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

[Char-Nobyl]

I've never really enjoyed Black History Month. Being half african and raised by my single parent black mother, I was always encouraged to get involved with the culture. But for some reason every Black History Month a good majority of africans I know will use the sentence:
"I/We (or any other group terms) went through the slave trade."
It just really infuriates me how a 15 year old boy thinks that just because he great great grandfather went though frankly barbaric events he also went through them too.
It also annoys me that their aren't any history lessons based around any other cultures apart from black history month. (that i know of.) Yes, all cultures get celebrated in one way or another but most are done collectively. An entire month is given to Black people.
Although I do see that they deserve this month, don't you think it would be a good idea to let other cultures who have gone through slavery or even been wiped out completely have their few minutes of fame a year?
Yes it was racist, Yes it was terrible, Yes this is probably whites making up for what they did.
But just think... Samurais had their way of life destroyed after guns were legalized in Japan. Now they live on in the occasional crappy film. I think they deserve at least their own day if not a month or Norse Pagans... they got their religion condemned by Christianity and are no longer classed as a religion in the UK or Europe excluding their countries of origin (norway, denmark)
I know haters will hate but please do. I want to see your point of view.

I'm surprised. You put together a pretty well-structured post after a thread title that I was almost sure would end up just being the "I'm not racist but..." precursor to a decidedly racist post.

To answer your question, I think it's because slavery was really the big black mark on American history (and world history, too, but mostly America for the purposes of black history month). The samurai are all but extinct, yes, but we don't hold a day in honor of traditional knights because their livelihoods were destroyed by William the Black (creator of the longbow, if memory serves), and the Norse have that whole 'looting and pillaging' culture rather entwined with the religion, so it's tough to cut them slack for it (even if it was a totally awesome religion).

Other groups were heavily discriminated against, yes, but for blacks, it was on another level entirely. We had actual laws that classified slaves as less than human. We had 'No Irish Need Apply,' certainly, but that was just racism on an individual level, and it's safe to say that the Irish have done pretty well for themselves since then.

So yeah. It's white guilt, but to a fair degree, it's justified. However, the guilt is over how blacks were treated. It's not a gift certificate for special treatment to anyone with the right skin color in contemporary society.

 

[the_tramp]

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.

The phrase you're looking for is positive discrimination. In the same sense that a woman or a non-white person is chosen for a promotion based solely on that difference rather than them actually being better.

OT: I honestly don't know what you're supposed to 'celebrate', for want of a better word, for an entire month but I know that I was annoyed enough when Tony Blair felt the need to publicly apologise for the UK's part in the slave trade on the 200th anniversary of the end of slavery in the UK as if there were anyone left around who was affected.

 

[cobra_ky]

I've never really enjoyed Black History Month. Being half african and raised by my single parent black mother, I was always encouraged to get involved with the culture. But for some reason every Black History Month a good majority of africans I know will use the sentence:
"I/We (or any other group terms) went through the slave trade."
It just really infuriates me how a 15 year old boy thinks that just because he great great grandfather went though frankly barbaric events he also went through them too.

there's a couple ways to interpret that sentence. Jews traditionally refer to the period of enslavement in Egypt in the first person: "we too were slaves in the land of Egypt". That's not to say that Jews today are suffering the same way our ancestors did thousands of years ago. Rather, it's a way of connecting Jews to day with their cultural heritage, and engendering compassion for those who are still enslaved. Just another way of looking at it is all.

 

[Craorach]

As someone from outside the US I find the whole idea objectionable.

Any form of segregation of anything is racism. History lessons and such should be embracing all your history... especially in the US where, frankly, you don't have that much to be dealing with.

Also, anytime that someone is made to feel guilty for the percieved sins of their ancestors is one time to many. People are responsible for their own actions, and to an extent those of the generations to come, not their ancestors.

 

[MysticToast]

I heard even Morgan Freeman dislikes black history month, as do I.

 

[BodomBeachChild]

Once I got outta high school I rarely ever hear about it. When I was in school though (even in Catholic which had maybe a whole 3 black people) it was shoved down our throats.

