You must not mistake lip service and noise for bravery and service
Marcus Garvey
February is Black History Month, and that means taking the time to appreciate, acknowledge and celebrate the American black community in all its forms. However, in the midst of all of the posters portraying Harriet Tubman, Rosa Parks, and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. that hang on the walls in schools, to black-directed movies I can stream on Netflix, I feel that the message is just not getting through to White America.
I don’t know about you, but I do know some individuals (not of African American heritage) who get angry when Black History Month comes around. It’s as though they take it personally and feel left out. But newsflash White America: Black History Month is not a culture fest reserved just for black people, it’s not about reparations, and it’s not a month-long shaming of white people for over 200 years of enslavement, oppression, and racial segregation. It’s about stepping back and recognizing the countless contributions that African Americans have made to our culture and our country.
The celebration of Black History Month dates back to the 1920s when Carter G. Woodson (the second African American to receive a Ph.D. from Harvard University), initiated the first celebration of Negro History Week, which later led to the creation of Black History Month in the 1960s. In 1976, then-President Gerald Ford officially recognized Black History Month during the month of February.
As a nation we have been celebrating Black History Month for over 40 years, but has White America been paying attention?
2020 was a horrible year with the insurrection, the pandemic, and the highest rate of hate crimes in 12 years. More than 60% of 8,300 incidents reported by the FBI were motivated by racism and hate against blacks and minority groups. According to a 2020 study, Black Americans are 3.23 times more likely than white Americans to be killed by police, and just today, another black man was shot by police in Minneapolis during a no-knock warrant search.
White nationalist hate groups have grown by 55% in the US during the Trump era, and this was no more evident than last January. The pictures and film footage from January 6th exposed the angry underbelly of White America: Confederate flags, Thin Blue Line flags, Oath Keepers, Proud Boys, and a horde of angry, (mostly) fearful white people who fell for the “big lie.” During testimony before Congress earlier this year, law enforcement officer Harry Dunn testified that the mob shouted racial epithets at himself and other black officers as the violent mob desecrated the halls of the Capitol.
On the anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday, Republicans in Congress and the Senate tweeted their respects, but at the same time, they vehemently shot down the voting rights bill. GOP legislators and conservative groups are trash-talking the teaching of critical race theory and even encourage banning books written by prominent Black authors such as Maya Angelou, Mikki Kendall, and Kalynn Bayron. Ovidia Molina, the president of the Texas State Teachers Association, called the banning of books in classrooms “disturbing and political overreach.” African American author Mikki Kendall, author of Hood Feminism, stated that “Children who can think for themselves and analyze information are the biggest danger to bigots who are trying desperately to cling to an imaginary past.”
The imaginary past that White America is holding on to so desperately is the world of Beaver Cleaver, white picket fences, neatly tended lawns, and stately homes inhabited by, you guessed it, white people. White America can’t get over itself. When the conversation turns to voting rights, the nomination of a Black Supreme Court judge, and addressing critical race theory, White America gets that knee-jerk reaction fueled only by fear and ignorance.
Black History is not only for Black Americans, it is for all Americans. If school districts burn books and water down the history of black Americans, then our youth are misinformed and indoctrinated into a warped history that continues to enforce racism and the fable that White America is superior. If we are to move forward and actively combat racism as a nation: We need to offer more than just lip service and putting posters on the walls.