Get Rid Of Black History Month?

[Ladeeda]

Before anyone thinks that Greenday lives in the land of Wonderful Education, I'd just like to point out my friend from Philly (a hop and a skip away) who doesn't know basic geography because his school didn't teach it outside of the Tri-State area.

FA, I'm glad that at least your school in GA has kinda figured it out. "How to not be racist" teachings don't make it far in rural Arkansas. And I went to a school that was generally better than those around it.

As far as the LGBT community goes, I think someone else pointed this out earlier, usually their accomplishments *are* listed among the others. It's just conveniently forgotten that "oh, they were gay." Oscar Wilde has been taught as a great author and playwright since his own time. But we're just now re-discovering Susan Glaspell, Rachel Crothers, Susanna Centlivre, wonderful playwrights who just so happened to have vaginas.

Some schools in the UK are including the "Oh, by the way, they were gay" parts, and it's actually cutting down on the anti-gay bullying.

[Greenday]

Before anyone thinks that Greenday lives in the land of Wonderful Education, I'd just like to point out my friend from Philly (a hop and a skip away) who doesn't know basic geography because his school didn't teach it outside of the Tri-State area.

1. Philly blows.
2. Pennsylvania isn't part of the Tri-State area. The Tri-State area is NJ, NY, and CT.

For some reason, people in the Philly area are notorious for sucking at geography. I noticed it in my history class and I've discussed it with my history teacher. He says it's like that every semester. I just don't get it. I was forced to learn every state, every state capital, and every freaking country in the world. Maybe I should just stop being amazed that other parts of the country still have so much racism that they need a whole month to focus on black history or such. Or that education in some areas is just complete trash in general.

[radiocerk]

The problem is most racism and sexism in the US these days isn't blatant. It's the internalized, insidious kind that most of the time you're not even aware of. It's the person who looks at the woman in the hospital and asks for the doctor, "knowing" that she must be a nurse or other assistant. It's seeing a Hispanic mother with two or three children, and being pleasantly surprised that her English is understandable. It's straight, white men being offended that their history classes include anything that isn't positive on the subject of straight, white men.

The extent to which history is "whitewashed" in the US is phenomenal. We don't like to think about slavery, we don't like to think about the systematic genocide of the Native peoples, and the various "uppity" women in history are considered just that, unless they predated the birth of this country, in which case they might be all right.

[Andara Bledin]

The problem is most racism and sexism in the US these days isn't blatant. It's the internalized, insidious kind that most of the time you're not even aware of.

And as long as we give them "permission" to do this by keeping blacks, women, natives, etc segregated, it's going to just keep on keeping on.

We have to stop treating them differently if we ever want people to stop treating them differently.

^-.-^

[KnitShoni]

And as long as we give them "permission" to do this by keeping blacks, women, natives, etc segregated, it's going to just keep on keeping on.

We have to stop treating them differently if we ever want people to stop treating them differently.

^-.-^

You really think getting rid of the various history/heritage months will accomplish this? This isn't like the Miss America pageant or scholarship funds, where minorities are able to apply and be considered for the same opportunities, thus there is no real need for separate race/gender based ones. There is a definite lack of lots of people's histories being taught in a very large portion of the US. That lack hasn't gone away.

[Andara Bledin]

That lack hasn't gone away.

And it doesn't have to.

After all, we have entire months devoted to just that, so we can ignore it the rest of the year.

Once upon a time it was a necessity. That time has now passed and what used to be a help has now become a hindrance.

^-.-^

[KnitShoni]

And it doesn't have to.

After all, we have entire months devoted to just that, so we can ignore it the rest of the year.

Once upon a time it was a necessity. That time has now passed and what used to be a help has now become a hindrance.

^-.-^

As I said, catch-22. These months exist because of the lack of teaching of various Americans' histories, which aren't taught in the mainstream because these months exist. They started because a lot of Americans were not included in American history. So, mainstream America wants to now say that, since we have these months, there's no reason for a lot of Americans to be included in mainstream history.

[Ladeeda]

I don't think anyone's saying we should get rid of the month's FIRST.

More like integrate the lessons so everything is being taught chronologically, so the month's themselves become redundant.

[Rapscallion]

Out of interest, who declares these months of special interest? Are these the same people who will, if they deem it necessary, declare them over and done with? If they did that, would it end?

Suspect not.

Rapscallion

[BigGiant]

As a white guy born long after the abolition of slavery, and well into the equal rights movement, I've never felt a single little tinge of guilt about slavery.


So a bunch of bad folks did a bunch of bad things to a bunch of folks a while ago. Has nothing to do with me and has no impact on how I feel.

Feeling guilty because of what other people did is pretty strange. That's like feeling guilty because a bunch of white cops beat up a black guy in L.A...I didn't do it, nor would I...so what the hell do I have to feel guilty about?

History helps us understand more fully where we are today, and how we got here. I don't see how any of it can make one feel guilty, being as they didn't take part.

BHM, WHM? Meh, doesn't bother me at all. I don't see anything wrong with focusing on all the progress that has been made (which includes how bad it was). It isn't like there isn't still more to be made.

[Eisa]

Speaking as a member of the LGBT community...hell yes, I'm pissed. In my state, I can still be fired for being something other than straight. And not even in one of those insidious ways. Nope, they can straight up tell me "You are fired because you are bi." LGBT civil rights SUCK here.

I learned in college about the slavery thing and how it was basically a political move. Certainly didn't learn it in high school. And hell, we were lucky to learn about black/women history at ALL, never mind during the specific history months. That was the only time, and even then a lot was skimmed over. It was pathetic.

[Teysa]

I remember learning about Martin Luther King Jr, Harriet Tubman, and Rosa Parks back in grade school. In fact, the first research paper I ever did was on Martin Luther King Jr, in the third grade. This was all well before Black History Month came into being. Of course, it's also been over 25 years since I was in the third grade and too much has changed since then. But, that's a fratch for another day.