lol i was waiting for a silly comment like this.... anyhow....i think there are latino months and asian nationality months. im pretty sure there are celebrations for all euro ethnicities too.
I think they should scrap history in schools and make a publically funded history channel that is exclusive from already existant PBS stations. They designate monthly blocs devoted to specific ethnicities and put it in a yearly cycle. With the extra school time devote half of it to an extended English lit class (history optional...) and the other half to emerging math and sciences. The education system we have in place is crap. Black History Month is acknowledgement that the system can't be fixed. With so many grubby interests in what is determined as History, the children get propaganda and story tales in return.
So, what's up with the "OUR beautiful European heritage" comment, why not include the beautiful heritage of your other half? 100% American? That's actually something I struggle with myself, my parents are Mexican, but I was born here, so I consider myself an American too, but some want to say Mexican-American and that doesn't make any sense to me. My mom is a true Mexican-American to me, because she was born in Mexico, but she is now a citizen of the United States of America, and she votes!
I said fragmented. And I was speaking ethnically. Meaning that Blacks ancestors came from many different places, not just West Africa. Just as Whites' ancestors came from many countries, not just England and Germany.
There have been some really fascinating shows about the African-American experience. The channel 11 show on the Camp Logan riots was really absorbing. The show about the two families in SC was also very well done. One of the slaves that was owned by the white family was born in 1810 and lived until 1922 - what an amazing lifespan. Finally, there is another series that looks at the roots of various African-Americans using both basic genealogy and DNA analysis. This was incredibly interesting. For example, Qincy Jones' DNA was 34% European and Henry Louis Gates was 50%. Apparently the average African-American is about 20% European. In Chris Tucker's case, the DNA analysis was able to trace back his DNA to a very specific part of Africa.
Almost every single month is White history month. The history texts and subject matter covered in school is very predominantly European centered, and told from that point of view. We rarely learn about the succession of the emperors of China, or the Kings of Africa, etc. We learn a great deal about European Kings/Queens and politics. The sad thing is that whites are being cheated out of a good education on a lot of subjects because we don't learn these things. Most schools don't teach that the first known successful brain surgery occurred in Peru during the 1300's! Students don't learn about who developed the calenders, navigation, etc. Because the history and education comes from a eurocentric point of view. Having history months is a weak attempt to broaden the learning. But it shouldn't be just one month. It should be happening all the time. The fact that people say we need a White History Month to highlight European heritage shows how much we take it for granted and don't imagine the way it is viewed from a different cultural prespective.
(insert Brokeback Mountain joke here) Damn movie just ruined 200 years of Cowboy image. And my annual Nat X Black History quote: Now, before I bringout my first guest, I just want to say that February is Black History Month. Isn't that nice? The Man gives us February because it's the shortest month of the year! Now, I'm not complaining, but I think we deserve at least a thirty-day month. It's also the coldest month of the year, just in case we wanted to have a parade.
Holy moly! That person's health regiment needs to make known to all of us. I bet as a slave, he/she didn't quite have all the luxuries affordable to his/her masters whom he/she outlived for at least 3 generations, taking into consideration the average life expectancy at that time.
it amazes me that some people really don't understand why there is a black history month and not a white history month. please tell my you are making a sad attempt at humor. if you really don't understand, just ask yourself how much about black contributions to this country do you really know. the history we are taught in school is from an anglo western european perspective. for example, I was watching a documentary on IFC once about this black historian, sorry I forgot the name. he was talking about this subject. he gave the example of the dark ages, the period om europe after the fall of the roman empire. its really a stagnant period in european history. that's what we're all taught about. but that was only in europe, the moors had established a vast empire from spain through northern africa and western asia. but we're not taught about that in our schools here in the U.S. And that really drove the point home for me because I remember studying the dark ages in h.s. and I thought that the whole world was in a state of chaos because that's what you're led to believe. as franchiseblade stated, we not only need a black history month, but we need to focus on other cultures and regions as well because we have a very eurocentric view of history.
It should be that everyone would want to learn that stuff because it is knowledge. That is why we are in school. Anytime only perspective is looked at, we all miss a lot of knowledge. I think appreciating other cultures would be a welcome by-product. But the real reason should be because we want ourselves and our children to receive the best education they can.
