Incredibly well put. Thank you for this tremendous article. Particularly poignant as its released on Abraham Lincolns birthday.
Another thing I'd like to bring up is just how central Tariffs and protectionism have been to both the Republican parties history, but also to the freedom of black Americans. The South first threatened to secede when JQA passed the so called "Tariff of Abominations". Tariffs threatened to destroy the export agricultural model of the south, and thus threatened the continuation of the slave system. Henry C. Carey wrote extensively in his book "The Slave Trade, Domestic and Foreign", the link between British Free trade and global slavery. More Americans need to realize this history.
Black History Week started as one of many long evolving movements occurring against the back drop of Red Summer, 1919. Black history week evolved into Black History Month and it’s purpose was to accurately document & preserve Black history, including accomplishments as a significant part of a more inclusive discussion of National/global history. This was inevitable during this period of time because of the enormous amount of mis-information & propaganda that was omitting our story & contributions. It was & is important for us to know our story & to tell our story within the context of a larger discussion of National & world history. So, much of Black history was lost, muted , distorted, or erased before & during slavery & shortly thereafter. It’s important to remember & then to educate others about it. The fact that anyone is just now hearing & learning about this makes the point. I recommend the following: The Mis-Education of the Negro" by Carter G. Woodson.
Am neither American nor live there, but did read a piece a year ago about young children in a Boston public school learning about Black History Month through a BLM colouring book. Parents only discovered this when the kids stayed home to attend school online due to a snow day. The parents were very surprised this material made no mention of Martin Luther King or Rosa Parks. Some immigrant parents, whose own origins can be traced back to Maoist China and the former USSR, commented that the BLM slogans reminded them of similar in those countries. What also shocked parents was that apparently BLM theory include trans and query theory.
My guess is that the memo came out by an anti-Trump insider who put it out to hurt Trump. I know he tried to get on top of all of it this time, but won't be able to all of it. However, they didn't stop and focus on it and fixed it right away. I am a white person myself. The city I grew up in I saw the desegregation of the last two all black schools that we had. I see the new movements from the left creating the movement where segregation is being asked for. Black leaders in the past worked so hard against this evil and the same political side is pushing for the same thing this country had years ago. They have just changed the way of going about it.
I don't know if you follow NumbersUSA and the work they do or not. One of their initiatives follows the history of black Americans starting from 1820. The challenges they have faced with immigration and how that has faced opportunity for black Americans. This is one of the left's biggest topics. I will share a link for this initiative. It is informative and a great initiative. They get a lot of heat from the left as well of course. They stay on top of all of the immigration bills. They send emails to contact your representatives to vote yes or no on important votes on bills.
Yes, as per your essay here, I indeed have mixed feelings about black history month, as I am an MLK’er. But I am genuinely still surprised to this day when I learn more about the importance of the contributions of relatively obscure black Americans to the unfolding story and greatness of these United States of America.
I'm reminded of years ago, turning on the radio and it was Howard Stern blabbing. His claptrap was about inventions and progress, and how it was all white males who invented everything, and blacks and women have done nothing but benefit from what white males created. He ended the ignorant rant with something to the effect of "we invented everything," as if somehow by sex and skin pigment level, he had claim to the work of others. I could have rattled off the names of minority and female inventors for a straight hour, which just goes to show his ignorance. I also remember how the years I spent in public schools (2-5, 7-8), only the usual suspects were mentioned and given one or two sentences; MLK, Frederick Douglas, Betsy Ross, Florence Nightingale, Marie Curie and George Washinton Carver (the only 2 scientists mentioned). Private schools did a better job. Times have changed and I have mixed feelings about whether or not to keep any history month. Perhaps name it Preserving the Union History Month and teach how the politicians and elite of the day tried to bring down our union while keeping the majority poor whites of the south poor and using slave labor and conscripted white teens and adults to become cannon fodder to support their lifestyle, the same way the democrat's open borders are doing, and how the end of slavery led to all bright minds now having an opportunity to contribute.
It's a racial quota system, that's why it's bad. Black History Month is, by definition, racist. You can't have "Black History Month" without also having all the other Hispanic/Asian/etc history months, then you're really just being REALLY racist if you don't also throw in a "White History Month", then you really have to answer why the hell you're teaching history by race rather than chronologically...
Either the people and events are worth covering because they are significant HISTORY or they aren't, regardless of the races of the people involved. If they're worth covering, there's no reason to concentrate them to only a single month a year. If they aren't, there's no reason to take a month away from covering people and events that are worth covering. You're welcome to argue that these belong in every history curriculum, but you're going to need a better justification than just their race. We can't reach a future without racism if we insist on actively teaching racism.
Incredibly well put. Thank you for this tremendous article. Particularly poignant as its released on Abraham Lincolns birthday.