 

[fundayz]

I've never really enjoyed Black History Month. Being half african and raised by my single parent black mother, I was always encouraged to get involved with the culture. But for some reason every Black History Month a good majority of africans I know will use the sentence:
"I/We (or any other group terms) went through the slave trade."
It just really infuriates me how a 15 year old boy thinks that just because he great great grandfather went though frankly barbaric events he also went through them too.
It also annoys me that their aren't any history lessons based around any other cultures apart from black history month. (that i know of.) Yes, all cultures get celebrated in one way or another but most are done collectively. An entire month is given to Black people.
Although I do see that they deserve this month, don't you think it would be a good idea to let other cultures who have gone through slavery or even been wiped out completely have their few minutes of fame a year?
Yes it was racist, Yes it was terrible, Yes this is probably whites making up for what they did.
But just think... Samurais had their way of life destroyed after guns were legalized in Japan. Now they live on in the occasional crappy film. I think they deserve at least their own day if not a month or Norse Pagans... they got their religion condemned by Christianity and are no longer classed as a religion in the UK or Europe excluding their countries of origin (norway, denmark)
I know haters will hate but please do. I want to see your point of view.

You would think that a black person would understand the real meaning of Black History Month.

Black history month is not so people can take credit for what their ancestors did. It's to acknowledge the suffering and persecution that african-americans suffered in the past couple of centuries. It's to honour the leaders that made equality a reality. It's to show pride in the progress that african-americans have made, going from a slave race to being president.

And yes, I think every race that has been slaved and achieved freedom should get their own month. However, no race in North America has suffered slavery as recently or as harshly as black people.

 

[Harkonnen64]

In our English class in college we had some people come in who had a presentation/activity that basically was meant to show how first impressions can affect how you think of a person/group. How it worked was they would ask a controversial question like "Should gay marriage be legalized?" and then you would go to one side of the room based on how you felt. Then one person from each group would state their case and no one else could say anything. It really wasn't as bad as it sounds and it got their point of first impressions across.

At any rate, the question (which I wasn't expecting) was "Do you think 19th century slave trade has an active or passive effect on our culture?"

I thought surely no one still thought that slavery has anything to do with anything anymore. To my surprise, I was the only one on that side of the room. And I was one of the minorities too! (Caucasian/Hispanic, though I prefer to go by AMERICAN, thank you very much...)

 

[Megabobster]

I agree wholeheartedly, Black History Month should no longer exist and should be replaced with something like 'Foreign Culture Month' which would be a month dedicated to finding out things about other cultures and creeds that you otherwise would not.

This.
Black history month is a bit of a joke, and the USA is a bit too apologetic to black people for some reason. I mean, yes, they are a different culture, but the way to get them to be part of the "normal" culture is to treat them like they're normal, not some off limits oh-if-we-don't-treat-them-extremely-nicely-they'll-call-us-racist-or-something.
I'm not racist, I just think that blacks/asians/etc. should be treated exactly like white people or w/e.
Topic for another day: black people can get scholarships just because they're black, even if they didn't come from a poor family or anything.

 

[NezumiiroKitsune]

"Black" history is a very ambiguous name, which I think it is does of an injustice to the many various cultures, of which the majority who founded and built it over many generations just happened to be black, to some degree depending on equatorial relativity, are considered the same. If anything, it seems to imply that all black persons of the world share only one heritage that can be repeatedly summed up in a memorial month through PSA's and specials on television, along with a parade (I presume; these things tend to have parades / marches).

I think more accurately what is trying to be established here is a month where the slave trade is peered at and reiterated as a bad thing where a lot of good people got hurt and abused.

I agree, slavery is a foul and evil thing and should be eradicated from the world as much as society is able (there will always be those people who don't regard human life with intrinsic value, beside monetary). I also agree, that the times it occurred, especially those most recent on an epidemic scale (and the dangerously ignored underground slavery of the modern era), should be observed, remembered, and have a place in everyone's education. This is the proper way this should be done, as is the case with all cases of extreme injustice and intolerance in human history.

It doesn't need (approximately) 5 years of my life (if I lived to 60). It won't change the past, it won't affect my stance on it, and it won't help the relatives of the people my ancestors hurt (if any did). If they're still stung by the evils of those times, I do believe they have right to be; certainly not personally but objectively as what happened was horrendous and the knowledge of what did happen might still make some people a bit mad. How they wish to deal with it is their choice, I will apologize on behalf of my ancestors (if they did anything wrong) but I won't make a sincere personal apology. I am as ardently against slavery as anyone.

As for "black culture", it should not be taught as such. Various African cultures, Jamaican cultures, South American cultures, and any other cultures which have a high, by association, black population (in that, the population consider themselves to be black) should have their heritage, struggles, creeds, and history taught alongside all other culture as it makes sense, up to high school level. After that, it should be up the individual how much further they want to take that.

So in conclusion: slightly offensive to the black communities of the world, and a cover for an entirely different, significant message. What we should have is "Slavery Acknowledgement (Time)", but not to concentrate of the evils of the past, but the current corruption in today's society, in our very own "civilised" countries. Slavery is all too real today, and affects millions of people across the world in ways most people couldn't even imagine. That needs to have a voice louder than some unsettled feelings of past injustice.

