Some have called for the end to Black History Month, as if it has become superfluous.
The election of Barack Obama as our 44th President has been reason for some to cease celebration or observation.
‘Now that Barack and his family have moved into the White House, it’s time to rethink the holiday Carter G. Woodson came up with nearly a century ago,’ Tony Norman of The Pittsburg Post-Gazette argues. ‘Times have changed. Even the republicans have a black guy running the party. Maybe February can go back to being for all of us.’
Morgan Freeman has called the month ridiculous.
‘You’re going to relegate my history to a month?’ the actor said in 2005 during a 60 Minutes interview.
He is not the only person to feel feelings of disregard. Cynthia Tucker, the Pulitzer Prize-winning editor of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution said Black History Month is ‘a damaging form of apartheid.’
‘The nation of Tiger Woods, Oprah and Barack Obama no longer needs a Black History Month,’ she said.
Our president seems to disagree. On February 2, Barack Obama officially recognized Black History Month.
‘The history of African-Americans is unique and rich, and one that has helped to define what it is to be an American,’ he said.’The ideals of our founders became more real and more true for every citizen as African-Americans pressed us to realize our full potential as a nation and to uphold those ideals for all who enter into our borders and embrace the notion that we are all endowed certain unalienable rights.’
‘ His words focus on progress, diligent work and incredibly bold people who fought for a cause. Our president does not suffice as a reason to halt or forget about Dr. Carter G. Woodson’s original idea and purpose.
Carter G. Woodson started Black History Month in 1926, originally calling it Negro History Week. It is said Woodson chose the second week of February because it marked the birthdays of two Americans who greatly influenced the lives and social conditions of African Americans – former president Abraham Lincoln and abolitionist and former slave Frederick Douglass.
‘ ‘I think it is a positive uplifting observance in our country. I think for the most part, the rest of our country (general public) gets any exposure to the African heritage,’ UH Clear Lake communication junior Anthony Nguyen said.
No matter how many strides we make in progress, the hard work of Dr. Carter G. Woodson and all who have fought for rights and recognition deserve to be honored indefinitely.
