Race History
I disagree with the idea of a Black History Month, or any month that singles out the history of one race for national recognition. I'm sure that there's those that think I'm a racist. I don't believe I am, I willing to admit bias, but I don't openly discriminate based on race.
The complaint is that Africans have been overlooked in the history of Canada and therefore require deeper reflection now. This is part of the whole integration plan. I few it as segregation, but I won't push that agenda.
I think history should be taught to reflect the relative impact of each person or group has had in the national development. The major group to contribute to the development to modern Canada is white people, there can be no denying. The next historically important people are the Native Americans. As other racial groups entered the fro we acknowledged their importance, African-Americans during the lead up to the Civil War and the underground railway, abuse of the people of Africatown, Asians during the railway period, and the waves of Slavic migration during the late nineteenth and twentieth century.
Minorities have played a small role in Canadian society until the recent past and to this day make up a very small portion of the total population. The reason we don't dwell on Martin Luther King or Malcolm X in Canadian history is because they're not Canadian, they played a key part and we acknowledge them, but there's not need to dwell for a month on them.
History is supposed to be colourblind, at least it should be. Maybe its because minorities for so long were denied power, and if you look at history the powerless are poorly documented. Medieval European History focuses on the actions of a handful of nobles, and the dreary lives of peasants are overlooked, just as the poor and powerless are overlooked everywhere.
Besides, I think Black History Month fails in its ultimate goal. Most of us ignore it and shed no more of our ignorance. I can tell you the name of the first Black woman in the House of Commons, but we don't here much about it from proponents of Black History Month. If in Canadian History class we took a week to talk about important African-Canadians, I'd support that a great deal, but Black History and Canadian History are inseparable. Morgan Freeman agrees.
The complaint is that Africans have been overlooked in the history of Canada and therefore require deeper reflection now. This is part of the whole integration plan. I few it as segregation, but I won't push that agenda.
I think history should be taught to reflect the relative impact of each person or group has had in the national development. The major group to contribute to the development to modern Canada is white people, there can be no denying. The next historically important people are the Native Americans. As other racial groups entered the fro we acknowledged their importance, African-Americans during the lead up to the Civil War and the underground railway, abuse of the people of Africatown, Asians during the railway period, and the waves of Slavic migration during the late nineteenth and twentieth century.
Minorities have played a small role in Canadian society until the recent past and to this day make up a very small portion of the total population. The reason we don't dwell on Martin Luther King or Malcolm X in Canadian history is because they're not Canadian, they played a key part and we acknowledge them, but there's not need to dwell for a month on them.
History is supposed to be colourblind, at least it should be. Maybe its because minorities for so long were denied power, and if you look at history the powerless are poorly documented. Medieval European History focuses on the actions of a handful of nobles, and the dreary lives of peasants are overlooked, just as the poor and powerless are overlooked everywhere.
Besides, I think Black History Month fails in its ultimate goal. Most of us ignore it and shed no more of our ignorance. I can tell you the name of the first Black woman in the House of Commons, but we don't here much about it from proponents of Black History Month. If in Canadian History class we took a week to talk about important African-Canadians, I'd support that a great deal, but Black History and Canadian History are inseparable. Morgan Freeman agrees.