On racial equality: It is very much on it's way to being entirely true in the West and much of the rest of the world. Feeling a bit weird around people of another race, if you have grown up in small town that is racial-diversity wanting, it isn't racism. It's programmed into human nature to be wary of people who look or act differently. As long as you are tolerant and become acustomed to being in a multi-ethnic society, you are not racist. So in so much, most people now acknowledge complete racial equality.

That post was much longer than I intended it to be. I must stress though, the current slavery problem MUST be better acknowledged.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pXbaDhIMPc Love146

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2UaymytjO4 Love146 (more)

This needs to stop.

 

[Harry Mason]

Oh,good lord! Who cares! Of course, I'm still pissed that there is a Martin Luther King Jr. day and no Bayard Rustin day, so I guess I can't judge.
Jesus Christ, I love Bayard Rustin...

 

[Naeo]

I, personally, have no issue with Black History Month aside from that a month feels long. After a month, all the "important Black historical figure of today is..." and "today on our special about X Black history topic" get boring and I feel like they're rehashing the same old junk and I want to be done with it so I can get back to hearing about other and more current events. After a month, the people who legitimately care will still care, but they would anyways. Yet after a month the common people kind of lose interest. Also, it seems like the same specials or same documentaries will reliably be run each year--more than one about Martin Luther King, Jr., probably one on George Washington Carver, one on the slave trade, etc. Understanding that my point may be misconstrued, it just gets a little boring hearing the same old documentaries, same old stories. Sometimes, yes, there are ones that are either new information or a topic that is genuinely not well-known to the general populace, which is good, but by and large I get the impression it's a bit repetitive. Also, on the logic of a Black History month existing to honor Black heritage/culture or to try to right the wrongs that were done to the black community, there should be an East Asian History month, a Native American History month, and you could probably swing for an Irish and/or Eastern European history week if not month. So there's a bit of inconsistency there in my eyes.

In clearer words: I have no issue with devoting a set amount of time as "black history month/week/fortight/etc". I just think a month is a bit long and there seems to be a tendency to play the same specials or very similar ones. And I find it a bit weird that other groups who were just as much the victims of prejudice and violence--taking into consideration the sizes of their respective populations in America--don't get much of a comparable time slot, or don't get any.

Overall, I have to admit I don't pay much attention to Black History month any more. To be completely honest it's a bit boring to me at this point.

 

[CodenameVal]

does anyone know what racism is? because for some reason people seem to think that black people hating white people is "reverse racism"

sorry about the "black people" thing just couldn't think of other word

 

[Adventurer2626]

Yea I ignore it as best as I can usually. I like learning about culture but at my speed not force-feeding. It grinds on one of my pet-peeves: we're not supposed to be racist or or even acknowledge race's existence but...we're...still...supposed to recognize that race's culture? It confuses me to no end. Plus, you know, maybe that culture is outdated? Maybe African Americans and other African emigrants do other stuff nowadays? It belongs on the history channel not in the mainstream imo. Because if you keep lauding around Black History month, you need one for all the other races/cultures. And sub-cultures. Good luck. Mourn and seek to relieve the suffering of the people still alive and only remember and learn from the suffering of those past. That's my motto anyways.

 

[DevilWolf47]

Actually i think there are similar extended holidays (sorry, i lack a better word) to Black History Month for other ethnicities, it's just that they receive less publicity.
...as in a lot of members of the ethnic group don't even know about the events. Stupid really, but i've been more aware of people desperately trying to ignore historical treatment of minorities than most throughout my life.

 

[Liudeius]

No, Black History Month is worthless.
No schools actually use it to teach any African history. Even if they did, history taught in American schools needs to be greatly expanded to all races and nations.
Throughout High school I had four US history classes, all of which went over the same information.

 

[Merkavar]

i dont really think that anyone needs a month just cause of your skin colour. history should be based on achivements. so if your race didnt achieve something as great as another then why learn about it?

but if you insist on having a black history month then i think another month should be dedicated to asians and whites. you may think every month is white history month but i suggest you teach some of the lesser known white people from history. so no founding fathers or presidents, focus on people who invented the mower or first cars or something.

 

[Mavinchious Maximus]

I have no idea what that is. It sounds kind of dumb.

It is indeed really dumb. Some people got the idea of making up a holiday that lasts a entire month in america, specifically designed to try to make me feel bad for being white. It is sad that every single person being targeted by this white guilt thing have had nothing to do with slavery. Their ancestors most likely didn't have anything to do with it either.

 

[bluewolf]

I tell myself I love it because I am afraid of being racist.