Why does our nation celebrate "Black History Month" every year? For one, how do you define "Black" when even amongst themselves it's a relative term?
I lived in Namibia for five and a half years and there were "black" people and "coloured" people.(No that's not racist, that's what they call themselves...). Well the people that they called coloured would be classified under the "black" category in America but over there they are not considered "black". That's just an example of the confusion in one country, so what about all over the world? Who defines whose history we're actually celebrating?
On top of that, why are we celebrating it in the first place? Why don't we have "White History Month"? I'll tell you now that if we did, we'd be labelled "racist" but at the same time, the people labelling us that are advocating a month in our year where we celebrate the history of another group of people. Who's the racist now? Why does it seem that people think that we have to devote special attention to a group of our own citizens and not another group?
Why do people give out scholarships based on racial background? I'm a white male and when competing for an average goverment scholarship with anyone of a different race, even if I have the same qualifications, most times, I will lose. Of course this is in no way true for all scholarships... they are at the discretion of the sponsor, but it's happened before that if a sponsor gives the award to someone white over someone of a different race the other person sues the sponsor. Is that fair? Sponsors can be anti-white and get away with it, but if someone's anti-"black" then they get labelled as racist and get their butts sued off? Is that racist? Tell me honestly.
The fact is that if people say that another group of people need special attention they are in fact commiting racism on a sort of level. Actually, you could say that they're being racist both ways, if it's possible. They are ardently anti-white but at the same time, they say that minorities require extra rights. I think that everyone, no matter what colour their skin, or ethnic back ground should have the same rights. In my opinion, there are no "african-americans", no "mexican-americans", no "canadian-americans", or any "title-americans". There are only... well... AMERICANS! If you're so into your ethnic background that you put aside your current citizenship and the ideals represented by your government(such as equality, freedom, justice, and democracy...) then you can just renounce your citizenship and return to your "mother land". ie. if you continue to label yourself a "cuban-american"(I just pulled out that title randomly... I'm not biased against Cubans in any way...) then you can just migrate back to Cuba.
Come on people. If you're American, you're American. Don't seperate yourself from anyone else who is a citizen of our country. That's simply racist. You don't deserve any special treatment. You don't deserve a scholarship over someone else because of the colour of your skin and you don't deserve a month of the nation's year to celebrate your history...
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It's Black History Month, not week.
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~Fallon~
“What is insanity, anyway? Is it when you scream and everyone else whispers, or is it when you fight for what's right, even when everyone else thinks your wrong?” Ethergoth
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You're right, let me fix it...
-Cheez Out-
I totally agree with you! We all are Americans. Except the illegal immigrants. They need to come here the right way.
Don't you remember history class in school? You learn about the Mesopotamians, Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans of ancient times, then it's all Europe and America. All WHITE history, as if the rest of the world didn't exist. We only hear about blacks when we learn about slavery, the civil war, and the civil rights movement. We only hear from Asia when we learn about their parts in the various wars that we've been in with them. In sixth grade, I wondered why we weren't learning about anybody else - it's WORLD history, so why aren't we learning about the entire world? Why just the white people? The rest of the world has always existed, and they've done some pretty cool things (especially in Asia), but we don't know about any of that because it's apparently not important. I learned the same old things about European history in grades four, six, seven, and ten. The SAME things! Why couldn't we have spent some of that time on other continents? Isn't THAT racist?
I don't need drugs - I have genetics.
Another reason the public school system fails. I've learned about the world. Albeit I have not learn as much about Africa as I could, there is a reason why. Besides the Egyptians, writing seems to have been relatively obscure and most things were passed down orally. Besides that, most didn't venture down into the deepers parts of Africa till only recently. The public school system fails to teach about history on a nice level. I learned about the histories on all the continents but Anartica (for obvious reasons), but before you start freaking out over racial preference in history, first use your brain to realize that we don't know that much about Africa for the reasons I've stated.
...And what about Asia? were they not existing and keeping documents of their history?
I don't need drugs - I have genetics.
Not til a certain point, but then you also have to remember that most parts of Asia closed themselves to westerners for the longest time. Still, that isn't an excuse for now, that's why I'm not in the public school system. It's full of fucks.
i hate when white kids complain that they can't get scholar ships because they are white.
there are certain scholarships that are yes, made particularly for minorities. but there are plenty of scholarships that grant equal opportunities for all regardless of race.
perhaps there are scholarships for students of minority groups because yes, most of them do have a harder time affording colleges. Whites can complain all they want about racial prejudices that they face, but a white person still has a greater chance of being more sucessful than a colored person because there is stillso much racism in america.
"You learn about the Mesopotamians, Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans of ancient times, then it's all Europe and America."
There were "black" people in Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, and Rome back then. Have you ever heard of Hannibal of north africa?
i think we learn more about europe in history because there was more documentation in europe of what was going on and europe is a really really really big place and europe was and is the world powers
~ <3 Breanne <3 ~
The schools, school districts, state governments are run by white people. The textbooks are written by white people, and the textbook companies are run by white people. The canon was adopted and approved by white people. Schools teach what kids need to know to be successful in college, which is also run by white people.
There is a ton of history in the United States that involved thousands of African Americans, Chinese Americans, Mexican Americans, and Native Americans. Why do we have to teach all the contributions of black people in one month? I think that's the question we should be asking...not why do we have a month, but why do we only have a month? It should be integrated into our curriculum. The fact is, it isn't.