Another thing I'd like to bring up is just how central Tariffs and protectionism have been to both the Republican parties history, but also to the freedom of black Americans. The South first threatened to secede when JQA passed the so called "Tariff of Abominations". Tariffs threatened to destroy the export agricultural model of the south, and thus threatened the continuation of the slave system. Henry C. Carey wrote extensively in his book "The Slave Trade, Domestic and Foreign", the link between British Free trade and global slavery. More Americans need to realize this history.
Thanks for the great article!
Black History Week started as one of many long evolving movements occurring against the back drop of Red Summer, 1919. Black history week evolved into Black History Month and it’s purpose was to accurately document & preserve Black history, including accomplishments as a significant part of a more inclusive discussion of National/global history. This was inevitable during this period of time because of the enormous amount of mis-information & propaganda that was omitting our story & contributions. It was & is important for us to know our story & to tell our story within the context of a larger discussion of National & world history. So, much of Black history was lost, muted , distorted, or erased before & during slavery & shortly thereafter. It’s important to remember & then to educate others about it. The fact that anyone is just now hearing & learning about this makes the point. I recommend the following: The Mis-Education of the Negro" by Carter G. Woodson.
I claim to be a (mostly) not-ignorant white guy but even I had no clue that Black History Month had its roots in 1926. That's wild.
I also didn't know most of the names listed at the end there so now I have some homework to do. Thanks for the education!
Am neither American nor live there, but did read a piece a year ago about young children in a Boston public school learning about Black History Month through a BLM colouring book. Parents only discovered this when the kids stayed home to attend school online due to a snow day. The parents were very surprised this material made no mention of Martin Luther King or Rosa Parks. Some immigrant parents, whose own origins can be traced back to Maoist China and the former USSR, commented that the BLM slogans reminded them of similar in those countries. What also shocked parents was that apparently BLM theory include trans and query theory.
My guess is that the memo came out by an anti-Trump insider who put it out to hurt Trump. I know he tried to get on top of all of it this time, but won't be able to all of it. However, they didn't stop and focus on it and fixed it right away. I am a white person myself. The city I grew up in I saw the desegregation of the last two all black schools that we had. I see the new movements from the left creating the movement where segregation is being asked for. Black leaders in the past worked so hard against this evil and the same political side is pushing for the same thing this country had years ago. They have just changed the way of going about it.
I don't know if you follow NumbersUSA and the work they do or not. One of their initiatives follows the history of black Americans starting from 1820. The challenges they have faced with immigration and how that has faced opportunity for black Americans. This is one of the left's biggest topics. I will share a link for this initiative. It is informative and a great initiative. They get a lot of heat from the left as well of course. They stay on top of all of the immigration bills. They send emails to contact your representatives to vote yes or no on important votes on bills.
https://www.numbersusa.com/initiatives/hiring-line/
Yes, as per your essay here, I indeed have mixed feelings about black history month, as I am an MLK’er. But I am genuinely still surprised to this day when I learn more about the importance of the contributions of relatively obscure black Americans to the unfolding story and greatness of these United States of America.
Here is link to another post I read earlier this morning from David Ziffer about the history of black political demographics. https://open.substack.com/pub/daveziffer/p/theres-nothing-crazy-about-the-democrats?r=6uxj2&utm_medium=ios
I'm reminded of years ago, turning on the radio and it was Howard Stern blabbing. His claptrap was about inventions and progress, and how it was all white males who invented everything, and blacks and women have done nothing but benefit from what white males created. He ended the ignorant rant with something to the effect of "we invented everything," as if somehow by sex and skin pigment level, he had claim to the work of others. I could have rattled off the names of minority and female inventors for a straight hour, which just goes to show his ignorance. I also remember how the years I spent in public schools (2-5, 7-8), only the usual suspects were mentioned and given one or two sentences; MLK, Frederick Douglas, Betsy Ross, Florence Nightingale, Marie Curie and George Washinton Carver (the only 2 scientists mentioned). Private schools did a better job. Times have changed and I have mixed feelings about whether or not to keep any history month. Perhaps name it Preserving the Union History Month and teach how the politicians and elite of the day tried to bring down our union while keeping the majority poor whites of the south poor and using slave labor and conscripted white teens and adults to become cannon fodder to support their lifestyle, the same way the democrat's open borders are doing, and how the end of slavery led to all bright minds now having an opportunity to contribute.
It's a racial quota system, that's why it's bad. Black History Month is, by definition, racist. You can't have "Black History Month" without also having all the other Hispanic/Asian/etc history months, then you're really just being REALLY racist if you don't also throw in a "White History Month", then you really have to answer why the hell you're teaching history by race rather than chronologically...
Either the people and events are worth covering because they are significant HISTORY or they aren't, regardless of the races of the people involved. If they're worth covering, there's no reason to concentrate them to only a single month a year. If they aren't, there's no reason to take a month away from covering people and events that are worth covering. You're welcome to argue that these belong in every history curriculum, but you're going to need a better justification than just their race. We can't reach a future without racism if we insist on actively teaching racism.