Black History Month ÷ 28 days will not make much difference

Claudia Hibbert-BeDan
The Metropolitan

Black History Month at Auraria usually means a few speeches and a few exhibits. But ask some of your classmates what it means to them.

People see good things.

Peruvian female, 19: ãItâs like Cinco de Mayo for the Hispanics. It (Black History Month) means something for everybody. It shows how a lot of people fought for their rights.ä

Second Peruvian female, 19: ãIt teaches other people who donât know about it.ä

People also see bad things.

Black male, 18: ãI have a problem because this is the third day in February ÷ we only have 28 days in February ÷ and I havenât really seen anything. I want to see some exhibits, I want to see some displays, something going on.

ãPeople could appreciate it,ä he explains. ãWeâd become more diverse and meet more people. It could help people reach out to each other. I want some unity.ä

Some donât know what to make of Black History Month.

White male, 20: ãI havenât seen that much going on. I mean you see it on the

news and stuff. You can find information in the library and stuff, but you donât see many things in the community, like walking down the street or whatever.ä

White male, 19: ãYeah, but we might not notice it because weâre not ...ä

Do you think you have to be black to know itâs Black History Month?

19WM: ãWell, no, no no you donât, but I mean ...ä

20WM: ãI didnât realize that next month was black awareness month.ä
Someone corrects him. His friends laugh, then he gets serious.

20WM: ãWell, Martin Luther Kingâs birthday was last month, right? So how come Januaryâs not Black History Month?ä

19WM: ãIt might not have to do with him, though. Maybe itâs ...ä

20WM: ãFrederick Douglass?ä

19WM: ãMaybe. They just picked a random month, man.ä

20WM: ãReally, Iâm pretty ignorant on that stuff, to be honest.ä

19WM: ãAs am I.ä

Uh, as am I. I didnât know why Black History Month was in February, but I found out on the Internet. Carter G. Woodson, called the father of black history and founder of the Association of Negro Life and History, started Negro history week on Feb. 1, 1926. It became a full month 50 years later.

Iâm sure thereâs more to the story, but I donât know what. One student explained the reason for this.
Multicultural male, Jamaican ancestry: ãI guess that the way historyâs taught definitely leaves out a lot of black history. Even in the way itâs taught in school nowadays, the whole Amistad thingâs not mentioned.ä

ãI was just reading about a slave revolt in Louisiana where 500 slaves revolted and started marching toward New Orleans, which was the biggest slave revolt ever. I never heard of that before in my life, and Iâm a history major, and Iâm 47.

ãIt shouldnât be one month,ä he continues. ãIt should be year-round. It should be part of education, every history class. One month is kind of like Martin Luther King day. Everybody says what a great guy he was and then forgets about it.ä

Exactly. Blacks, women and the Earth donât need token months (February, March and April, respectively) for a few speeches and exhibits.

Our education needs integration. Thereâs more to black history than slavery and Martin Luther King Jr.