It is essential that every American study and understand black history simply because slavery was such an ugly part of our collective history.
Over twenty years ago when I was teaching in a school in Queens, New York, where about 80% of the students were white, I put up a Black History Month display in my classroom. I also put up pictures of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln as well as reluctantly devoting one bulletin board to ubiquitous Valentine’s Day hearts (as I was begged by the young ladies in the class to do so). My Black History Month display included photos of famous black Americans, a timeline of events in black history, and posters featuring the accomplishments of black people.…
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26 - American Jewish Princess
To begin with, NEVER did I say that we should or should not celebrate Black History Month. If you want to attack me with a "how dare you" comment, then do so with what I have written.
As far as who lost their identity and whatnot, I am not going to get into the equivelant of a high school pissing contest. I am trying my best to become multi-cultural, but at the moment I only know pieces of my own cultures. Two of my heritages that I know the most of are the Irish and the Jewish.
Take a look at world history and not your back yard once in a while. Irish lost their language centuries ago to the English and we are just now starting to get it back. We had our homes taken right from under our feet and we were not allowed to express any part of our culture. That's wastering it down to the extreme.
The Jews had it at least alomst if not just as bad as the African people. We have been ridiculed and condemed for many a millenia. How many times were my people the target of slavery or mass genacide? The only thing that we had going for us was the fact that we could multiply like rabbits or hide somewhat well. As far as our history is concerned, we only know what we know about ourselves because of the Torah and the Christian Bible. If not for them my history would have been lost before the days of Moses when we were taken into Egyptian slavery. Even those books are not that adequate because they contradict eachother or one book has something that the other does not. So before you get huffy or think that your heritage history is worse than anyone else's look at history. At least your own people sold you into slavery. We were raped, beaten, torn away from our homes, our families, our heritage to the point where our greatest history book makes no sense. We are still discovering our history. You will probably say, "well, at least you have your names" but what good is a name if you don't know what is behind it? What it means or stands for? For decades my family and many other families did not know that they were Jewish for fear of being persecuted. Even after coming to the USA from Poland, we still hid. My children and myself up until fifteen years ago, when my grandmother was on her deathbed, did not know that we were Jewish. Fifteen years ago, that's 46 years after the end of World War II. Do you have ANY idea what it is like to have someone just pop up and say "Oh, by the way, you're not who you think you are. You're Jewish." Something like that isn't that easy to weallow. At least you know that you are African from the moment you are born.
P.s,
"And you have the nerve to question the need of a Black History Month? that also happen to be the shortest month of the year!"-Muhammad Rahim
Isn't this blog site suppoded to be free of personal attacks? I think that someone needs to put their emotions in check before they begin to type.
27 - Jewish American Princess
Hey, Mohammud,
Did your people even keep a record of any sorts of your history? Or at least try? I'm not trying to be a ass. I'm honestly asking a question because I don't know the answer to it. Maybe that is at least part of the reason that you don't know too much. I am just saying that because at least my people are finding artifacts because we at least tried to keep records. Am I making any sense? Like I said before, I'm not trying to be an ass.
28 - Ruvy in Jerusalem
Ah Princess,
You touch upon an interesting and very sore point among blacks. For centuries, black history ws oral history only. There was no written language in use in Africa aside from Arabic, and that was the language of the slavers.
The white slavers were smart enough to try diligently to deny blacks knowledge of letters. So, black history was the telling of tales from mother or father to son and daughter; oral history in the most literal sense of the word. So, when the late Alex Haley wrote the book "Roots," he did a groundbreaking thing for black poeple.
We Jews at least had our books and scrolls, and records of our ancestries - even though some of us were denied this due to persecution.
Many of our own people are finally beginning to reclaim their own heritage after centuries of hiding.
29 - American Jewish Princess
Ah. See, I didn't know that. I wanted to know before I opened my mouth and sounded unedjucated or worse. That's why I asked the question. Thank you, Ravy, for helping me understand a little better.
30 - shithead
do you think it is necessary to celebrate Black History Month
31 - Jewish American Princess
Question: "Do you think it is necessary to celebrate Black History Month?"
My answer is simply this: I firmly believe that it is necessary for all people to remember who they are and what their ancestors did in order for them to be allowed to have the rights and privelages that are allowed today. I also firmly believe that we as the human race in a whole have an obligation to learn and attempt to understan the various cultures that create our awesome world. If you have a certain month set aside for a particular race or culture, then you are just allowing the segregation and recism to continue. Even if you are singling out one race or culture for special recognition, it is still going to have a negative effect in some way. It's somewhat like a "teacher's pet syndrome" if you will.
Another thought to take into consideration: There are only twelve months in a year and countless heritages in the world. Who's to say that one race is deserving of a month's worth of recognition and another is not?