why do we celebrate black history month?

Answer 1

For the same reason we celebrate anything else, to recognise it and make people aware...?!

Answer 2

History is always written and edited to ensure that those in power are not undermined. From the Holy Books to our school books, interpretation of the accounts of history are documented and some are either considered the widely held view (so therefore not actual fact) and "as the story goes".

In particular, Black history (and many other minority histories) is not taught, shared or broadcasted as mainstream and but considered a specialist interest or niche subject.

Generally most interest in the Black Community around the world tends to be in regards to the negative things we do or that happen to us or when we win medals in sport... Every cultural group need recognition of their contribution to the world and the way it is and that happens for white people everyday. (However, currently one would argue that its just for white Americans!!!)

I personally do not like the notion of Black History celebrated ver 31 days in the UK (28 in the US) purely because of the level of tokenism and novelty that is attributed to it. After a while the interest is lost which is totally against the intentions of the initiative in the first place. I'm encouraged to celebrate the history of English and US everyday, why can't I celebrate Black History every day too or Asian, or Australian for that matter!

Due to the fact that this isn't the case, Black History Month has been great to educate the black community itself and fill the gaps where the governmental education system has failed or refused to fill, which is why we have so many cultural & community education groups. Each cultural group, needs a way to recognise, acknowledge and celebrate (inside and outside of the community) their roots.

I've included a link to one US website, where Black History Month started back in the 1920s. I think it's only being going here in the UK for a couple of decades. But now I think its needs to make more of a political statement and ensure that as integrated members of the UK (or US) society, it should be reflected in the history books, classrooms, media accordingly.

I believe there shouldn't be a Black History Month as such been it's a start and in the UK it's now become a season (Sept - Nov) with the inclusion of the Asian (Indian sub-continent) community.

A clear example of why we need Black History Month:

Do you know that a black man invented traffic lights?

Did you know that a black man invented the bus part of the microcomputer?

Who was Mary Seacole? A black woman who has previously been portrayed as white or written out of the Florence Nightingale story completely...

Did you know that Queen Elizabeth II's great great great grandmother was a black woman?

Nuff said... If history was always the factual account of events as opposed to the interpreted, edited account of events, we wouldn't need a special time for any group because the history would belong to all of us!

Answer 3

Well they have made plenty of contributions that through history it was ignored WHO did it because the person was black. There is a certain point to doing it and I can understand that point. On the other hand why don't we teach what the people did and that they were black THROUGH OUT the year? Why ONLY during that one month? Come on we have a Black History Month so they kinda ignore the Blacks through History simply because they will worry about it in that month. So did they REALLY solve the problem or did they make it worse years later?

Answer 4

So much of the re-telling of history of this country is skewed towards the majority and not the minority citizens that we need to organise events like Black History Month to ensure minorities get represented in the events calendar too.

The UK has had a profound effect on black people of the world over the centuries. Blair's recent expression of sorrow about our involvement in the slave trade highlighted the fact that the UK were involved with the transportation of up to 3 million slaves. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6185756.stm

Given this profound effect, why not have a Black History Month to celebrate the positives as well as recognise the negative parts of black history?

Answer 5

The real question is why as a society do we need to be forced to celebrate black history? Why in our history classes do we learn so little about the great history and culture of Africa? We learn about the slave trade because we have to in order to establish our country's troubling beginnings, but what about the ramifications of our colonization in Africa? We learn about the great Chinese dynasties, European empires and rightly so - our country is rooted from these. However what about Africa? Are we purposely in the dark to propel our country's own economic and foreign policies which would rather have us dehumanize them as savage-like people so we can proceed with our greed?

Answer 6

It's a plot by the white man to keep the black man down.
See, if you treat the culture and history and accomplishments of blacks as separate and different from the culture and history and accomplishments of whites, then you will always have two kinds of history: real history and black history.
Dr. King recognized this, and fought against "separate but equal" as a doctrine.

Answer 7

we have black history month because for 200+ yerasr history was distorted by the white man cause he didn't want anyone to think blacks knowed anything
and well as blacks the only history we where every taught was that of the whitemans history

Answer 8

To celebrate black history I guess!

Answer 9

4 black history i guess

Answer 10

I wasn't aware we did, but as we seem to have a day/week or month for everything nowadays, why not. Next Tuesday week it's "Thank God there's no more bloody leaves left to fall on the pavement so that we can all slip on them in the wet and break our legs" day. Now how many of you knew that one ! ! !

Answer 11

we dont.....
Sky used it as a tag to put together a series of programmes about 'black history'. in the same way as the the Beeb recently had a Science Fiction strand running....