The Black Snob's Annual Black History Month Post Where She Complains About Black History Month (Rants)
Friday, February 12, 2010 at 8:00AM
When I was a little girl my mother, determined that I would learn my past, my culture, my family history, etc, chased me around with books. She didn't have to run me down too hard. I loved to read and I loved history. So I sat and read whatever she gave me. Malcolm X's autobiography? Awesome. A history of kings and queens of Africa? Right on. St. Louis' own Dick Gregory's autobiography "Nigger?" Love that book. Thurgood Marshall's story in "Dream Makers, Dream Breakers?" One of my favorite books to this day. From daily lessons courtesy of Kawanzaa Kunjufu to my mother, the "militant" parent of Keeven Elementary School, fighting for an MLK Day program at my mostly black elementary school. She was determined to make sure her children (and a few other kids) got their full dose of their culture and history.
But you want to know the most amazing thing about this? She did this ALL YEAR LONG. While she observed Black History Month, every month was "Black History Month" in the Snob household. She was a former school teacher, after all. Excellent with kids and knew how to motivate you to want to learn. And so my father, begrudgingly, would give up his precious TV to let my sisters and I watch documentaries on the Underground Railroad or 16 straight-hours of "Eyes on the Prize." And I can remember Papa Snob looking upon me, as I consumed every minute, second, of Eyes on the Prize as a teen and say, "Watching this shit is going to turn you into a militant."
I was probably a "militant" in my head for all of two years while I was in college writing some of the most ANGRY BLACK LIBERAL columns in the history of my college newspaper. This was juxtaposed against my cheery, hypersensitive, "I just wanna be loved" persona, adding to everyone's confusion about me. But that's another story. I basically would piss people off, cry because people didn't agree with me, then continue to write things that pissed people off anyway.
I'm the same way now ... sans the crying and giving a shit.
So, let's just get this out the way first: I'm proud of my history, both familial and the collective history of us as African Americans. You want to watch me cry for two-straight-hours? Turn on "Glory." Or the MLK TV film. Or "Lean On Me." I will become a hot, inconsolable mess. Just thinking about "Glory" makes me want to ball my eyes out. I'm deep in this. I don't write about it a lot because, well, I like to laugh and I don't find much of our struggle "hilarious." But this is serious for me. And I take it hard.
I once dated a guy who thought black people who "allowed" themselves to be slaves were weak. And I remember, crying and screaming with him on the phone as if he'd called my mother out of her name, wondering how he could be so dismissive of the collective struggle of people who'd been oppressed long before they were even spoken into the world? How could you judge what you'd do or not do in the most intense, messed up, extreme circumstances in the world? And he went to MOREHOUSE and had this disrespectful opinion of the struggles of slaves. And he was sickly PROUD of it. He figured if Frederick Douglass could make a break for it, the millions of others were lazy slackers.
Needless to say -- we ain't together anymore.
So I say all this to only have to sadly add -- I hate Black History Month.
This is not Black History Month's fault. It tries really hard every year to get people to give a shit about Matthew Henson and Ida B. Wells and for that I love it. I love what it's trying to do. The HATE comes from the fact that despite African Americans being a part of this country since its inception and despite the fact that we helped build the damn thing on our backs and the fact that we STILL continue to shape large parts of it today that our entire history -- WHICH IS AMERICAN HISTORY -- is confined to a month.
So, here's a bit of an oldy, but goody that I wrote on Feb. 2, 1999, back when I was just Danielle C. Belton, the editor-in-chief of Southern Illinois University Edwardville's "The Alestle." Reading it I'm surprised to see that a few of the flurishes that would later blossom into "The Snob" persona are lurking, just ready to burst free in full snarky bloom. Enjoy.
Black, Once A Year, Again
I walked up to one of my friends last week and asked him how he'd been doing.
He laughed uncomfortably and said, "Still black."
With this thought in mind and this being the first week of February, I couldn't help but notice that black people were black year round, not just for a month. Yet here we are in the midst of another black history month.
