IS BLACK HISTORY MONTH NEEDED? (2-2004)

The month designated as Black History Month is about to 
draw to a close. And, perhaps, it is time for the concept 
itself to come to an end as well.

February has been Black History Month since 1976. In that 
year, it was expanded to a month-long observance from a 
week-long celebration. It is meant to draw attention to the 
contributions that Black Americans have made to this 
country’s history and heritage.

The expansion to a month-long observance came at a time 
when court ordered school bussing for the purpose of racial 
desegregation was at its height. And it occurred not long 
after the country was tormented by the race riots of the 
late-1960s.

But what are the roots of Black History Month? Is it still 
needed today?

In 1915 a man named Carter G. Woodson, who is a noted Black 
scholar and historian and son of former slaves, founded 
what would later be known as the Association for the Study 
of Afro-American Life and History (ASALH). 

Woodson had to work to earn money for the family and did 
not start school until later than most children. But his 
motto was “it is never too late to learn.” He became a high 
school teacher and was disappointed to learn that none of 
the schools taught the history of Black Americans. So on 
February 12, 1926, he founded Negro History Week. 

But does Black History Month serve any useful purpose 
today? After all, school children are now routinely taught 
about Martin Luther King, Jr.  They are taught about the 
contributions that other Black Americans have made 
throughout our history. 

When Woodson started the ASALH, discrimination was rampant 
in this country. And it wasn’t just because or 
organizations like the Ku Klux Klan.  No, back then, racism 
was the norm, and it was government sanctioned.

We don’t have that today. Blacks do not have to ride in the 
back of the bus, nor drink from separate water fountains, 
nor attend separate schools and eat in separate 
restaurants. Those days are long gone.

Prejudice, of course, is still around. There are still 
Whites who are prejudice against Blacks. There are Blacks 
who are prejudice against Whites. Prejudice also exists 
against Jews, Mexicans, Muslims, and fat people. There 
would not be enough months on the calendar for every group 
that has ever been the recipient of bias to have a month of 
its own.

Perhaps the practice of promoting activities to emphasize 
the accomplishments of the Black race is approaching the 
point of diminishing returns. Black History Month (or week) 
was needed at one time. But today, it might serve mainly to 
focus attention on racial differences. It might fuel the 
fires of racial intolerance instead of serving to quench 
them.

This is not a lone opinion. Even the Association for the 
Study of Afro-American Life and History agrees that Black 
History Month may someday be unnecessary. Maybe that day is 
here.

It’s been almost a century and a half since this country 
had slavery. It’s been four decades since we, as a nation, 
tolerated racial discrimination. 

Maybe it’s time for Blacks to let the past live in the past 
and move on into the future as a truly color-blind society. 
That can only be done by abandoning race-based 
celebrations.