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/ediblewoman
there is all of those cultures in our school system. I have learned about china, africa, blacks in america, etc. you can not sit there and tell me that we do not learn about all of those things. The reason why a lot of white people want a month because we are denyed having a month and called raciest because we want one. plus we have to be equal and its bull saying that we dont deserve one in the first place. Not everyone in the school systems are white that is bullshit as well and you know it
~ <3 Breanne <3 ~
But it's hard to tell if you don't use the reply buttons.
I know you learn about all those cultures in school, but if you look at the percentage of time spent on them vs. the percentage of their actual impact on human history, and even more close to home the percentage of the student body they make up, I can just about guarantee that the white portions of the curriculum are totally disproportionate. Also, while I realize that on occasion a black person does go into the field of education, black (and Latino and Asian) students are still not seeing a proportionate number of adults in charge that match their race. This sends a serious negative message to students of color and it puts them at a disadvantage because everything comes from a foreign perspective.
If you don't believe me about the numbers, take a survey of your school. I bet the racial demographics of the student body can be found on the state department of education website. Then, survey your teachers. Count how many Black, Latino, and Asian teachers work in your school (teachers, not paras) versus the number of white teachers. Figure out the percentages. Your math teacher can help you with this, if you need it. Then compare the racial demographics of the teaching staff to the demographics of the student body and see how it plays out. And if you go to an all white school, look up an urban school with a high concentration of students of color and do the same comparison. The disparity will be even more striking in that case.
And thanks for calling my point bullshit. I can't even tell you how many times I have wanted to call that on one of your uninformed responses. But I resist, because it is the decent way to have a discussion.
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/ediblewoman
i go a mostly white school yes but it is not like that everywhere. it just depends on where you live. plus anyone can be a teacher or work for the government. there are a lot of african americans or latinos doing things in this world. i mean mrs. rice is one of them. i look up to her a lot and wish she would run for president because i think she would make a great one. there is nothing stopping people that are not white from being important people in this world and not only white people run this world i still refuse to believe that.
~ <3 Breanne <3 ~
Seriously, you should read "White Privilege." It is an incredibly eye opening book. Also read "Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together In the Cafeteria?"
I used to think like you do, but then I went into the real world and I got educated on the subject. There really are systems of oppression in the world. You can claim ignorance of them, but that doesn't make them go away. Only by understanding them do we get to a point where a colorblind society is possible. We're just not there yet. I want to challenge your thinking. Look into it. Read up on white privilege. Think about it. Look around you with your eyes really open, and see if you still feel the same way.
None of the readings i'm recommending to you are meant to make you feel bad. They aren't pointing the finger at anyone. But if a person learns about white privilege and still does nothing to change it, I really will call them a bigot, because then it is willful racism.
It's hard to challenge the status quo, but it is not hard to question it. That's all I'm asking.
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/ediblewoman
Wow... I haven't been on this site in like a month(ish... I forget how long) and this conversation is still going on. I see the discussion has turned to what's being taught in our schools. Frankly, I think you're all wrong. I don't think that the curriculum over emphasizes the importance of european history. If you take a broad view of the world's history, many of the most revolutionary ideologies originated in europe. If it wasn't for western thinking and PROGRESSIVISM(yes I used the buzz word on this site =P) the world would not be where it is today. The anti-slavery movement(I forget the technical term ascribed to it...) began in England by Christianity. Nowhere else in the world was that going on. You realize that it wasn't only the white people who took slaves. Everywhere else in the world people enslaved other peoples. Chinese, Muslims, Arabs, even African tribes took other tribes to be their slaves. The fact is that "white" people began the movement that changed all that. If you want to lower that in importance and increase the teaching of other philosophy then be my guest and we'll both watch in horror at what the next generation grows up to become.
Now with that side stated, I want to look at the other side, cuz both are wrong on some level. I have to agree that other people's histories are minimized in the current curriculum. Whether that's for the reason I stated above or for less than honourable reasons I can't say for sure, but I do have to contradict the statement that we don't have as much documentation of other people's history as european history. Well, yes, since the invention of the printing press occurred in Germany, much of European history was documented widely, but I have to state a little fact first. Writing is generally accepted(at least when I was in school...) to have originated in the far east. That would mean that they should have the most documented history right? Whether those documents have been preserved... I don't know...
-Cheez Out-
I have to say that I agree somewhat to what cheezmaestro (hehe) is saying. Dont get me wrong, I think it is deeply important for people to be educated about the whole world, not just the western world. But there is a reason why the west (Europe/America) is and has been for a while the preeminent power in the world. The west has been able to value, retain and build upon knowledge beginning with the renaissance, or if you want to take a longer view of it, since the ancient Greeks with a few centuries of slowing down in the middle-ages. Not only with literary works, but with technology, which enabled them to do great and terrible things. But lets face it, we owe a lot to what the Europeans have developed. In my oppinion, we should continue to place strong emphasis on this part of history.
However, I have to disagree about your slavery comment. The fact of the matter is, is that slavery in the west and slavery in the rest of the world and for most of history were two completely different institutions. There's really no comparison. For most of history slavery has had more in common with western indentured servitude. People would be enslaved to pay off a debt or if they were captured in battle. It was not for their entire lives and it was never hereditary like in the America's.
All that being said, I do think that our education would benifit if we did learn at least a little more than we currently do about other cultures and their history.
Also, our school system is crap anyways, you'd be better if getting a homeschooled education. Just my two cents.