# Morgan Freeman: Black History Month "Ridiculous" \[corrected title\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [December 20, 2005, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/morgan-freeman-black-history-month-ridiculous-corrected-title/336374 "2005-12-20T00:30:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![EvilHamsterOnCrack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3ab097/32.png) [@EvilHamsterOnCrack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilHamsterOnCrack)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2005, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/morgan-freeman-black-history-month-ridiculous-corrected-title/336374/1 "2005-12-20T00:30:06Z")
I’m surprised there hasn’t been a GD or pit thread about this yet, (unless I missed it), so I thought I’d point it out to the dopers of the world. [Morgan Freeman on 60 minutes](http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=15769421&BRD=2038&PAG=461&dept_id=230617&rfi=6) I have to say I agree with him. It’s what I’ve been saying forever. It makes sense, at least to me. ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2005, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/morgan-freeman-black-history-month-ridiculous-corrected-title/336374/2 "2005-12-20T00:38:45Z")
I think the title should read Morgan Freeman, not Denzel Washington. I couldn’t find any reference to Denzel in the article. I’m not sure about black history month to be honest. I think it does help bring attention to history that has traditionally been ignored. However I agree with Freeman, that all things considered, it’d be better if black history was just viewed as American history. I do feel that separating black history out sort of differentiates it from American history in general, which I don’t think is a good thing. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2005, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/morgan-freeman-black-history-month-ridiculous-corrected-title/336374/3 "2005-12-20T00:40:26Z")
What does Denzel have to do with this? ---
**Author:** ![EvilHamsterOnCrack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3ab097/32.png) [@EvilHamsterOnCrack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilHamsterOnCrack)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2005, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/morgan-freeman-black-history-month-ridiculous-corrected-title/336374/4 "2005-12-20T00:44:06Z")
Crap. I meant to say Morgan Freeman, as I said in the actual discussion. And in my head popped Denzel Washington. Wow. Now I feel like a racist prick, especially considering the topic of this discussion. Can a mod make the necessary changes? ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2005, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/morgan-freeman-black-history-month-ridiculous-corrected-title/336374/5 "2005-12-20T00:53:08Z")
Oh man, I’m blushing on your behalf here. Mods: don’t you _dare_ change that thread title! It’s priceless. ---
**Author:** ![Taran](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/edb3f5/32.png) [@Taran](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taran)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2005, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/morgan-freeman-black-history-month-ridiculous-corrected-title/336374/6 "2005-12-20T00:56:19Z")
I’ve never given Black History Month much thought, but Morgan Freeman is making sense to me. I’m not sure that I agree with his broader point about avoiding racial labels, though; that makes it impossible to discuss racism and I don’t think we’re to the point where we can leave race issues alone and see them wither, rather than thrive. ---
**Author:** ![Scylla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@Scylla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scylla)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2005, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/morgan-freeman-black-history-month-ridiculous-corrected-title/336374/7 "2005-12-20T01:04:23Z")
Denzel is pretty cool, though. ---
**Author:** ![EvilHamsterOnCrack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3ab097/32.png) [@EvilHamsterOnCrack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilHamsterOnCrack)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2005, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/morgan-freeman-black-history-month-ridiculous-corrected-title/336374/8 "2005-12-20T01:08:12Z")
> [@Taran](#): > > I’ve never given Black History Month much thought, but Morgan Freeman is making sense to me. I’m not sure that I agree with his broader point about avoiding racial labels, though; that makes it impossible to discuss racism and I don’t think we’re to the point where we can leave race issues alone and see them wither, rather than thrive. While I agree with you somewhat in that we are not to the point that we can leave race issues alone, I believe there are some points where we can let those issues just die already. For example, I don’t believe that black literature is being opressed in literature class. In most high school American literature classes, they will often read works by many authors, some of them asian, white, black, latino, etc, and when it comes time for black history month, focus specifically on the black literature of America. While it is true that for many years it wasn’t taught, it IS taught today. If black literature in America is say, 15% of American literature/history, what is wrong with teaching it as 15% of the class, as opposed to giving it special significance above the literature of any other culture that makes up our rich history. I realize I’m getting off topic, but I believe that the two topics are interconnected. –PS-- :smack: :smack: :smack: I still can’t believe I did that. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2005, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/morgan-freeman-black-history-month-ridiculous-corrected-title/336374/9 "2005-12-20T01:35:05Z")
> [@EvilHamsterOnCrack](#): > > Crap. I meant to say Morgan Freeman, as I said in the actual discussion. And in my head popped Denzel Washington. Wow. Now I feel like a racist prick, especially considering the topic of this discussion. > > Can a mod make the necessary changes? I thought seriously about busting your stones and calling you racist and accusing you of thinking that all black actors look alike. But I have found that people rarely know when I’m kidding, and so I decided not to. ---
**Author:** ![newcrasher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b3f665/32.png) [@newcrasher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/newcrasher)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2005, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/morgan-freeman-black-history-month-ridiculous-corrected-title/336374/10 "2005-12-20T01:42:14Z")
> [@Scylla](#): > > Denzel is pretty cool, though. He’s a black actor. So is Morgan Freeman. Black Black Black Every day. Every month… ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2005, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/morgan-freeman-black-history-month-ridiculous-corrected-title/336374/11 "2005-12-20T01:58:48Z")
