is that anyways? Not that I care much (no offense to anyone). But I recall there some kind of Asian history month or week or maybe that was wishful thinking. But yeah the idea of b.h.m is kind of silly, I mean I am of Indian/Pakistani descent and you don't see the English making an Indian history month for us out of guilt (because most of us have long gotten over it and we didn't ask for it).

 

[Brandon237]

Tip for Life: You're never the only person.

EDIT: (To add some sort of content to my post) I agree, Black History month is basically reverse racism. It, from what I've seen, does more harm than good.

I agree with you here on all but semantics. Racism is racism, it is not reverse racism, when one race is favoured or oppressed, you have racism. It is not reverse because of who is at which end of the stick.

Sorry, just a point that I get annoyed with living in a country where the balance of power and racism shifts every two damn decades and where the politicians can be such racist idiots sometimes.

OP: I do think a month is excessive, and yes it could be seen as racism, but leave it be until it does harm.

And an interesting thing many people forget: Calling someone racist based solely on the colour of their skin is, in itself, a racist comment that should be brought to attention.
Finally: The past is the past, look forward, learn from the mistakes of the past, but do not dwell on them and remake them. Preferential treatment to make up for preferential treatment in the past is NOT the solution.

 

[Mrsoupcup]

Do I win?
I'm indifferent on the topic, I have yet to see people really protest it.

Well that and it doesn't apply to me since I'm white :/...

 

[Gigano]

Well, that whole slavery and civil rights thing seems a substantial enough part of both older and contemporary American history that it'll be academically justified to focus on it for quite a while yet.

It's like people complaining about gay pride parades.

Except those aren't publicly funded, and thus there's no legitimate interest in discussing whether or not they should exist. What the focus of public education should be - and whether it's ideologically neutral enough - is however something that can and should always be up for debate.

 

[Gxas]

I agree with you here on all but semantics. Racism is racism, it is not reverse racism, when one race is favoured or oppressed, you have racism. It is not reverse because of who is at which end of the stick.

I agree. I only made the distinction because many people don't see the difference. Many people I know don't consider favoring as racism.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

I mean I am of Indian/Pakistani descent and you don't see the English making an Indian history month for us out of guilt (because most of us have long gotten over it and we didn't ask for it).

There's a strange sort of acceptance here.

Who's actually ripping on who?

 

[Dr. wonderful]

Well, being Black I can speak for this topic.

Get over yourself. As far as I can see, it's more of a remembrance then a whole "make whitey feel guilty" Month. It's basically saying "look toward the future but always remember the past."

Do I like Black history month?
No.
Dp I respect it?
Yes.

 

[C95J]

Morgan Freeman doesn't like Black History month either, and for some valid reasons as well. I sort of agree with him as well, he is a smart man.

 

[Ben Simon]

It never affected me that much, so I never really thought about it.

 

[Dagnius]

I think it's good to for people to be able to learn about other cultures' history and how they influence the modern world, But personally I don't like Black History Month because during that month, all of the black students (~55% of the total students) seemed to think they owned the place. Racist remarks, Terrible comments, and so on and when/if anyone said anything about it they'd scream racist and say it's 'their month'. I just don't understand how something Good, like learning about another's culture, turned into basically 'black power' month... At least where I live (small town southern USA)

Senior year I actually took an African American History course as my 8th period class at the end of the day (Idk how I got put in there, I didn't sign up for it but I didn't mind it)... The teacher was lazy, and most of the students were white, and needless to say... we spend almost the entire year watching Roots and Madea/other Black Comedies... (I just read Wheel of Time books or did what little homework needed to be done).

 

[Johnnyallstar]

Tip for Life: You're never the only person.

EDIT: (To add some sort of content to my post) I agree, Black History month is basically reverse racism. It, from what I've seen, does more harm than good.

Tip for Life: Hyperbole is a perfectly acceptable use of the English language and you should really stop being so literal.

And no, OP. You aren't alone. Morgan Freeman doesn't like it, either.


Now, I normally hate "/thread", but...Come on. It's Morgan fucking Freeman. [/thread]

That's a perfect response to the whole idea of "---- History Month" because now La Raza has pushed through a "Hispanic History Month" and the whole idea of having some month delegated to one particular race is racism. If I want to learn about the history of a certain heritage, I'll do it, if I don't, I won't.

It's one of those "good intentions" that lead to the results it was specifically trying to avoid.

 

[CommanderKirov]

You know what would be awesome? Poland history month.

It would be a time when all the Polish people point fingers IN EVERY DIRECTION POSSIBLE and say "At one point in the history you guys ganged up on us and took our country apart in 3 to 1 fight. Repeatably. PROUD OF YOURSELF?"

 

[Amondren]

Well, there's the entire KKK. I'm sure they're not too keen on it.

This says it all. I don't mind learning about history so I have no problem with it.

 

[tthor]

I agree with you completely

 

[CM156_v1legacy]

You know what would be awesome? Poland history month.

It would be a time when all the Polish people point fingers IN EVERY DIRECTION POSSIBLE and say "At one point in the history you guys ganged up on us and took our country apart in 3 to 1 fight. Repeatably. PROUD OF YOURSELF?"

That's us wacky Germans.
(Really, sorry that my kin invaded ya'll)

OT: IT wasn't to bad at my old high school. The teachers would not put up with people claming it was "their month". It did cause some tension though.

 

[Raskolnikov34]

Meh, I think people should just forget about the whole thing...its over, and frankly now people are more racist towards whites than anyone else.