As we discussed possible reparations for slavery in class today, most ended up involving money in some way. After school I remembered that February is Black History Month, and resolved to determine if this recognition of African Americans might be considered a reparation.
By visiting this website I learned that in 1915 Dr. Carter Woodson and Rev. Jesse Moorland, African Americans themselves, formed the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History. Their organization was meant to inform the public about the impact of blacks throughout history. From this they eventually developed Negro History and Literature Week which evolved into the recognition we know today. They chose the month of February because both Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass, men that as we know were both prominent in the empowerment of blacks, have birthdays in February.
However I also learned that this concept has criticisms as well. This article from USA Today discusses multiple opinions about Black History month, and in addition I found this short piece that contains Morgan Freeman's opinion.
Freeman stated, "I don't want a black history month. Black history is American history."
Considering this viewpoint, Black History month could be seen as a way to continue the segregation of race. Although Black History month was formed by African Americans and not something issued by the U.S. government, it seems to have been constructed nowadays in a way that makes it lose its importance. There is certainly not much recognition of the fact that February is Black History month; I've seen one small, barely filled bulletin board at New Trier that advertises it. This greater lack of awareness can support Morgan Freeman's claim.
Clearly there is a discrepancy between the importance of Black History month. Can it be seen as a reparation of slavery? If so, how should it be encouraged? Or does it only fuel racism even further because there is a distinction between 'Black history' and 'American history'? Consider its lack of acknowledgement as well.
Claire, you have eloquently stated a point similar to one I have wanted to make several times in class today. Using your example of Black History Month, I would have to say that, yes, it does perpetuate racism. Blacks have been in the States since the states were colonies, so separating Black History from American History is absurd. The separation in terms of history encourages the feeling of separation in general. I think it could even create some envy since "they have their own month" and white Americans do not.
ReplyDeleteI believe that any reparation besides a single, succinct, geniune apology from the American government to all slaves in the States would be counter-productive and simply perpetuate racism in our country.
Morgan Freeman's viewpoint on race is somewhat interesting. I watched a brief video clip a while back of his view on Black History Month/race in general, and one thing he said that interested me was that, in order to get rid of racism, we should "stop talking about it." The idea, I guess, is that we should as soon as possible just accept the idea of ignoring race in order to start making it no big deal.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I don't see this as a good idea. I may be misrepresenting Morgan Freeman's viewpoint from the get-go, but I feel like not talking about racism, or not talking about specifically black history, would not stop racism. Right now, I don't think we talk about racism much. Until now, we haven't really thought about invisible racism, or institutionalized racism, until we brought it up and started talking about it. I've been curious about institutionalized racism for a while, but until we've started discussing it, I've been unconfident about how severe it can be, or whether or not people who say it pervades to the extent it does are crazy or something. I've read a lot of things about different types of institutionalized racism, but I only see those acknowledgements of institutionalized racism validated in sources that are talking about that specific topic. It goes very unacknowledged in our day to day life. I've heard about driving while black before, for example, but when I did it sounded like a conspiracy theory (I'm exaggerating slightly, but not much).
If we don't talk about race openly, as there are many problems running along racial lines now, people are stuck picking up messages about race from their environment in more subtle ways, i.e. negative or perplexing portrayals in movies or tv commercials. A while back Lizzie mentioned a test online that measures your subconscious associations with race and whether you strongly favor white or black, and what that test measures is not necessarily racism but more subconscious negative associations we have with race. I think the only reason those associations are a part of it is because from early on, people don't talk about race much. If a child is learning to talk in an environment where race is not talked about, and they're not getting messages about race often enough from people mentoring them, then they're left picking up their messages about race from elements of our culture that are 'invisible,' but still racist, and the negative associations with race still pervade.
I guess I'm not really answering your question (sorry) but when it comes to black history month, I think Black History Month may actually be a good thing, although it's not a good thing that we still need to have the month. It would be ideal if instead of history classes usually taking the perspective of the white european male, they intertwined black history, women's history, and other histories, as well. Being reminded of black history for a month every year would be better than just getting rid of it now. Unless black history is integrated more in to history courses, getting rid of black history month on the grounds that it's racist and separating might just be allowing people to not be reminded of another perspective, and the discussions that come up at least one month per year (if they even come up, I don't know) might just stop. Something would have to replace black history month, I think, before we could say we're ready to get rid of black history month. The idea of black history month as a reparation is really interesting. I think we may consider it a reparation on the whole, but considering how black history can go unacknowledged regardless, it doesn't seem to be an adequate reparation.
It's a tough issue, C-Bear. Although many teachers successfully integrate black history into their curricula, there is the danger that if there was no month expressly dedicated in February, then some teachers might not do anything at all! Great link to the reparation issue.
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