It's not that I don't see a need for the month, it's just that all this could be avoided if instructors, textbook writers and historians would simply incorporate African-American history with American history. Then blackness wouldn't have to stick out like some abnormality, getting a month - and the shortest month of the year at that - to address 400 years of American history. If you can't fit 300 years of American history into two courses, how can you fit centuries of African kings and queens, the Middle Passage and African-American history into 28 days? Yet in a few public schools across America, George Washington Carver and Thurgood Marshall are all crammed in, never getting fully understood or covered. In other schools, Black History Month is ignored all together. Sadly, Carver and Marshall continue receiving the second-class citizen treatment they despised in life.
I suppose I shouldn't whine too loudly. Black History Month used to be a week. But black people aren't only black for week either. It wouldn't be so bad if all the social ramifications that come with being African-American only happened once a year, but they occur year round. Wouldn't it be nice if a sort of Black PMS came around only once a year to inconvenience, embarrass and harass? But black people never stop being black. They can assimilate. They can change their outward appearance, but they're still black - the preferred whipping boy and scapegoat of most social ills and ironies; always visible in a crowd; the minority most often seen in television advertising. And even though Latinos actually are the largest minority in America, black is the face most associated with minority in this country. This is probably because of our long tenure here and the fact that we usually scream the loudest, not because we want to, but getting justice politely just hasn't been the American way for us.
Black History Month was only supposed to be the steppingstone into historical integration. As with all other social changes engineered for equality among the races, there was resistance at first, 20 years later it became the norm. Most African-American historians hoped that eventually the white majority would see that African-Americans are just as American as they are and played an equal role in American history. Unfortunately, some things are still moving slowly. Most blacks have a hard enough time trying to gain equal footing in society. History books would have to just take a back seat when it came to an agenda of change.
Hence there is still this month, an annual reminder of how far we've come in America and how far we still have to go. The month is both a symbol of our persistence and our social segregation at the same time. We live in a time where black and white people now work together, but still don't get together very much. Many Americans were raised in racially polarized cities or small towns where the black population equaled zero. Black History Month should not be seen as a solution to a 400-year-old problem, it should be seen as a symptom.
Reader Comments (19)
Everyday is CHRISTmas & Every Nite is New Years Eve - Wink!
This is the same argument Morgan Freeman made on "60 Minutes" a couple of years ago. I can see the logic of having Black History month decades ago. Having one month (less than, actually) seems to cheapen the importance of the history. Now it's like a month-long unofficial holiday and it's entrenched. So what's the solution? Halloween is also an unofficial holiday that we will never get rid of, not that I want to. I guess Black History Month is better than no recognition of black American's contributions.
It is not the responsibility of white people to validate us. If we want more Black History, WE have got to make it happen in our communities.
I grew up watching the same programs like Eyes On The Prize and was just talking with some friends about the noticeable lack of black history programming this month compared to previous years. What I am more disturbed by is the sentiment of a lot of black folks themselves that black history is somehow irrelevant, especially our so-called "post-racial" climate. It's up to us to learn, remember and pass on the knowledge of the history ourselves, we can't rely on school systems to do it.
I love this article. You are so right, we are black every second, minute and hour of each day. I too do not like Black History month for the exact same reasons you have mentioned. Our young adults and children have no desire to know about our history. My 21 year old niece told me that the problems we speak of concerning our race no longer exist today. They have white friends that they hang out in the mall and go to clubs with. So they see the struggles that our race went through as something in the past that it does not affect us today. They look at P-Diddy, Jay Z, Beyonce, 50 cents and others black moguls, and think there is no need for us to struggle. They see the glitter and the glam that is presented on TV ( the jewels, the cars, the clothes and the homes), but still do not understand that those things were not handed to them. They had to work hard and overcome a lot of struggles to get these things and face their own racisms. I wish our young black celebrities quit glamorizing success and show the true issues they face. That there is no silver lining for us without some struggle involved.
