Black Heritage Month
It's February, Black Heritage Month, and yes, I have a problem with it.
(Hold on, Vent-- Don't hurt me, yet.)
I have several complaints about Black Heritage Month. And they are all ways to make it better. So, for the sake of organization, I will present the issue I have with Black Heritage Month, and then the solution.
February.Let's start with the month itself. February? You have got to be kidding me! To name February as Black Heritage Month is a slap in the face to every minority in this nation. In case you haven't noticed, February is the shortest month of the year. Does that not say to you-- well, we think they deserve recognition, but they don't deserve a full month?
Solution: Give Black Heritage Month a full 31-day month to celebrate the history of the heritage of these people-- they fought the All-American fight. Now, if you are going to change what month is Black Heritage Month, you have to move it up. It would send a terrible message to not have Black Heritage Month for 16 months. So, January shold become Black Heritage Month... 31 days, and as an added bonus, it falls right in line with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.
Omaha.OK, I live in Omaha, Nebraska. (Not by choice.) For those who don't know, Omaha is the birth place of Malcom Little-- you might know him better as Malcom X. OK, so he lived here for like a year. Still, Omaha was a hotbed for racial tension. And I am sensing a little hostility, still. Why do I say that? I grew up in suburban Chicago. And I remember, the local television stations would drop in 15-30 second sweepers recognizing Black Heritage Month-- specifically WGN, but each station had them. Yet, Omaha has nothing. It's almost like Black Heritage Month means nothing to the local media. That is just plain wrong. Somebody needs to be fired over that.
Solution: Plain and simple, More recognition from the local media. At least once an hour, it needs to be recognized. I'm sure the idiot rednecks who happen to live in Nebraska will be offended-- who cares, they offend me, and they offend every minority with their very presence. This id not a celebration to be overlooked-- for every sweeper NBC runs about their coverage of the Olympics, they need something for Black Heritage Month.
The Name.Considering some of the options, I have little problem with the title Black Heritage Month-- but my issue is that it singles out people by appearance. I don't agree with that, but I also know it could be much worse. I'm sure there are many people who drop the N-word in reference to Black Heritage Month. But those of you who know me also know I hate PC-isms. Think about it, here we are attempting not to offend people in what we call then, and yet we continue to segregate in our words. I do not like the term African-American because we tend to focus on the African part of the term. We should focus on the American part. But, you also can't use African-American in asociation with this celebration because not everyone who is of African decent is black. You know who I'm talking about-- the Afrikaners, the people who took advantage of the natives of Africa. What about the Apartheids? Absolutely no reason to include them in this-- NONE.
Solution: As I mentioned, I'd prefer not to refer to people by their appearance. Though, I think it is among the safest titles. But, consider this-- what is Black Heritage about? What were spirituals about? Why did Lincoln emancipate the slaves? What is the overlying theme of Black Heritage? The answer-- Equality. So why not call it Equality Awareness Month? (Personally, I'd like to hear what my good friend Vent thinks.)
Let's wake up people. We are still doing many people a great injustice. It needs to be corrected. Black Heritage Month is not something to be overlooked. We need to shape this up, fast.
To my friends in Illinois, show your support to Senator Obama-- I'm sure he would be in support of these ideas, and we all know he'd take action. To my friends elsewhere, call you Representatives and Senators. Support your fellow Americans.
You may not know it, but some of us who are white, may actually have ancestors who are black. You may be "black enough" to have been a slave. For all you religious types out there-- we all go back to Noah. EVERY SINGLE ONE OF US. We are all related, let's treat each other like family.
With your help, next January we can all celebrate Equality Awareness Month, together.
posted by Sam @ 11:44 PM
9 comments
9 Comments:
Hurt you? Moi?
Actually, you make an excellent point, here--there needs to be a change in the discourse about racial relations in the country. To be frank, I think that, while the concept for all these heritage months are fine, it's sort of a pacifier, and they don't really address the true underlying issues concerning racial relations. I'd rather a station have a honest and open dialogue about race and how certain assumptions affect a community, than see another newsreader give a 30-second vignette about how George Washington Carver found over 300 uses for a peanut.
I don't think that they need to go once an hour with the vignettes, but if they're going to do it, use some of that mandated E/I (educational/informational) broadcast time and devote programming to educate people on some of the things that blacks, asians, hispanics, etc., have done for American history. If they can show a damn 60-minute slash piece on a presidential candidate, I don't see how they can't produce that which could educate people on history. As for the Omaha stations not airing BHM vignettes--I doubt sincerely that they care, unless said black person wore a red "N" on a white helmet for four years, and his name was Tommie Frazier.
I'm just saying.
Having said that: Equality Awareness Month is a fine idea...that would get torn to shreds by the conservative news channels in a beat--especially in a heavy conservative base state like Nebraska. You even pitch the idea of changing BHM to January, and the vultures on the right will start in with the "social agenda" nonsense. But, hey--they wanted me to believe there was a "war" on Christmas, so...whatev.
Yeah, it stinks that they gave BHM a 28-day (or 29-day) month to work in, but they didn't put a 28-day limit on learning the history, so there's that. I think that the pageantry of celebrating a heritage is nice, but it means nothing unless you actually strive to learn about other people's culture.
Right on, VC. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were living here-- you have Nebraska pegged.
Unless you're on campus in Nebraska, you wouldn't have a clue it was Black Heritage Month-- it's sad.
But you are right, people need to learn the heritage. It is the history of this great nation. When choosing my official minors, I was damn close to choosing Black Studies-- I believe I would be 2 classes short of that qualification. As it is, I'm looking at a double minor of music and history.
Hmmm... think about that. It should all add up. I know Vent knows it. I wonder how many others do.
Didn't Bill Crosby or someone of that stature, say it's ridiculous to even consider to have a month set aside for any minority?
You can't spoon feed people into reading up about other people's culture.
People are judged on their culture everyday through what they see and read in the media and experience around them, not ancient history that may have become tainted over the years.
"People are judged on their culture everyday through what they see and read in the media and experience around them"
Which explains why people assume that most blacks are slang-talking, crimp-walking, rap-song-recitin', gang-bangin' pariahs of society, right? Just sayin', is all.
We shouldn't have to spoon feed everyone. People should make it their goal as a human to learn the complete history. It is through history that we learn of the mistakes that were made.
I'm of Irish/ English descent. While not considered a minority like being Black or Hispanic in this country, the role of the Irish/ English in this country should be told and i demand a Irish/ English history month be declared. I also want to be identified as an Irish/ English American from now on, even though i have never set foot in Ireland or England!
American history is British history. Your heritage is certainly not being over looked. But you further emphasize my point. But you do have to ask why we have one specific heritage singled out... the idea is great, the title is bad.
EQUALITY, that is the focus.
How can you say American History is British History? Isn't the U.S. a melting pot of many different ethnic groups and other countries? The French, the Germans/ Prussians/ Hussiens, the Dutch, the Spanish, were others that played a vital role in the early history of the U.S.
U.S. history is not just British history.
I never excluded any other group. You're right American History is German History is French History is Dutch History is Chinese History. Put it this way-- American History is WORLD HISTORY.
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