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Black History Month

I do think that Black History Month is necessary.  For so many citizens in the United States, this may be the only opportunity that they may have to hear about the horrible conditions of slavery and about positive impacts that African Americans have made to the United States.  American history in United States public schools is very much “white washed,” especially depending on what decade and where in the United States you were educated.  The contributions of slaves and free blacks throughout the United States have largely been ignored or under appreciated.  I have often heard the complaint that Black History Month is reduced to the very shortest month of the year.  In learning more about the history of Black History Month, it makes more sense to me how February was chosen.  Black History Month was first “Negro History Week” because the week held the birthdays of both Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass, both seen as heroes to African Americans due to their roles in the abolition of slavery.  I can understand an opponent of continuing Black History Month that might say black history should be all year round and included as part of American history.  The case though, in this nation, is that African American history is largely swept under the rug for several reasons.  The main reason, in my opinion is that Americans want to feel proud of their heritage, the land of the free and home of the brave.  Slavery, racism and the need for Black History Month in itself is an embarrassment to a country claiming to be superior to other countries.  Another reason African American history is largely ignored to history is racism.  Whites’ need to feel superior to blacks kept black history hidden to not portray whites in a bad light and to diminish achievements of blacks.  The truth is that there are still so many racists people towards African Americans in the current day.  Sadly, many of the racists tendencies that are present today, stem from family heritage from days of slavery, the Civil War and the Confederacy.

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