I dissagree with you Snob. I like black history month. I actually think it gives OTHER races an opportunity to focus on and find out more about the black-american experience. For the record I am black. Though black history is given in the shortest month, it is more effective than you know--and it is an opportunity to enlighten. It is impacting and important. Further, I think there is still a lot of self loathing within the black community and until that is somehow rooted out--one cannot expect white America to embrace us more fully. Until black people start accepting each other; support those who suceed; be loyal to their own race; be unified, we as a people will always be mistreated. I want to point out that YOU snob with your post about that Ford guy is a classic hater and unsupporter of a black person. We don't have that many achieving and when they do, there's always some BLACK group/person tearing them down. So, until we as a people can learn to support and build up one another, don't go expecting white american television to do so. In addition, since the country is predominantly white I think it would be unrealistic to expect more than a month--I for one am glad for it. After all, there is no American Indian month...Just sayin'! Love your blog by the way--excellent. Keep up the good work!
I never felt comfortable with having a designated Black History Month. Why take one month to cram in our accomplishments when we can use the entire year to gently infuse them into the normative society. We'd probably get a larger audience that way. People have a tendency to ignore information when they feel forced to pay attention.
I agree about the young people of today and also with the comment about black celebrities and moguls. Somehow the idea of hard work to get to where you want to be has been lost. We (and I use this as a collective we) want to wait for someone else to open the door instead of being the one to open it.
The problem with Black History Month is that too many people think it's for black people. It's not. It's for non blacks who think "We're post racial now" and "all of this was SO VERY LONG AGO" and "shouldn't we be over this by now?" and my favorite "What have blacks actually contributed, like, to the world, like, what's the POINT of them?" as a boy who was a friend and who actually wanted to be more asked me when I was 18, and didn't yet have the tool set to point out to him that because he was white (and had, therefore, better and more pervasive PR), no one would ever ever ask him that, and that this was a fairly significant thing.
I disagree that Black History month confines Black Americans contribution to one month, we (or rather some) choose to confine it to that one month, your parents didn't confine it to one month and neither did mine, However, some children get absolutely no history Black or otherwise from their parents, so if one month dedicated to Black history sparks one child's (or person's) interest to find out more about themselves and the contributions of Blacks then it is needed.
Also Black history month has gotten other groups to get a month of their own.
March - Women's History Month, Irish American History Month, Greek-American Heritage Month
May - Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month, Jewish American Heritage Month
September - Hispanic Heritage Month
October - National German Heritage Month, Italian-American Heritage Month
November - Native American Heritage Month
I agree azul. I also find it interesting folk (not directed at Danielle necessarily) always want to criticize and get rid of Black History Month...but I never hear that same argument for those other months you noted. Not to mention we have months observing Domestic violence, Cancer, etc...just because we make an subject the "spotlight" of one month..doesn't necessarily "cheapen" its value...
also when people rant against black history month..its shows they don't know their history..February wasn't
just some random month pick to celebrate our history...Carter G Woodson picked it because:
"Woodson chose the second week of February to celebrate Negro History Week because that week included the birthdays of two important men: President Abraham Lincoln (February 12) and Frederick Douglass (February 14). When Negro History Week turned into Black History Month in 1976, the celebrations during the second week of February expanded to the entire month of February"
He did this to honor two men he thought contributed to the progression of black folks...
I personally don't see what the big deal is..I mean it's like should we get rid of Martin Luthers King's birthday
because "we have overcome" lol
I agree with azul and TJ. Black History Month is still important because so much of our history was earsed and overlooked. It still is. And Yes Carter G. Woodson picked a week in Feburary for a good reason like TJ said. It was changed to a month much later. Woodson would have known this would happen. Seeing that he wasn't a time traveler. If he was he mostly would have picked a longer month. The fact that black people don't know this actually proves the need for Black History Month.
