(Chicago Sun-Times) Do Americans and Chicagoans, particularly non-blacks; really embrace one of America’s oldest sociocultural and educational pastimes, Black History Month?
Yes, I said American pastime. In the runup to Super Bowl XXXIX, I could not help but to think how ironic it was that America’s most watched athletic event took place in February. I wanted Donovan McNabb’s Philadelphia Eagles to win the Super Bowl during Black History Month — yes I’m biased.
The formal celebration of black history in the United States is about as old as the National Football League. “Negro History Week” began in 1926, and the NFL was founded in 1921. Ironically, incremental racial integration in both of these American pastimes arguably began in the mid-1940s. Simply put, until the 1940s very few whites, if any, celebrated “Negro History Week” (later named Black History Month) and very few blacks were allowed to play in the NFL. Times certainly have changed — haven’t they?
Today, whites are clearly in the minority in the NFL, among other sports, and generally openly acquiesce in the celebration of Black History Month. In fact, many non-blacks pay greater homage to this American pastime than some blacks. That said, many non-blacks believe that Black History Month is a type of monthlong affirmative action holiday for “black people” and have little interest in celebrating it or learning about the contributions of blacks to American society.
Perhaps this disinterest or uncomfortable acquiescence is deeply rooted in the psychological vestiges of America’s historical slavocrat and segregationist sociopolitical order. Notwithstanding, many Americans, especially blacks, celebrate Black History Month in a lackluster way, placing a premium on the legacies of athletes and entertainers over black scientists, inventors, scholars and human rights activists. What’s more, I cannot count the number of times I have heard blacks complain that “whites gave us the shortest month of the year” to celebrate black history. This myth has gained so much momentum that white people are repeating it. Please stop!
The hard reality is that Dr. Carter G. Woodson, the grandfather and founder of black history, selected the second week in February for “Negro History Week” because it marked the birthdays of two of the most influential figures in American politics, Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln.
Other significant events that took place in February make it an ideal time to celebrate black history, including the birth of W.E.B. DuBois, the famed intellectual, civil rights leader, pan-Africanist and co-founder of the NAACP (Feb. 23, 1868); passing of the 15th Amendment giving blacks the right to vote (Feb. 3, 1870); taking of the oath of office of the first black U.S. senator, Hiram R. Revels, a Republican from Mississippi (Feb. 25, 1870); founding of the NAACP (Feb. 12, 1909); historical civil rights lunch counter sit-in at segregated Woolworth’s store in Greensboro, N.C. (Feb. 1, 1960); and the unforgivable murder of Malcolm X (Feb. 21, 1965).
From this background, perhaps, Woodson’s choice of February was prophetic. We could always follow Great Britain’s example and celebrate black history in October–but then conspiracy theorists would draw a shadowy nexus between Black History Month and Halloween. Let us settle on February as a good time to learn about and honor the achievements of blacks.
Black History Month should not only focus on the achievements of “African Americans” but blacks throughout the globe. It should be a month where blacks not only glorify their rich history but also scrutinize it. Learning about black history should be a year-round endeavor.
All Americans, particularly whites, should study black history. For better or for worse, white Americans and other non-blacks have been and are unwittingly makers of black history. From the white supremacist Democrats and white Republican abolitionists of the 19th century to the white citizens councils and white civil rights activists of the 20th century, black history is unavoidably
“White, Latino and Asian history” too. Non-blacks should embrace Black History Month, first because it is an integral part of American history and, second because they, especially whites, featured prominently in its making. All Americans and certainly Chicagoans should embrace Black History Month as an American pas-time and engage in holistic dialogue about the history of black history, as American history has proven it to be America’s moral compass.
