Black History Month: Day Eleven--Shining the Light of Truth

*Note: For The Journey: Day Twenty-Four see my earlier post today.

Black History Month: The History and the Controversy

Day Eleven: Shining the Light of Truth

The last four days, we’ve been “flip-flopping” back and forth, quoting people pro and con regarding whether Black History Month is still needed. Today, those in favor of continuing to celebrate the month have their turn again.

Jessica McElrath surmises that most historians and African Americans believe that Black History Month remains necessary. According to McElrath, Black History Month is the only time of the year when Black History is recognized in many schools. She argues that schools often focus on White History year round, and, therefore, Black History Month is a necessary celebration.

A recent visitor to my blog expressed her convictions powerfully.

“It appears that the prevalence of multi-culturalism has caused many people’s opinions to change on this subject. I remain pro Black History Month. We can be both “the great American melting pot” AND celebrate the unique history of African Americans (or other people groups). These ideas can be mutually exclusive and they can coincide. The point is that American history is not Black history and based on the suffocation and/or misinterpretation of facts about Blacks in America, we therefore need to extract the history of a people whose stories remain distinct. Black History Month shines the light of truth and discovery on Blacks in a broader manner, giving much needed, much deserved attention to the subject than covering it for one week in the classroom. Filling this void is no different than filling the void that led to formal recognition of Women's history for example. Ms. Riley and Mr. Freeman miss the point” (Mona Austin, February 10, 2009).

Encouraging the Conversation

Beginning tomorrow I will finally share my own views on this vital issue.

Stay tuned . . .