ForumsWEPRBlack History Month

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LegoMyLego27
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LegoMyLego27
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Shepherd

Seriously, im not being racist

I think this concept is silly. Why?

There is no White History Month, or Asian History month, making this promoting one race, and ignoring the others. You probably think im a racist? No, Morgan Freeman is black and he has my same philosophy on this subject, here is a quote from him

Freeman has publicly criticized the celebration of Black History Month and does not participate in any related events, saying, "I don't want a black history month. Black history is American history." He says the only way to end racism is to stop talking about it, and he notes that there is no "white history month."


Is he racist, no because he said that about HIS OWN race!

Your view on this?
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aknerd
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aknerd
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Peasant

There is no White History Month

Actually, there are eleven. As Time Wise says: "But white people do have their own months! They just have tricky names, like April." There is actually an Asian-pacific heritage month (May) as well.

No, Morgan Freeman is black and he has my same philosophy on this subject, here is a quote from him

Morgan Freeman is not the King of black people. One person cannot speak for an entire race. Also, you cannot end something like racism by not talking about it.

Basically, there is a black history month because, well, you don't have to go very far back into history of the U.S. to get to a point where Black people were being systematically discriminated against in a malicious fashion. This merits taking some time out of the year to look back and think "Wow, where did we go wrong, and how can we make sure this never happens again? What can I do to make sure it isn't happening now?"

White history has a much more prominent place in schools and whatnot. There is no AP African history class, for example. You don't have to do anything for black history month, it is just there to try to make up for this imbalance.
devsaupa
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devsaupa
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Nomad

There is no AP African history class, for example. You don't have to do anything for black history month, it is just there to try to make up for this imbalance.


Actually, in my US history class, we focus exclusively on black history in America, as part of the course. Harlem Movement, Slavery, and whatnot. It's not prominent, but that may be because there isn't much to talk about. Not trying to be rude, but in the Dark ages and even a couple centuries ago, most technological and cultural, "advances" were associated with Whites/Asians.
invalid777
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invalid777
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Nomad

[quote=LegoMyLego27]Seriously, im not being racist[/quote]
It don't matter. Whether it's racist or not, who ever said racism was bad?
^ Please don't comment on that.

I think the 'Black History Month' idea/event is just a way the United States can apologize to African Americans from the 1900's.

[quote=aknerd]"Wow, where did we go wrong, and how can we make sure this never happens again? What can I do to make sure it isn't happening now?"[/quote]
Exactly. So it's probably some phony apology letter.

LegoMyLego27
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LegoMyLego27
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Shepherd

Morgan Freeman is not the King of black people. One person cannot speak for an entire race. Also, you cannot end something like racism by not talking about it.


I never said ha I was just giving you a source.
aknerd
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aknerd
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Peasant

most technological and cultural, "advances" were associated with Whites/Asians.


Technological? Yes, in many ways. Cultural? What does that even mean? How can you say one cultural advance is better/more important than another?

It's not prominent, but that may be because there isn't much to talk about.


I disagree. First of all, For the vast majority of U.S. history, there has been a significant number of black people in the states. It isn't like they weren't doing anything, despite what white people at the time thought. Though, compared to other classes, I would imagine most AP u.s. classes do a pretty good of not focusing on any one issue for too much of the course. The last part of my post was just pointing out that in many high schools, there are classes that are essentially the history of white people, while no other race gets that privilege.

Of course, I'm sure some schools out there have a black history class, but no public high schools that I know of.
aknerd
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aknerd
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Peasant

sorry for double posting...

I think the 'Black History Month' idea/event is just a way the United States can apologize to African Americans from the 1900's.

I disagree. While there are probably people alive today who should apologize to certain black people (read your grandparent's year book quotes, they are often incredibly racist (and a little entertaining)), the idea of an entire nation apologizing to an entire race is just stupid. It won't solve anything and it will probably just make things worse.

Black history month shouldn't be about apologizing, or guilt, or any negative emotion. It should be about taking a little time to become more informed on current social issues, and maybe appreciating the lengths some historical figures (both black and white) went through in order to get society where it is today. The people involved in the various civil rights movement led some pretty amazing lives, and said some pretty powerful things.
I never said ha I was just giving you a source.

Why did you choose that source? There are plenty of white people who have similar sentiments, but you went out of your way to make note of the fact that Freeman is black.
invalid777
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invalid777
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Nomad

[quote=aknerd]the idea of an entire nation apologizing to an entire race is just stupid[/quote]
Hm, yeah, I suppose so. Maybe the government is trolling?

First of all, what is Black History Month supposed to do?

[quote=Wikipedia]Black History Month is a national annual observance for remembrance of important people and events in the history of the African diaspora.[/quote]

So to honor the achievements of African Americans throughout history. . .

Now back to the OP:
[quote=LegoMyLego27]There is no White History Month, or Asian History month, making this promoting one race, and ignoring the others.[/quote]

So Lego could be correct, in a sense that there were a lot of people throughout history that had a lot of achievements; regardless of their race. So why only African Americans are "awarded"?

devsaupa
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devsaupa
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Nomad

How can you say one cultural advance is better/more important than another?


