Written by Taoan, 2021 Cohort
Today we discussed the validity of Black History Month. For anybody who does not know what is Black History Month, it is an annual observance originating for the African-American people in February. In the boot camp, we discussed what are micro-aggressions and had a debate about if we should celebrate it or not, also we established the difference between BLM and BHM, as they are easily confused.
I have to apologize that I misunderstood BMH the first time. Due to the stereotype, I thought it was about racism (like Black Lives Matter ). After the explanation from our instructor, I learned that the purpose of BMH is to remember important African-American cultural contributions. If somebody asked me to pick a side that if we should celebrate it, I still would be on the fence, as it is a complex topic.
On the one hand, we need to have BMH to remember the contributions of prominent Africa-Americans. For example, Martin Luther King, Jr contribution to Black people’s rights, Louis Armstrong’s contribution to Jazz, Michael Jordan’s contribution to basketball, etc. It is remarkable that they showed achievements in their fields in such a harsh environment where they were subjected to racism. Besides, the African-Americans fought for this celebration, they deserve it. Historian Carter G. Woodson and the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (ASNLH) realized the importance of the culture for a race, so they wanted to highlight their unique culture.
On the other hand, Just like Morgan Freeman said, Black History is American history. Now we can feel the black culture everywhere: Jazz and blues, Hip-Hop and Dreadlocks, each so unique that we can instantly recognize it. After a long period of development, black culture has long been integrated into all aspects of American culture, including music, film and television, cuisine and sports. There are imitators with different skin colours of black culture all over the world. I also want to mention I believe the reason some people like black culture or outstanding African Americans, not because of their skin colour or history, but because they like the culture itself, or that African-Americans are excellent themselves. People would like them no matter what. Preferences related to race are also forms of discrimination, in my perspective. BHM kind’ve gives me the feeling that people observe it just to be politically correct, and that’s part of the reason that I misunderstood the purpose of BHM. All in all, my position is neutral, I should not say anything about whether North America should have BHM or not. But I really appreciate African-Americans bringing us so much greatness.