In recent posts, much discussion
has been centered on the topic of black history month. I was also very
intrigued by the article sent to us by Professor McKinney titled, “What to do
if someone asks: ‘Why isn’t there a white history month?’” These discussions
made me look back on my own experiences during black history month, and one
glaring problem stood out. In my schooling growing up, I do not think that I
was given a very accurate history of African Americans in this country. Throughout
my public school education, even during black history month, there was little
attention paid to the struggle of African Americans in the United States. My history
courses tended to focus on the lives of figures such as Harriet Tubman, Rosa
Parks, and Dr. King, while primarily depicting their triumphs without
mentioning the evils that that had to overcome. I watched Dr. King’s “I Have a
Dream” speech more times than I can remember in school, but rarely learned
about the white supremacist and racist mentalities he fought against that were
engrained into American society.
Being from Arkansas, during black
history month my teachers always focused on the Little Rock 9 as a major
success in the Civil Rights movement. They praised this integration so much,
almost as if to suggest that Arkansans paved the way for the rest of the Civil
Rights movement when in reality the Little Rock 9 were met with serious
opposition from both the public and government officials. I understand that it
is often painful to look back on things from the past and that black history
month is in large part a celebration, but I think that there should be more
focus in schools on just how much African Americans have had to overcome. I
think that the African slave trade, Jim Crow laws, and the countless other
barriers that stood in the way of racial equality are things that should be
critically engaged in a classroom setting.
Over the course of this semester I
have learned much about the oppression of African Americans over the course of our nation's history. In several instances, the harsh realities that we have been faced
with in class were somewhat uncomfortable to discuss, but I can honestly say
that I am a better student and person because of it. I now have a greater
appreciation for what blacks in this country have overcome and what we as
Americans of all colors continue to fight against. For this reason, I think
that an important part of black history month is not forgetting about the
negative events of the past, so that we can further appreciate how far the African American race has come and also to understand that the work in advancing racial equality is far from complete.
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ReplyDeleteWhen I think about Black History Month and discussion of the Civil Rights Movement in general throughout my life, I remember there was a little bit about slavery, a little bit about Rosa Parks, some mentioning about Jim Crow laws and the excessive measures taken to prevent blacks from voting, violent images, the KKK, and a LOT about Martin Luther King, Jr.. So I agree with you totally that this semester has definitely revealed a lot of what I was not taught in high school and before. So many times throughout the semester I find myself completely shocked and mouth wide open, not only about what is being discussed but almost more so about the fact that these very important facts had somehow slipped through the cracks in my education. It is a lot to process in just around three months. I always remember feeling like there were gaps in what I was being told but I wasn't necessarily sure what. Every year when it came time to discuss the subject, nothing new ever came up. While I agree that we cannot ignore the immensity of negative events that occurred during this time, I think the main issue is that instead of progressing our knowledge of it as we grew older, everything was repetitive. When we are first taught about all of this, we are pretty young and the way it is initially presented is difficult enough to process at those ages. But I do think that there should have been some point when someone stepped in to fill in the gaps of what the mainstream narrative and basic history texts do not fully expose. Because these aspects are, I think, extremely important in truly understanding the entire history and the movement itself. The structure of American education definitely needs to be evaluated and readjusted because without doing so, many people are being denied the ability to understand the true nature of how our society used to be. It is necessary to acknowledge that these aspects are important to teach. Having a more complete knowledge of where our nation has come from is the only way I believe we can truly progress and improve our society for the generations to come.
ReplyDeleteI was surprised this semester when I learned that a lot of schools in the country do not cover African American history extensively. As we were going through the different eras my history teachers would always explain the conditions of black people at the time-- whether it be a lesson of struggle or progression. However now that I look back I realize that most of what they taught did not come from the standardized text book, but from outside sources. Perhaps it was because that in Memphis the majority of students in the city schools were black that teachers felt as though they needed to incorporate more black history into the required curriculum. The history in textbooks, or the master narrative, ignores and downplays moments in history that involve black people. Because of this, Black History Month is often the only time students get a glimpse of black history even if it is diluted. Until black history is incorporated into the master narrative, Black History Month will continue to be a necessity.
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