The Problem With Black History Month

Another February.  Another round of black supremacists screaming about how evil white people are and white supremacists screaming about how there isn't a white history month and how racist they think that is.  February sucks.

By the way, there technically ARE white history months. Irish American Heritage Month is in March.  October is a busy month with German American Heritage, Italian American Heritage and Polish American Heritage Months.  All groups of people now classified as Caucasian.  There's even an Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month and a Jewish American Heritage Month both in May, an Arab American Heritage Month in April and a Native American Heritage Month in November.  Of course, we can't forget Hispanic Heritage Month in September and October because, for some strange reason, they have to date theirs differently from everybody else.

The point is, there's nothing wrong with setting a month aside to appreciate the contributions of African Americans to our nation.  They did contribute more than just music and sports.  First open heart surgery was performed by a black man.  Neil Degrass Tyson is a national treasure.  Harriet Tubman to MLK, Tuskegee Airmen to Obama, African Americans have helped shape and build our nation and we should celebrate that.  But that's not what Black History Month is being used for these days.

And the answer is in the name.

See, everybody else calls their month a "heritage" month.  African Americans call theirs a "history" month.  What's the difference, you ask?

The word heritage would denote a celebration of a group's culture as well as it's history.  The food, the fashion, the traditions are all put on public display where the people in that group are allowed to be proud of who they are and anyone who's interested can explore and increase their understanding of another culture.  And with the other heritage months, you don't have to be a member of that community to celebrate with them.  Heritage Months are all about bringing national attention to a group of people and acknowledging how lucky we are to have them in our society.

Black History month isn't as welcoming.  The word history gets in the way.  See, it doesn't focus on black culture anymore if ever did at all.  There's no communal celebration of black contributions to society.  Instead, it's a month dedicated to whining about how oppressed black people feel and how evil white people are.  It's a month dedicated to everybody whining about how whiney they think black people are.  It's a month of rehashing slavery and Jim Crow.  Of revelling in black victimhood.  And if you're not black, you're not really allowed to celebrate with them because, to them, it's considered racist for a non black to take an interest in black culture.  Unless it involves white people groveling for forgiveness.

Black History Month is for black racists and it's a shame.

A Black Heritage Month could be used to celebrate black culture.  It could raise awareness of issues that matter to the black community the way Native American Heritage Month points out the poverty faced by many Native Americans or the way Hispanic Heritage Month highlights the need for immigration reform.  But Black History Month is just about demeaning white people.

You don't raise awareness about things by insulting people.  It turns them off.

But it gets worse.  Walk through the hood and ask random black people about their history.  Over half of them under 40 have no idea what you're talking about.  Their knowledge ends with King, Malcolm X and Rosa Parks. They don't know their own history because, even though there's an entire month dedicated to it, none of them bother to learn anything about it.  They're too busy whining about white people.

So it begs the question.  What is the point of Black History Month?  Answer: To pick on white people.

African Americans have a rich history but they ignore it in favor of hating white people.  They invented rock n roll, but when they acknowledge it, it's only to insult white people for enjoying it.  Their cuisine tastes amazing, but rather than be happy others like it too, they criticize others for stealing it when they've done the same thing.  Hamburgers are not a black invention, but they still eat them.  Ice cream? Not from black people.  Hypocrites.  If a non black person wears a do rag or an African print shirt, they are called racist for it even if the do rag is just to keep their hair out of their eyes and the shirt is just pretty to them.  Why?

Black History Month grows more and more hateful each year.  New Black Panthers calling for the extermination of whites.  Black Israelites calling for the extermination of Jews.  The knock out game that specifically targets light skinned persons.  Can you blame people for being turned off by Black History Month?

I'm not going to justify racism from any color of people and I do acknowledge that black people had some pretty terrible things happen in the past.  There's nothing wrong with acknowledging that past or having reverence for it.  The problem lies in how you treat others in the present and hating on white people for stuff that happened years ago, for stuff they themselves didn't personally do and you yourselves didn't personally experience, is wrong.  You can't change past mistakes.  You can only make them up the best you can.

Civl Rights,  Affirmative Action, the collective codling and ass kissing this nation does for black people is the best white people can do to make it up to black people.  And it'll never be good enough.

That's what Black History Month is a reminder of.  That no matter what white people do, until they are made slaves of the black man or whiped out by genocide, they will always be hated for something that a handful of their ancestors did.  For something they personally didn't do.  They will be hated for being white.  And that's racism.  Yeah.  Black people can be racist too.

No wonder white people don't care about Black History Month.

Black people need to care more about it though.  They need to keep history in context and stop the hate.  They need a heritage month to celebrate black culture and be proud of who they are, what they've accomplished and how far the world has come since slavery.  They don't need a dedicated month to be pissed off at white people.

Because they have 12 months already dedicated to being pissed off at white people.

Black Heritage Month.  Why not give it a try?