Why Black History Month is Here to Stay

As February come to a close, we find ourselves at the end of another insightful and prolific Black History Month. Every year, magazines, newspapers, and schools turn their attention to African American Culture, celebrating their tragic yet inspirational history. This annual focus of social consciousness creates an arena for the discussion of racial relations, equality, and the very meaning of these concepts.

There are many, however who take exception to the notion of a Black History Month.

Eric Jackson, a respected African American author and Northern Kentucky University Associate Professor recently told Lindsay Kottmann of cinncinatti.com that he doesn't celebrated Black History Month.

"I teach black history all year round," he said, and others should make it a year-long celebration as well. "The biggest thing for me is that black history is American history. They are intertwined."

The sentiment is shared by Hollywood ledged Morgan Freeman, who in a recent interview with Mike Wallace of 60 minutes, said, "You're going to relegate my history to a month? I don't want a black history month." Freeman went on to express his idealism of social equality, telling Wallace, "I'm going to stop calling you a white man, and I'm going to ask you to stop calling me a black man,"

The argument is longstanding, and perhaps natural. Black History Month, was created in 1926 by an African American Harvard alum, Carter G. Woodson, for the purpose of combating the distinctive lack of attention given to African Americans in American history curriculums, but is the socially constructed month a relic of our segregated past?

Dr. Carter G. Woodson, creator of Black History Month

Credit: Dr. Carter G Woodson

Copyright: Dr. Carter G. Woodson