HISTORY CORNER

WHY WE CELEBRATE BLACK HISTORY MONTH

BY BARBARA WOMACK

In light of recent events that threaten the very core of our democracy and our freedoms, I felt the necessity to run this article again with some alterations.

Racism, of course, has been a constant in American history. It was there at the founding of the United States of America. The Civil War did not end it, Reconstruction, or legal separation or the Civil Rights struggle did not end it. Racism is still with us as our churches and Historically Black Colleges and Universities are threatened. The proliferation of racist propaganda signals dangerous civil and race-based divisions in America.

In order for us to fully appreciate the celebration of Black History Month and to understand why there is a need for this celebration, it is imperative that we look back at North America before 1926 when Black History Month was established.

Between 1901 and 1925 there were 1,364 lynchings of Black men, women and children.

Beginning in 1906, there were hundreds of race riots in which thousands of Blacks were killed from Atlanta to Arkansas. In 1913 the Wilson Administration began government segregation of work places, rest rooms and lunch rooms. The summer of 1919 is called the "Red Summer" as there were 26 race riots between the months of April and October. In 1922 an anti-lynching bill was killed by filibuster in the U.S. Senate. In 1925, Malcolm X was born.

It was this kind of climate that inspired the talented and brilliant African-American scholar, Dr. Carter G. Woodson to lead in the search for truth and to institutionalize what was then referred to as Negro History Week. Woodson is quoted as saying: "If race has no history, if it has no worthwhile tradition, it becomes a negligible factor in the thought of the world and it stands in danger of being exterminated."

Woodson, who had a PhD from Harvard, dropped out of academia to devote his life to the scientific study of the African-American experience in America, Africa and throughout the world. He was a powerful factor in Negro History Week being launched in 1926 in hopes of neutralizing the apparent ignorance and distortion of Black History.

What was created as Negro History Week has been expanded to encompass the whole month of February in order to examine the collective ingenuity, creativity, cultural and political experience of the masses of African-Americans.

In a piece of writing by Vanderbilt's Felix Boateng, he states, "Black History Month should be the reaffirmation of struggle and determination to change attitudes, and to heighten the understanding of the African-American experience. It challenges the present-day white and Black generations alike to protect and to preserve the humanity of all peoples of African descent."

The significance of February is that many African-American birthdays as well other important events happened in February.

Frederick Douglass, the Great Emancipator and publisher, poet and writer Langston Hughes, Pianist Eubie Blake, and Abraham Lincoln were all born in February.

As for events, The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was founded in February. Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the U.S. tried to free the slaves with his "Emancipation Proclamation," was born in February as well. W.E.B. Dubois, the founder of the NAACP was born in February. The 15th Amendment granting Blacks the right to vote was passed in February and Malcolm X died in February.

So, the month of February is designated as Black History Month. In reality, this month is a time of reflection for all races to find common ground and to bring civility back into a world filled with hatred and a disregard for each other as human beings. The final question is whether Black people and the totality of Americans love and care enough about each other to save each other and to save the world.