# Why Black History Month? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [February 1, 2003, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-black-history-month/152114 "2003-02-01T16:57:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![0rbytal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/0/65b543/32.png) [@0rbytal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/0rbytal)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2003, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-black-history-month/152114/1 "2003-02-01T16:57:10Z")
If this has been addressed before, Mods feel free to close this thread, because I didn’t find it from running a search. I feel it is quite racist to have a Black History Month (February) and not acknowledge the other races in the U.S. as well! I would like to propose designating each month as a \_\_\_\_\_ History Month. Or just revoke the Black History Month. How could I go about bringing this into action? Just as my own proposal how about: January = Chinese History Month Febuary = Black History Month March = Russian History Month April = White History Month May = Spanish History Month June = Native Amrican History Month July = Japanese History Month August = German History Month September = Italian History Month October = Arab History Month November = French History Month December = Pacific Islander History Month What do you think? ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2003, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-black-history-month/152114/2 "2003-02-01T17:15:21Z")
Actually “BlacK History Month” isn’t the only minority-appreciation month. September is Hispanic Heritage Month. March is Women’s History Month. There’s even a Jewish History Month, but I can’t seem to remember when it is. Check this out: [http://www3.kumc.edu/diversity/ethnic\_relig/ethnic.html](http://www3.kumc.edu/diversity/ethnic_relig/ethnic.html) You’re new here, which is wonderful, but for the future, try doing a google search before you make such a vehement argument. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2003, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-black-history-month/152114/3 "2003-02-01T17:18:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by 0rbytal \* > \*\* > I feel it is quite racist to have a Black History Month (February) and not acknowledge the other races in the U.S. as well! > > I would like to propose designating each month as a \_\_\_\_\_ History Month. > \*\* I distinctly remember Hispanic, Native American, and Asian History Months from my days in public school. Considering that white history makes up the bulk of most public primary and secondary history courses, this pretty well covers the US’s major racial groups. Nominally, that is. Most schools still do a wretched job of teaching non-white history, no matter what special months are technically observed. > [@](#): > > \*\* > Or just revoke the Black History Month. > \*\* It’s nice that you’re willing to admit your real goal. So many people would have been ashamed and tried to hide the fact that they don’t think African-American history merits even a celebration that exists in little more than name alone. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2003, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-black-history-month/152114/4 "2003-02-01T17:22:28Z")
Also, one could argue that Black History Month (or any of the minority-appreciation months) is racist, but in another way. I know that if it hadn’t been for Black History Month, I would have not known anything about the contributions of black Americans growing up. This is outrageous; it shouldn’t take a “special” event for all our history to be appreciated. What happens is that people start believing that Black History isn’t American History, and that what we learn in regular history classes is what’s most important. The same goes for Women’s History. You shouldn’t have to major in Women’s Studies in order to learn about women’s history, but sadly this subject is viewed as peripheral to history as a whole. ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2003, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-black-history-month/152114/5 "2003-02-01T17:27:09Z")
Black History Month isn’t a “special acknowledgement” of black people’s achievement’s above those of other people’s but a remediation of neglect. The story of black people in America has been largely omitted form the history books and popualr culture. Blakc people have been on this continent as long as white folks have been, yet their story has been omitted form the history books, apart from a causal mention of George Washington Carver and Harriet Tubman. Even movies that depict the civil rights struggles of the 1960s or the slavery era or the Civil War focus on the white folks, leaving the black people as mere window dressing. Black History Month is opening a long-closed door into our past and our present as well. ---
**Author:** ![erislover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/71e660/32.png) [@erislover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erislover)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2003, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-black-history-month/152114/6 "2003-02-01T18:21:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Lamia \* > \*\*It’s nice that you’re willing to admit your real goal. So many people would have been ashamed and tried to hide the fact that they don’t think African-American history merits even a celebration that exists in little more than name alone. \*\* Whoa. That seems to be jumping to conclusions a bit, doesn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2003, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-black-history-month/152114/7 "2003-02-01T18:22:19Z")
> [@](#): > > I didn’t find it from running a search. Oh, we’ve mentioned it a time or two. (Which is not to say that we can’t go around it again. We tend to do this each February, avoiding it last year only through the untimely disruption of our Winter of Our Missed Content.) [Black history… “MONTH”?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=7732) Feb. 2000 [Black History Month is DISCRIMINATORY and RACIST!!](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=59901) Feb. 2001 ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2003, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-black-history-month/152114/8 "2003-02-01T18:29:15Z")
Anyone find it interesting that Black History Month is the shortest of the months? ---
**Author:** ![erislover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/71e660/32.png) [@erislover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erislover)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2003, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-black-history-month/152114/9 "2003-02-01T18:38:42Z")
Not really. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2003, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-black-history-month/152114/10 "2003-02-01T18:43:53Z")
