What's happened to Black History Month?
by It used to be so fun and interesting. Special shows on tv, songs to be song, parades, etc. People used to care about the shortest month in the year tha was dedicated to black people. Now what has happened? Maybe a few worksheets in school about Frederick Douglass and Harriet Tubman, a Roots marathon, or a civil rights documentary on A&E. I think maybe black people don't care as much about what happened in the past anymore. Slavery was so long ago. Segregation is a distant memory of our parents or our grandparents. "Pride" is something that nobody really talks about anymore. I guess black people in general have already reached "equality", a state of being where there problems are not any worse or less than the rest of the general population. The black race of the past is gone, and a new generation, that doesnt feel always opressed, is growing. I guess oppression was two parts "the man" and one part state of mind. Without the opressed state of mind, there doesn't seem to be the constant need to intstill pride into the people. A racial concioussness has changed, sublimated, and become homogeneously American.
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half of me is still mad that black history month is the shortest month of the year. the other half wishes the first would shut his mouth. :)
(haha, nobody's gonna read this whole thing)..What i'm about to say shouldn't really have any connection to the fact that i'm black, fact is fact..but...w/each generation, racism in america, as a whole, gets more an more dilluted - but, i doubt it'd ever be totally eradicated..racism's roots lie basically in people's social class being affected by their skin color, black people where introduced to american culture as slaves & things are quite obviously different now, but, if you were to look @ any example of slaves in any given society, hundreds of years down then line, you'd still see a ripple effect, and a distinction in social class between the distant descendants of the slaves & the slave owners..i.e.-jews & egyptians..social class controls where you live..&whenever people grow up in an area that has a high concentration of people who look & act exactly like them, it's easier to think of people who DON'T look and act like you in a negative way..which still happens today....People still make assumptions about others based on skin color - there's still taboo associated w/romantic relations between people of different races..intelligence or lack there of is still associated w/certain skin colors..again, it's not as bad as it used to be, but, it still exists..the new system will cure all this..but, until then..
I READ THE WHOLE THING! :)
yea. theres still even brothers who havea hard time removing prejudices that they once had. One brotehr started to cry while he was giving a talk becuz he said it wa so hard for him. But yea, al those kind of imperfections will be removed in the future.
But hey, what do you think? should black history month be considered as a holiday? Like should christian kids in school avoid certain activities involved with it?
hmmm....well, here's the thing - no one race of people should be given any more reverance than any other - granted, black history month is supposed to bring exposure to little known facts & whatnot, and give exposure to contributions black people have made & whatnot - but - i don't think that should be considered anything special, history shouldn't be taught in races, it should all be integrated..seperating "white history" from "black history" kinda defeats the whole anti-segregational purpose
i even heard that there used to be segregated congregations in florida not all that long ago
yea we have segregated bathrooms in my house.
what?..i didn't know that...it's funny, back in the day, when everything was segregated, the govt's explaination for it was that, the racial tension was too high to mix races, and that if that WAS done, it'd result in too much conflict - which is the exact opposite of the truth, because seperating any two groups of people only fuels erroneous thoughts and feelings for those who they're seperated from, which just goes to create even more tension...once people are exposed to what they fear, and realize there's nothing to fear to begin with, things usually change....
yeah, i know a couple from florida, and they said their congregation used to be segregated...crazyness
i heard theres still some in tennessee....that weirds me out!
you're black?? i never even noticed.
in fact, bryan, as the 1/11th black person that i happen to be (alyssa calculated, apparently), i'd like to say you represent the rap-hating population of black people. which is nice.
wow, you're 1/11th black? You seem to be everything dan. I think you're making it all up. But if you're gonna keep making this stuff up then i think you should just tell people you're 100% irish. It means you can drink and you get free kisses...it's all good in celtic world
actually, my grandpa swears that there is black somewhere in our family history...though i sure havent seen it in my skin color yet...
and apparently, i've got a teeny bit of jewish in me somewhere...but my grandpa denies it with every ounce of his soul
ok hill - I know you're jokin or whatever, but if you read through the comment you replied to, you'll see that people like you are described.."..People still make assumptions about other people based on skin color.."...MTV tells ya that dark skined people should like rap, amongst other things...lol...the thought that skin color should determine personality traits is, well, racist...you don't plan on hog tying, or, hanging me do you?...cause, if so, i dunno if hanging out w/you is good for my health
well man, i don't really care. i think we get along good. and have crazy fun. so what if your leather jacket fits you better. i don't care.
haha, so THAT'S why you were makin fun of my jacket, you were jealous...jacket envy - one of Dan's many quirks that we've all come to love so much
i think he hog ties poeple no matter what race they are. that's how he gets his kicks
I'm surprised there hasn't been a push to make it African-American month.
haah. but really, i diont think people care as much anymore about that kinda things. cuz there are bigger problems now, war on terrorism, etc. people focus on that and bein busy with their daily lives to worry about being mad at each other or stirring up racial conflict, which is good i guess
i read about this white kid from south africa that now lives in california got in trouble in school because he made posters saying that he was "african-american student of the year"
i read this comic(jumpstart): the librarian tells jojo how this is his month (he's black). and he runs back and tells his friends how this month is kindergartner's month. so cute
maybe it's just because black, white tensions are not that bad everywhere anymore. now that you mention it though, i have not learnt one thing or even heard it mentioned in my school that it was black history month.
Read some interviews with Toni Morrison. She's the biggest reverse racist there is and still insist that these times are no better then when there was slavery.