COLUMN: Black History Month needed now more than ever
The most common response I hear in regard to the phrase “Black History Month” is “Why isn’t there a White History Month?”
Let me answer that question with another question: Why don’t we have graveyards for the living or build hospitals only for people who are perfectly healthy?
We don’t have any of those things because the world is already structured to benefit living and healthy individuals. Devoting time and energy toward building those types of structures would be redundant and unnecessary.
The same would be true of a white history month. You don’t need a month devoted to white history when 365 days a year the systematic break down of this country is already devoted to giving white individuals a leg up over everyone else. This is especially true where white males are concerned.
Black History Month is important.
It might be more important now that it ever has been before.
The death of Michael Brown proves this to us. The death of Eric Garner proves this to us. The deaths John Crawford, Ezell Ford, Vonderrit Meyers, Tamir Rice – just to name a few of the many black lives lost by police brutality in 2014 – proves this to us.
In a time where black males are 21 times more likely than their white counterparts to be killed by police officers, Black History Month stands as a month of remembrance and education. We must remember and honor those we have lost in 2014 and to those we may lose in 2015. We also must educate ourselves on how to create a better society by studying our past and improving our future.
We cannot allow for things to continue going as they have in terms of institutionalized racism in our society. We have to take this time, Black History Month, to educate ourselves.
This year for Black History Month, I encourage you to attend some of the events that will be taking place around campus. From keynote speakers to comedians to food tasting events, I encourage all students – white students especially – to try and learn something about black culture outside of the obligatory Bob Marley poster in your dorms and knowing all the lyrics to at least one Kanye song.
We don’t live in a post-racial society, not even close. But maybe, by attempting to educate ourselves on things outside our own worldviews, we can make a step in the right direction.
