Black History Month Is for Everyone

Black history should be a core subject in elementary and high schools across America regardless of the racial make-up of schools. I firmly believe that. African Americans may have been robbed of opportunities to be fairly represented in the history books but other Americans have been royally screwed. It’s about the lies, people. The lies by omission about the contributions of African Americans to building America have been all too real.

The combination of social media and social justice is changing that. Thanks to a clever and aggressive use of social media by racially diverse social justice advocates, the country is waking up. As a black man, that makes me happy and it gives me hope. I am vigilant, though. I know that racism is a cancer that won’t go away. We’ll just have to let racist clowns live in their private hell. For the rest of us, the party must go on because there are young minds to develop to make our country a better place than ever.

Now, let’s be clear. Black History Month need not be a token (pardon the pun) celebration. It would be great to see it delivered in classrooms with a pedagogical approach designed to broaden students’ intellect. Imagine the coolness of having a room full of teenagers from different backgrounds having robust conversations about diversity that go beyond the shallow concepts that compromise the noble intent of diversity and inclusion programs. Imagine growing numbers of kids seeing each other as people yet holding on to their cultural identities. If you look at it that way, it’s easy to see how we, as a country, are in the perfect position to weave Black History Month into everyday historical sociological discussions instead of keeping it a “black thing.”

It’s a celebration, people. Party with me! Black History Month is for everyone because we should all be curators of our nation’s history.