Life of The CipPher

Color Blind Month
Does one month really correct a series of wrongs? Every year for less than 30 days, African Americans are said to be “celebrated” for their accomplishments. Yet when a child begins to learn about Black History Month, the first word they hear is slavery. They hear of African Americans being betrayed and sent over to work for the “white man.” Then, the iconic figures that the children hear about are Martin Luther King Jr., Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, Rosa Parks, and Malcolm X.
Who knows what would happen if a school dared to teach about Henry P. Newton
or Mae Jemison? The reality of all of this is that America shouldn’t have a Black History Month.
Americans are the first people to screw someone over and then a few years later ask, “Are we cool?”
African Americans have practically lost their identity. Is a month really a sufficient recovery period?
Malcolm X gave himself the name X because in math X is the unknown. As African Americans, it is unknown what their last names are due to slavery. To still use the word “slave” seems to be degrading to anyone who fought just to live an extra day. A slave might have been their label, but it definitely wasn’t an accurate definition of what it meant to be an African American in that time period. They were warriors who were brutally forced to work for strangers without pay.
Once African Americans received their “freedom”, they were able to happily walk around yet still got stoned and lynched. Although acts were passed and civil right leaders rose, racism never died, it just became more obscure. To remind them of how useless they once were, a month was dedicated to the fight and pain that African Americans have experienced. As an apology, African Americans receive this month with a letter that says “this is what you did for our country, hope this makes us even.”
Not to mention, African Americans get the shortest month out of the entire year. The month in which the only important holiday is Valentine’s Day which is a holiday made by Hallmark. Why wasn’t the month given on the same month of Martin Luther King’s Birthday? Having the month on the shortest month says that African Americans are not good enough to receive a longer month. If there was a whole month dedicated to a Caucasians, it would probably be the longest month of the year. It seems there is history dedicated to Caucasians though, it’s called American History.
If people want African Americans to be equal to everyone else, treat them like everyone else. Don’t give us a month, give us half the book (what book). The title is African American which means they are Africans who happened to be born in America. If that is the case, then African Americans deserve their spot in the textbooks, not a small chapter on slavery and a chapter on the civil rights movement. Children learn about this every year and students . Teach children things that they don’t know about African Americans, and when it is taught, teach them about history not the pain inflicted pain.
Some may say that Black History Month is good because it celebrates the African Americans separately. The African Americans have a whole month dedicated to themselves. While looking at Black History Month, people should ask themselves if it’s dedicated to African Americans, or handed to them due to guilt. Isn’t cutting down history and celebrating people of one race for one month still supporting separatism? The only way to get rid of racism is to stop singling out everyone. Get rid of the word “race” because as far as separation is concerned, it is the divider. An African American man will no longer look at a Caucasian man and say that he is Caucasian. A Caucasian man will no longer look at and African American and see a black man that is inferior.
The day when color is not used in describing a person, is the day when racism will be extinct. When people stop calling African Americans black, Black History Month will change to African American History Month. Cut out the most irritating factor which is the fact that we get a month, and you’ll have African American History. Once that’s done, realize that African Americans are still Americans. Everyone was an immigrant of America going all the way back to Native American times. That means that African Americans were born in America with African descents. Just like Hispanics were born in America but have foreign ancestors as well as Asians and every other race in America. Don’t discourage us and give us Black History Month, give us something greater. Give us American History.