Black History Month
by: Brittani Springmeyer
February is the home to Black History month. Black History is an important aspect of American History. It represents the hardships that Blacks had to go through in order to be heard. Black History month started in 1926. Black History Month, started as Negro History Week, was not taken seriously when it was first recognized in the twentieth century.
Americans owe the celebration of Black History Month to Dr. Carter G. Woodson, who is the son of former slaves. He spent his childhood working in Kentucky coal mines and enrolled into high school at the age of twenty. He graduated within two years and later went on to earn a Ph.D. from Harvard. It was then that he began to notice that most history books ignored Blacks. He also noticed that when Blacks were mentioned it spoke of the inferior social positions they were assigned at the time.
According to InfoPlease, Goodson decided that he needed to take on the challenge of getting the blacks in the History books. He did this by establishing the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (now called the Association for the Study of Afro-American Life and History) in 1915, and a year later founded the widely respected Journal of Negro History. Goodson decided that the second week because during that week were the birthdays of two very important influences on Black culture, Abraham Lincoln and Fredrick Douglass.
Of course since we live in America, we are going to fight about Black History Month. This historical month sparks an annual debate. People sometimes complain about dedicating a month to the history of one race and not all of them. They deserve their own month just as much as any other race.
When asked about the controversy that comes along with the giving of a month to a certain race, junior Heather Reine stated that "arguing about something that silly does not [have a] clear meaning since other races get so much. I think that we need to quit making a big deal about everything that happens in this world." When asked what she was thought about Black History Month, she said "I think that it is important for America that we recognize all of the hardships that the African Americans had to go through in order to get this month."
Some things that people can do to celebrate is to recognize what all had to be done in order for this month to take place. You can watch Remember the Titans which demonstrates the hardship that Coach Boone had to endure in order to teach the football team. It also reveals the difficulty that the black students had to go through in order to be involved on the white students' football team. It also represents how they were treated in these times.
When you are thinking about the other importation dates in February, such as Valentine's Day, remember what all had to be done in order for Blacks to get their month of recognition.