He was fabulous in _In The Heat Of The Night_. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2005, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/morgan-freeman-black-history-month-ridiculous-corrected-title/336374/12 "2005-12-20T02:21:44Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > He was fabulous in _In The Heat Of The Night_. Also “Beverly Hills Cop.” ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2005, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/morgan-freeman-black-history-month-ridiculous-corrected-title/336374/13 "2005-12-20T02:34:19Z")
And as the film maker in _King Kong_. ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2005, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/morgan-freeman-black-history-month-ridiculous-corrected-title/336374/14 "2005-12-20T02:44:35Z")
:dubious: Morgan Freeman is a very fine actor. But Easy Reader’s no scholar. If he thinks racist attitudes can be stopped by dropping racial labels, or that the ethnic history of African-Americans will be given adequate exploration in the pages of even an average history text book or a state’s curriculum, he’s as deluded as the pimp he played in STREET SMARTS. ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2005, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/morgan-freeman-black-history-month-ridiculous-corrected-title/336374/15 "2005-12-20T03:04:16Z")
I disagree with Morgan Freeman on this one. I think Black History Month is wonderful. I wish every month we could focus on, and celebrate, a different aspect of our history. Today’s history classes are much more diverse-- BHM is _not_ the only time in which African American contributions to our culture are discussed. Nor is it indicating that black history is somehow “seperate” or “different” from American history-- it’s just a time when it’s brought into special prominence. I don’t think the solution to racial problems is to ignore them. It’s impossible that lables would ever dissapear because it’s a fundamental aspect of humans that we put others into categories. Nor can we ever eliminate discrimination, because that, too, seems to be an inherent aspect of human societies. (If discrimination on basis of skin color becomes taboo, people switch to other aspects, like weight, or wealth, or education, etc.) All we can do is try to educate people, to make them aware of their predjudices in hopes that they can try to overcome them. ---
**Author:** ![Mehitabel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@Mehitabel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mehitabel)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2005, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/morgan-freeman-black-history-month-ridiculous-corrected-title/336374/16 "2005-12-20T03:07:00Z")
I didn’t see the interview, but he wasn’t one of those who thought that “The Man” grudgingly “gave” the shortest month of the year to blacks, without knowing that the month was chosen by the black Professor [Charles G. Woodson](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_History_Month) because it had Washington, Lincoln, Douglass, and Langston Hughes’ birthdays, was he? That always bugs me. I dunno. In the early 70s the black experience seemed to have been integrated (sorry) into the curriculum without much fuss in my school, with the stories of Sojourner Truth and Douglass and Harriet Tubman taught mixed in with their historical periods, right alongside Robert E. Lee and Lincoln and all. We also learned about black cowboys, lynchings, the Tuskegee Airmen, etc. without anybody thinking it was a big deal. Guess Morgan missed that, which is weird since he was in NY at the time and part of that whole proto-multi-culti educational movement. Of course, I was in NYC being taught by a mix of aging Jewish liberal dowagers and overgrown tree-hugging hippies; your school system MV. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![newcrasher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b3f665/32.png) [@newcrasher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/newcrasher)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2005, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/morgan-freeman-black-history-month-ridiculous-corrected-title/336374/17 "2005-12-20T03:22:09Z")
> [@Lissa](#): > > I wish every month we could focus on, and celebrate, a different aspect of our history. …for example… ---
**Author:** ![Mehitabel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@Mehitabel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mehitabel)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2005, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/morgan-freeman-black-history-month-ridiculous-corrected-title/336374/18 "2005-12-20T03:28:59Z")
I gotcha Months right [here.](http://www.fedcivilrights.org/www.fedcivilrights.org/Themes.html) Ya got yer Asian and Pacific Islander Month, yer Hispanic month (which starts in the middle of September for some reason), yer Women’s Month, yer Jewish Heritage…uh…Week, yer American Indian Month, and so on. Complete with links to the 2005 White House Proclamations of same, if applicable. It’s not the best-designed site but ya gotta love how the Pride Month is in pink. ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2005, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/morgan-freeman-black-history-month-ridiculous-corrected-title/336374/19 "2005-12-20T03:35:11Z")
> [@newcrasher](#): > > …for example… **Mehitabel** helpfully provided a list. Perhaps I should have been clearer: some groups have months are already designated-- I wish that they could all get the kind of attention given to Black History Month. Of course, not all groups have a month designated. I suggest we take, say, January, and make it a “revolving” month that would celebrate a new aspect of our history each year. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2005, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/morgan-freeman-black-history-month-ridiculous-corrected-title/336374/20 "2005-12-23T19:57:32Z")
Yup, I agree with Mr. Freeman. Any good, thoughtful study of American history will necessarily cover the many contributions and irreplaceable role of blacks. Reagan and Ah-nuld were actors who ran for public office; so should Freeman. Watch him in “Glory” (in which Denzel appeared, FWIW) or “Deep Impact” (in which Freeman plays the President) and tell me he wouldn’t pull in votes by the boatload. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/morgan-freeman-black-history-month-ridiculous-corrected-title/336374.md?page=2)