A Facebook Conversation.
The following is a conversation of sorts between Charlotte and myself on Black History Month and our opinions of such.
Please, comments are welcome provided they stay civil. Don't make me go Jesse Jackson on you.
Me: Ok, you know me and you know I mean this in no disrespect at all, but I was wondering.
If racial equality is such a big deal nowadays, why don't we have a history month for all of the races? Asian History Month, Indian (or should we go PC with Native American) History Month, Hispanic/Latino/whatever the preffered name is now History Month, and White History Month? It doesn't make sense to me to allocate a spot of time for one race and leave all the others in the cold.
I've asked this of others and the common response is 'the whole rest of the year is White History Month, so it's only right we take some time for others'. Well, not exactly. All of Europe isn't White. All of America isn't White. When we learn about European history (World Civ, World Lit, etc), yes the 'big' countries are England--ok, maybe mostly England--and Russia, but the Italians aren't white. They're Italian. The Spanish aren't white. They're Spanish. The Greeks aren't white. They're Greek. It's sort of against national policy to lump them all together into one 'color' group if they're definately not that color. And as for American history...we're not called the Great American Melting Pot for nothing. It's a blend of all the nationalities and races. And think of the '60s. Most of the 60s circles around either breaking racial barriers or the Brittish Invasion and pop culture.
I think we should get rid of 'black' history month and have cultural history months instead. American, African, South American, European (maybe break that down into sub cultures?), Asian, etc. Let's get away from the focus on color and look at life with a more global perspective. Maybe that way it'd be easier to associate with each other instead of pinpointing specific individuals based on the pigmentation of their skin.
Just a thought. I'm interested to know what you think.
Cheers!
Me
Charlotte: Actually there are months reserved for other ethnic groups but nobody every boosts them up. My personal opinion is that we should strive to teach about everybody equally all year long. But in the country that we live, there are still many places that refuse to teach about non-Caucasian ethnicities. I think that if we can do a better job at getting everyone to teach about all people and getting everyone to actually view each other in a little bit more positive light then it would eliminate the need for a separate time of year that Black History is emphasized.
But in response to teh statement that the rest of the year is white history month, I know that most history classes unless they specifically address a particular ethnicity do not talk about histories of other groups of people in great detail if at all. And many times when those groups are talked about, it is not in either a) a positive light or b) it is taught from a pro-european mindset instead of from multiple points of view. That's from personal experience and the fact that my neices and nephews have asked tons of questions about what they are learning in school. I can't count how many times I was told that Native Americans didn't own the land they were on and deserved to be put somewhere else or that I knew the person teaching me history didn't agree with immigration and taught the class from an anti-immigration standpoint (which is kinda stupid because everybody here is an immigrant) or I've walked out of class because someone said something about the Africans deserved what they got by being sold into slavery. I also know that most people don't know much of the history of many different ethnicities - most kids today don't learn the realities of WWII where Japanese Americans were put in internment camps and the US didn't apologize for doing it. Or the reason that Oklahoma has a huge Native American population. Or that for the most part immigrants have built every major building in this country. Or that Chinese Americans are the reason we have the huge railroad infrastructure and the West was able to be inhabitated by more people. Or that Hispanic Americans were 25% of the casualties in Vietnam for the US. (there are way more facts packed into my brain, but they are all examples of what i wish they would teach in school instead of teaching kids to take tests that have no impact on their future because all the tests do is prove that the schools deserve money to teach kids to take more tests instead of learning things like history or science or take PE).
I really wish that we could all begin to appreciate each other more. America is so diverse, I don't understand why there are so many people who are not accepting or understanding of ethnicities besides their own. I guess we could put it on the generational thing - you learn something one way and teach it to your kids and they pass it on. If nobody breaks the cycle then we don't progress.
:)
And why aren't the school systems, ACLU, NAACP, NEA and other such organizations picking up on this? I mean, these can't just be the thoughts of a current college drop-out and a current Grad student, can they? I mean, seriously.
