As long as Americans question Black History, our observations will need to remain. I ask America: when will Black History be history?
by Mauve Maude
February 9, 2021
February is a special month. It’s when I was born, so for me, it’s literally the first month I ever knew. As short as it is, it’s the birth month of many other special people too. It’s when Alice Walker was born (her birthday is today), it’s when Frederick Douglass was born, and it’s when Abraham Lincoln was born. In fact, Lincoln and Douglass are the reasons Black History Month is held in February.
Dr. Carter Woodson, a historian and a son of slaves, was one of the first Black men to earn his Ph.D. at Harvard. He first proposed the idea as Black History Week, nearly a hundred years ago, and he selected February in honor of Douglass and Lincoln, both monumental figures in American Black history. February 1 just happens to be the day President Lincoln signed the Thirteenth Amendment, and it’s now recognized as National Freedom Day.
(February 1 is also when Antwan Patton was born in West Savannah, Georgia.)
Some other famous February babies: Erykah Badu, Hank Aaron, Michael Jordan, Dr. Dre, Bob Marley, The Weeknd, Rihanna, Rosa Parks, Ice-T, Jordan Peele, Chris Rock, John Lewis, Toni Morrison, Mahershala Ali, Sidney Poitier, Nina Simone, Charles Barkley, Rick James, Trayvon Martin, LeVar Burton, Barbara Jordan, Natalie Cole, W.E.B. Du Bois, Arsenio Hall, Uzo Aduba, and Sojourner Truth (actually, Truth was born into slavery and had no birthday, so we’re claiming her for February).
I could go on, only mentioning people who were born during these twenty-eight (or twenty-nine) specific days of the year. Most people would recognize some or all of these names, their contributions to history, and that they’re Black.
And yet, there are still some who don’t understand the significance of any of it.
Considering that some Americans would still rather skim over it today, we can certainly see that Dr. Woodson was onto something in 1926.
This is precisely why Carter Woodson came up with the idea in the first place. A historian himself, he saw very clearly, with front-row seating, that even though the contributions of Black Americans to the building of our nation were quintessential, their inclusion in the national narrative was quintessentially lacking in the American education system. Considering that some Americans would still rather skim over it today, we can certainly see that Dr. Woodson was onto something in 1926.
Today, the collective pushback we see in this country over facing race issues is credited to a sense of division, and ostensibly, a fight against it. The idea is that conversations about race are what force us as Americans to categorize ourselves, divide ourselves up, split ourselves into smaller and smaller groups, and define ourselves in small, allegedly insignificant ways, therefore enhancing racism in its own unique way. Its basis is that talking about racism breeds racism; talking about racism is racism. Acknowledging differences feeds the illness. Of course, this would imply that when racism was discussed less, it either didn’t exist, or it wasn’t a problem. And there’s a kernel of truth in that implication, because when it was discussed less, it was less of a problem–for White people. For some, still now, just discussing it, or even hearing others discuss it around them, is too much to bear. So the subtle reality that living with the echoes of an abomination daily, is worse than hearing about it daily, is still, today, often missed. And when that’s missed, it’s easy to overlook the essentially important fact, that our divisions began with the birth of this nation.
Ironically, much noise is made about acknowledging that specific fact. Opponents of what some consider a “rewrite” of history, argue that America is being portrayed as some cesspool of inherent vice. But in actuality, the portrayal is anything but. The explicit point of discussing racism, is to change it. The differences we acknowledge are not inherent. They’re not the same differences that were once used to justify the power structure on which our nation was built. Those differences were never definitive of the quality of the American people, and they’re still not.
We are not talking about qualifying character by skin color. We’re talking about the opposite.
We are talking about the differences in the way people have been and still are treated, regardless of the fact that skin color doesn’t define character and shouldn’t define rights. We’ve been talking about that for decades. The only thing in the way is the pushback.
Indeed, a great way to avoid these realities and facts, is to ignore portions of history that are unflattering to one group of people, and in doing so, minimize those who overcame those exact portions of history. That’s evident; our country’s been doing exactly that for centuries. And indeed a great and powerful compulsion to do so, is the protection of the rights and privileges one was granted by those who came before, rights and privileges firmly based on the very lie opponents of racial discussions claim to disclaim: that character is entrenched in the color of our skin.
So while some work to seize and grasp the strength and power that’s inherent in all of us, others fight it, and argue against it, because they don’t really believe in it yet. They fear that it isn’t really there, and that all that has been done, will somehow be reversed.
The explicit point of discussing racism is to change it.
It will never be reversed.
We only have forward to go, and to acknowledge the problem is to take the first step in liberating ourselves from it. That shouldn’t be Black History. That should be American History. And it is. They are one and the same.
I’ve been asked often in the last year what White Americans should do, what White children should learn, what books and authors White people should read. What do White people need to know? I’ve heard a lot of talk about how racism, a new subject to many, makes White people feel. And what advice do I have?
My advice is that we’ve been here all along, not to serve, but to live. Not being defined by division is exactly the point, and all anyone has ever had to do is simply listen. We are one people; our history is a shared one. Black people just know “both sides”.
So start here, and start now. It’s February. Look, listen, and learn. We have an opportunity.
If America works hard, it can be whatever it wants to be.