Opinions

Kofi Mframa

Opinions Editor

VERY FEBRUARY, LIKE CLOCKWORK, my teachers would pull out the same lessons about the same four or five Black historical figures. Every year, we were taught the same trite lessons on Martin Luther King Jr. having a dream, Rosa Parks’ refusal to give up her seat and Harriet Tubman’s journey to freedom.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s important that we learn these things, these figures are integral parts of American history. It’s the nature in which we learned about them that never sat right with me.

While white historical figures are given intellectual country throughout the year, Black figures just aren’t afforded that same depth. Instead, they are relegated to the same month every year. Black figures don’t deserve to only be discussed during Black History Month — their accomplishments should be woven into the expansive fabric of American history year-round.

Black History Month began as “Negro History Week” in 1926 when American historian and “father of Black history” Carter G. Woodson wanted to “designate a time to promote and educate people about Black history and culture,” according to NPR.

The weeklong celebration, originally taking place in the second week of

February, became a month-long celebration when Pres. Gerald Ford officially recognized Black History Month in 1976, according to NPR.

The original intention was never to place limits on discussions of Black history, but to act as a conduit to deepen our understanding of Black contributions to our cultural zeitgeist.

However, it seems as though the original meaning of the celebration has gotten lost.

Instead of using this time to celebrate the Black accomplishments we’ve already spent the year acknowledging, we regurgitate the same talking points over and over again.

This ultimately does a disservice not only to the people we aim to celebrate, but to those of us eager to learn about underrepresented figures. The very limited amount of people we talk about only becomes more limited as we deny exploring the breadth of their accomplishments and contributions.

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We’re all very familiar with King’s dreams of racial equality, but little is taught about his anti-capitalist teachings and advocacy for class consciousness and equity. We know all about Parks’ refusal to give up her seat, but we are never taught that she was one of many Black women who stood their ground.

It’s certainly not lost on me that more radical thinkers like bell hooks, Fred Hampton and Angela Davis are excluded from mainstream discussion during Black History Month. Frankly, the very limited amount of people and ideologies we highlight fit neatly into white sensibilities of racial equality.

They all tend to be very middle-ofthe-road. Progressive enough to confirm what we already know is true — racism is bad, equality is good — but not too progressive as to offer any grandiose criticisms of white supremacy and white hegemony. This only proves that white people and their comfort are at the helm of most discussions of Black history which only limits these discussions more.

By expanding our recognition and celebration of Black history, we’ll have the opportunity to uplift previously underappreciated voices and expose new audiences to philosophies that can help us progress as a community in our ongoing fight for liberation.

Black history is American history, and it should be treated as such.

Many critics of racially sensitive topics in public schools believe that teaching students about racism or America’s racist history is some form of indoctrination. They believe that topics like these only politicize children and that kids are far too young to be exposed to these ideas.

If Black kids are old enough to experience racism, white kids are old enough to learn about it.

The removal of said curriculum is a calculated attempt at deradicalizing our youth and dissuading them from questioning an undoubtedly oppressive society.

Students are starting to realize this.

More than 200 students walked out of an Alabama high school on Feb. 8 after school leaders told them to remove discussions of slavery and civil rights because it made one of the administrators uncomfortable, according to The Associated Press.

KOFI MFRAMA Opinions Editor

HE FLORIDA DEPARTMENT of Education rejected the inclusion of Advanced Placement African American History in the state’s curriculum, citing the course is “inexplicably contrary to Florida law and significantly lacks educational value” in a letter to the College Board sent on Jan. 12. Florida Gov. Ron Desantis said the course is too “woke” and pushes a liberal agenda, while other officials take issue with the course’s inclusion of Black Lives Matter, Black feminism and the reparations movement.

As a result, the College Board released a revised version of the course on Feb. 1, removing most of the controversial subject matter and introducing “Black conservatism.” Though the College Board denies Florida being the reason for the changes, it’s not hard to see the state’s aversions to the course acting as an incentive to its change.

This is no isolated incident. Florida’s rejection of the original AP African American History course is just another example of the ongoing trend of removing racially sensitive topics from American public education.

The fanfare surrounding critical race theory, or CRT, served as a main catalyst for this dangerous trend of disinformation. CRT is a graduate-level, academic concept that examines systemic and institutional racism. Many conservatives were led to believe this course was being taught in K-12 schools when it was not.

This discourse surrounding CRT began after the summer 2020 and the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement. Many of its critics say CRT only widens the racial divide in America and teaches white people to hate themselves.

It’s not only CRT that conservatives dislike; these people have an aversion to any discussion of race in schools. Anything that forces people to look at America through a critical lens, to acknowledge this country’s evil history of racism or to think introspectively about how one can be complicit in the oppression of others is said to have no educational value.

This way of thinking only leads to our detriment.

Demonstrations like this show us the power of knowledge and the limitless capabilities of a community that not only acknowledges the past, but has a deep understanding of how it impacts the present.

Once I left high school and began to learn more about the things I was taught regarding American history, I quickly realized most of the things I learned were half truths or outright lies. Facts were purposefully left out and certain things as to not make America the villain.

If the things I learned in school weren’t even fact, I can only imagine the kinds of things being taught now, given the copious restrictions on racial or otherwise divisive topics.

School is supposed to be a place where we learn. What good is it if we are too afraid to teach our children about the uncomfortable nature of our past?