Please, comments are welcome provided they stay civil. Don't make me go Jesse Jackson on you.
Me: Ok, you know me and you know I mean this in no disrespect at all, but I was wondering.
If racial equality is such a big deal nowadays, why don't we have a history month for all of the races? Asian History Month, Indian (or should we go PC with Native American) History Month, Hispanic/Latino/whatever the preffered name is now History Month, and White History Month? It doesn't make sense to me to allocate a spot of time for one race and leave all the others in the cold.
I've asked this of others and the common response is 'the whole rest of the year is White History Month, so it's only right we take some time for others'. Well, not exactly. All of Europe isn't White. All of America isn't White. When we learn about European history (World Civ, World Lit, etc), yes the 'big' countries are England--ok, maybe mostly England--and Russia, but the Italians aren't white. They're Italian. The Spanish aren't white. They're Spanish. The Greeks aren't white. They're Greek. It's sort of against national policy to lump them all together into one 'color' group if they're definately not that color. And as for American history...we're not called the Great American Melting Pot for nothing. It's a blend of all the nationalities and races. And think of the '60s. Most of the 60s circles around either breaking racial barriers or the Brittish Invasion and pop culture.
I think we should get rid of 'black' history month and have cultural history months instead. American, African, South American, European (maybe break that down into sub cultures?), Asian, etc. Let's get away from the focus on color and look at life with a more global perspective. Maybe that way it'd be easier to associate with each other instead of pinpointing specific individuals based on the pigmentation of their skin.
Just a thought. I'm interested to know what you think.
Cheers!
Me
Charlotte: Actually there are months reserved for other ethnic groups but nobody every boosts them up. My personal opinion is that we should strive to teach about everybody equally all year long. But in the country that we live, there are still many places that refuse to teach about non-Caucasian ethnicities. I think that if we can do a better job at getting everyone to teach about all people and getting everyone to actually view each other in a little bit more positive light then it would eliminate the need for a separate time of year that Black History is emphasized.
But in response to teh statement that the rest of the year is white history month, I know that most history classes unless they specifically address a particular ethnicity do not talk about histories of other groups of people in great detail if at all. And many times when those groups are talked about, it is not in either a) a positive light or b) it is taught from a pro-european mindset instead of from multiple points of view. That's from personal experience and the fact that my neices and nephews have asked tons of questions about what they are learning in school. I can't count how many times I was told that Native Americans didn't own the land they were on and deserved to be put somewhere else or that I knew the person teaching me history didn't agree with immigration and taught the class from an anti-immigration standpoint (which is kinda stupid because everybody here is an immigrant) or I've walked out of class because someone said something about the Africans deserved what they got by being sold into slavery. I also know that most people don't know much of the history of many different ethnicities - most kids today don't learn the realities of WWII where Japanese Americans were put in internment camps and the US didn't apologize for doing it. Or the reason that Oklahoma has a huge Native American population. Or that for the most part immigrants have built every major building in this country. Or that Chinese Americans are the reason we have the huge railroad infrastructure and the West was able to be inhabitated by more people. Or that Hispanic Americans were 25% of the casualties in Vietnam for the US. (there are way more facts packed into my brain, but they are all examples of what i wish they would teach in school instead of teaching kids to take tests that have no impact on their future because all the tests do is prove that the schools deserve money to teach kids to take more tests instead of learning things like history or science or take PE).
I really wish that we could all begin to appreciate each other more. America is so diverse, I don't understand why there are so many people who are not accepting or understanding of ethnicities besides their own. I guess we could put it on the generational thing - you learn something one way and teach it to your kids and they pass it on. If nobody breaks the cycle then we don't progress.
:)
And why aren't the school systems, ACLU, NAACP, NEA and other such organizations picking up on this? I mean, these can't just be the thoughts of a current college drop-out and a current Grad student, can they? I mean, seriously.