Black history month is not taken as seriously as it was in previous years! This article is here to enlighten you on the history and importance of Black History Month to refresh your memories.
“Designating a month to celebrate the full measure of African Americans contributions to a world that spent centuries denying their existence allows for their great history to be honored and remembered. “
Black history month can be seen as some “special” month that only celebrates one culture. It is deeper than it appears to the eye. Black History was made to focus the attention on the contributions that African Americans have given to the United States.
It honors the African Americans from all periods of life in U.S History. It ranges from the enslaved people to the African Americans today. Black History Month would not have been made without our well known historical African Americans that made equal rights a possibility. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, Rosa Parks, Maya Angelou, James Baldwin, Muhammad Ali and many more African Americans that have not gotten their recognition. These African Americans have contributed to making black history historical and labeled as a month by their parts in the Civil rights movement. The Civil Rights movement was organized by African Americans to end racial discrimination and gain equal rights under the law. This began in the late 1940’s and ended in the late 1960’s.
Black History’s importance became a month to highlight the struggles African Americans faced to have even begun to have rights in America let alone to be seen as people and individuals that stood for something just as well as anyone else. I know it can be said that other races have gone through discrimination as well with an important story, but black history has been the one history that is not shown much acknowledgment to. We learn about war in school, amendment rights, propaganda and more so why is this topic any different or less than? It should not be.
African Americans have had to fight for their lives and freedom just to be given a month of recognition so to the many people who would say that is recognition enough do not understand the fight that led up to that well deserved recognition. Segregation was a huge deal that affected African Americans. They were treated less than as if every life did not serve a purpose.
Black History Month should be shown more respect. If it were truly learned about by the curious minds of young adults, then that would open the eyes of many to what those times were genuinely like for people of color. Discrimination was so bad on the people of color to the point of affecting their mental states in everyday living. It is described as a psychological response like trauma such as somatization, psychological distress expressed as physical pain, interpersonal sensitivity, and anxiety. Discrimination is so much deeper than the surface level of its meaning. It can be detrimental to how one sees life and behaves.
Black history is that important. People have died due to discrimination of just not being liked due to skin color. It was a hatred toward African Americans for simply existing. They could not help the way they were created and should not have been wanted to be changed by anyone who is not perfect themselves.
It can be argued timelessly that Black history month is favored over other races but, not every race faced the same issues that African Americans have faced nor overcome. Imagine being treated differently for the way you were born not just for a time but years on end and when finally ending that trying time and getting celebrated for those years of suffering. It gets belittled by others because the importance is not seen.
One should not judge for what they do not understand and have not gone through personally but should educate themselves on the topic to be enlightened by its importance. Learn about Black History Month before deciding its importance in history!