Look up cultural. It's a bit more broad than you seem to think it is. And when I put advanced in quotes, I meant to say that it is seen as advances. Can you name a black person before the 1850's that did something groundbreaking to change how the world/nation works? If there was and he wasn't given credit, that is unfortunate, but I don't believe there was.

It isn't like they weren't doing anything


Yes, but the amount that actually brought change directly is very slim.

there are classes that are essentially the history of white people


Okay, America is a mostly white nation, founded by white people. They still cover other races in World History classes. If you want a education that covers only one race that is not white, you have foreign language classes that cover some history, and some schools and colleges have classes to do that.
Moe
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Moe
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Blacksmith

there are classes that are essentially the history of white people


In my high school it was world history in general, we focused on every continents and the more significant countries in those continents. Admittedly we did focus a lot more on Europe and the USA, but since I live in the USA it makes more sense to study history and culture related to the creation of your own.
aknerd
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aknerd
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Peasant

So Lego could be correct, in a sense that there were a lot of people throughout history that had a lot of achievements; regardless of their race. So why only African Americans are "awarded"?


Like I said, there are other months dedicated towards other races. And there are plenty of national holidays about white history. You might even be able to make an entire month out of them.

Okay, America is a mostly white nation

Not for much longer.

founded by white people

Who used other races to set up an economy that enabled the nation to succeed.

. Can you name a black person before the 1850's that did something groundbreaking to change how the world/nation works?


Jesus. Ah snap. Actually, I'm not going to be "that guy", and will give you an answer that won't completely derail the topic. "Ground Breaking" is kind of difficult, because it can't just be someone doing something better than anyone has before, like Mary Seacole. So... I suppose I'll go with Francois Toussaint Louverture.

*It is worth noting that I do not really think Jesus was black, nor do I care in the slightest (though he might have been). I just like being snarky.
invalid777
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invalid777
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Nomad

[quote=aknerd]there are classes that are essentially the history of white people[/quote]
Well. . . Isn't taking US History completely about white people?

[quote=devsaupa]Okay, America is a mostly white nation[/quote]
[quote=aknerd]Not for much longer.[/quote]
Well yeah, but it still is mostly white people.

EmperorPalpatine
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EmperorPalpatine
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Jester

Not for much longer.

Any evidence for how quickly or slowly the racial rates are changing? Currently white is at 80%. It would take more than the entire population of Mexico moving to the US for white to drop below 50%.
aknerd
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aknerd
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Peasant

Sometime in the next 40 years. So most people here will be middle aged (more or less) when this happens. And Wiki says white people make up less than 2/3 of the U.S (or closer to 70 percent if you count white latinos)*...

Whites are already a minority in Texas, New Mexico, Cali, and Hawaii.
And Maine is the whitest state, in case you were wondering.

*I actually found two different numbers for this on the same page- the 70 I cited and the 80 you did. Yay wikipedia.

Well. . . Isn't taking US History completely about white people?

Depends on how it is taught. It shouldn't be, for obvious reasons.
EmperorPalpatine
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EmperorPalpatine
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Jester

That link says that all the minorities COMBINED will reach the same percentage as whites. White will still be the majority. Think of it like the GOP polls. If votes for Gingrich + Santorum + Paul = votes for Romney, Romney still has the most votes.

aknerd
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aknerd
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Peasant

That link says that all the minorities COMBINED will reach the same percentage as whites. White will still be the majority. Think of it like the GOP polls. If votes for Gingrich + Santorum + Paul = votes for Romney, Romney still has the most votes.


Well, only if you don't use the correct definition of majority/minority. A Majority constitutes more than half of the total set. So, since white people will eventually not make up more than half of the population, they will not be in the majority. The relative size of other elements of the set are irrelevant.

In your GOP example, while Romney may have gotten more votes, most people did not vote for Romney. He did not get the majority of the votes.

Of course, even using your definition of majority, the GOP example is still bad, because it does not count for the possibility that Santorum and Paul might have gotten NO votes, in which case Gingrich and Romney would have tied. Obviously, two people can't both have the most votes.

To bring this back on topic:
For most people here, the second half of our lives will be spent in a country where we are not the majority. Our children will probably spend most of their lives in such a place, and our grandchildren will spend their entire lives in such a country. The time when a majority of people thought it was okay to treat a specific minority in a malicious manner will be hard to comprehend.

Even for me, as a member of a generation separate from the civil rights movement, its kind of hard to grasp such a concept. Its hard to imagine how such a thing could even happen, how people could be that horrible, and be okay with it. But after you accept that this is a possibility, that everyday people can be okay with systematically marginalizing a minority, you start to notice that it hasn't quite gone away yet.

And that's what I think the point of Black History Month is- to recognize that change still needs to happen. We can gain inspiration from past leaders- black, white, whatever*- and try to make things a little more fair. Because when we become a nation of minorities, everyone will have to start out from the same level. There will be no more in groups and out groups.

*I see no reason why black history should focus exclusively on black people. Its not like any one race in America interacts with only one race. There have been plenty of white people throughout our history who have stood for civil rights. I think such a standpoint would also address the issue of white guilt that seems to permeate black history month. There is no reason why white people should identify with historical racists over white civil rights leaders.
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