Gobear wrote: > [@](#): > > Black History Month isn’t a “special acknowledgement” of black people’s achievement’s above those of other people’s but a remediation of neglect. Once the neglect has been remediated, will Black History Month be rescinded? ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2003, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-black-history-month/152114/11 "2003-02-01T19:00:29Z")
> [@](#): > > Once the neglect has been remediated, will Black History Month be rescinded? Sure. Judging by posts on this topic in the past, that day will arrive in eight or twelve decades, or a bit later. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2003, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-black-history-month/152114/12 "2003-02-01T19:30:48Z")
It started as Black History Week and was then expanded into Black History Month. The fact that it takes place in the shortest month is solely due to the activities of the parents of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass, whom both ended up having children born in February. And it’s not like this is a government-sanctioned decision (although I’m pretty sure there are resolutions passed in Congress about this now). It was started by a group of African-American historians. And it was Negro History Week or Black History Week until 1976, when the Association for the Study of African-American Life and History decided to promote for a full month (which likely had something to do with the Bicentennial.) If anyone wishes to make May “My Family’s Personal History Month”, you can do it. Just be sure to send out a lot of promotional flyers to school districts to get them to go along with it. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2003, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-black-history-month/152114/13 "2003-02-01T19:41:18Z")
The sad thing is, that there is a real need for Black History Month. Of course, that doesn’t mean that black history is separate from American history-it all ties in together. However, it’s not racist, it’s a specific area of study. For example, we don’t just study “History”, or even just “American History.” There’s early American history, history of American society, culture, pop culture, military history, etc. So why is it racist to designate a month to one area of American history? ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2003, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-black-history-month/152114/14 "2003-02-01T19:46:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by tomndebb \* > \*\*Sure. Judging by posts on this topic in the past, that day will arrive in eight or twelve decades, or a bit later. \*\* I see. So, your “Native American” month will remediate the slavery and historical slander of Indians in about what, five hundred years or so? ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2003, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-black-history-month/152114/15 "2003-02-01T20:02:21Z")
> [@](#): > > I see. So, your “Native American” month will remediate the slavery and historical slander of Indians in about what, five hundred years or so? If someone invests more energy into promoting the indian perspective of the conquest and subsequent injustices, it could happen in a hundred years or so. I don’t see anyone promoting such a similar program in the way that I see the black community promoting the dissemination of their historical record. This is not a government program, but a promotion by the people who feel that the information needs to be spread. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2003, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-black-history-month/152114/16 "2003-02-01T20:07:35Z")
You might be surprised to learn that the [Council of Indian Nations](http://www.cinprograms.org/) and other Indian groups have worked for years at trying to bring attention to their plight and to the historical record. However, inasmuch as their population was decimated and they were seized from their homes and sent to barren reservations where they’ve lived for generations under a semi-automous institutionalized segregation, they lack the political clout to be heard. Their cause is neither popular nor politically expedient. The news media decide for themselves what information will be spread. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2003, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-black-history-month/152114/17 "2003-02-01T20:15:45Z")
> [@](#): > > The news media decide for themselves what information will be spread. So, are tyou suggesting that blacks stop making their case because indians have been (so far) unsuccessful in making theirs? ---
**Author:** ![Mothchunks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a587f6/32.png) [@Mothchunks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mothchunks)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2003, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-black-history-month/152114/18 "2003-02-01T20:18:43Z")
We’ll need an Irish history month in there, thank you. Better yet, let’s not celebrate which color skin we were born with as this sounds rather assanine, like celebrating whether one’s navel is an “innie” or an “outie.” We could have a month for Star-Bellied Sneetches and one for those with No Stars. C’mon, they already have Kwanzaa for everyone else to ignore. Which month should we celebrate illegal immigrants? How about a month where anyone, of any color, who doesn’t like the US gets a free ticket back to the homeland of their ancestors. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2003, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-black-history-month/152114/19 "2003-02-01T20:25:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by erislover \* > \*\*Whoa. That seems to be jumping to conclusions a bit, doesn’t it? \*\* If **0rbytal** feels that my interpretation of his position is inaccurate, he is perfectly free to say so. ---
**Author:** ![ranwashingt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@ranwashingt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ranwashingt)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2003, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-black-history-month/152114/20 "2003-02-01T20:27:07Z")
## 0rbytal Why Black History Month? Hopefully it was instituted as a national nod to the abysmal historic repression suffered by a contigent of fellow Americans. What perplexes is the irritation some derive from this little tool of inclusion, as if it is just another design to cram unwarrented racial guilt down the throats of the non- African ancestered …all, of whom (except for a number of indentured servants) arrived on the American shores of their own free will. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-black-history-month/152114.md?page=2)