@ TJ, Azul, Melody, et al
Obviously there's a need for the month because we're largely excluded from history texts. My point was that we shouldn't be excluded and that we're an integral part of United States history and to relegate something as BIG as our role in the development of this country is tragic. I'm not saying get rid of BHM and have nothing. I'm saying I hate that for most people that's what is -- a marginalized month were for five minutes people discuss black history then go back to never discussing it again.
As per cancer awareness month, that's a little different than a history month. I have the same beef with women's history month. I get why it exists, but that is also tragic. Women only make up more than half this country, also helped build this country and women too find their history segregated and marginalized. Obviously there is a need to integrate that history as well.
So, I'm not saying anywhere in this piece "Abolish Black History Month" because I know without it most people wouldn't learn anything about black people. My story was more about the tragedy of having your history, my history, American history, boiled down to a month and people just being content with that. Love the month for what it's trying to do, but the reality is most public schools do VERY little during black history month and most black people are lacking in their history because -- surprise, surprise -- almost everyone in this country learns their history through the public school system and the public school system kinda blows at teaching anything but boilerplate. Everybody isn't my mother. Most people just park their kids in front of a TV, send them to public school and pray for the best. So, outside of ... I dunno ... the black church taking a greater lead in educating black people about their history year-round and a larger push to have our textbooks reflect the contributions all Americans have made -- and not just white men of a certain stature -- the month will just have to do.
That doesn't mean I have to be happy about settling.
I guess we're the lucky ones. I haven't heard of Mexican History Month, Native American History Month or Japanese History Month. We have to be grateful, I suppose. Woo-hoo! We be so lucky! Hee, hee
LMAO. Yours is an excellent, excellent post. I've had a personal beef with Black History MONTH for a very long time. Black History Month is the equivalent of the big bang theory. As if Black folks just poof came from out of the void, a few things happened (slavery, Harrient Tubman, George Carver Washington, Martin Luther King Jr, Malcolm X, civil rights) and poof nothing afterward. As long as I'm Black, EVERY month is Black History Month. Black folks overcome and do miraculous things every damn day, and I'm not confining my celebrating any of that to one friggin month out of the year and one of the crappiest (weather-wise) on top of that!
Black history certainly deserves more than a month; however, I like the idea of one month to spotlight recent news makers, such as the recently-won case of Sophie Stewart against the corporate media giant AOL-Time Warner for copyright infringement involving "The Matrix" series which Ms. Stewart wrote and received no credit--or money--for. Another news maker is the "other" Tuskegee story involving a black woman named Henrietta Lacks whose DNA was taken without her or her family's knowledge and used to produce a series of groundbreaking medical discoveries. (Her story is the subject of a recently-released book).
Let's not simply discard the month. I don't hear such clamor coming from feminists, the gay community, or the poets regarding their special months!!
Next thing you know there will be a left handed persons history month. Just what we need to go along with all the other history/heritage months.
While I think Black History Month is important, I dread seeing it roll around only because it seems to bring out the ignorance of a lot of whites who simply can't understand why blacks are singled out to have a month that celebrates our history, which consequently raises my blood pressure a couple of notches. Sometimes I grow weary of explaining that maybe if we occupied our rightful place in the annals of American History from the gate, Black History Month wouldn't be necessary.
This usually leads to other questions such as why blacks have BET and how there is no WET, why blacks have black beauty pageants, HBCUs, etc. I grow weary of explaining that we have all these things because in the not so long ago, we were excluded from participating in the things they took for granted. Don't hate us because we established our own. What is amazing to me is that whites can't see what is right in front of them. We have BET, they have PT or prime time. Whites occupy all the major networks and most all of the cable stations. We have BET and everyone is upset. I don't see anyone complaining about the stations that are Latino, Asian or for the gay community. There was a time when Rule no. 7 of the Ms. America Pageant excluded non-white women. So we established our own beauty pageants.
The other drawback with having our history relegated to one month is that it appears as if our history somehow happened separately, when in fact, our histories are intertwined.
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