Why Black History Month?

Recently, I was asked the question, why it was still important to celebrate Black History Month.  I had wondered that myself once and after Obama was elected President, I remembered why.  I, too, had become complacent.  I sort of knew that his election was the upswing before the swift down swing of the political and cultural pendulum.  I sort of knew when I began to hear an on-going piece of rhetoric, the “take back our country” mantra, that we hear ever so often as if some foreign agent or country had invaded and taken America over.  I sort of knew that once his tenure is up, we would be in for a new day; a time very similar to that of post reconstruction era USA.   

The first real tell-tale clue was the incident where a member of Congress interrupted the President’s speech before the nation by yelling “you lie” as the President spoke.  You will find a nice list of the top 10 (so far) worst moments of disrespect towards President Obama here.  It was blatant.  This person felt comfortable enough not to just disrespect the man but the office he represented as well.  As if the office was no longer worthy of respect.  These are all major clues as to why Black History is still important but they are not even the tip of the tip of the iceberg, though.

What it is to be black in America is changing.  How do you even define being Black, or African-American when there is such an influx of refugees from Africa pouring in to America every day?  What do you call these people?  How will you define their history in America and differentiate it from that of African-Americans whose arrival to this country was mostly of a negative and inhumane nature?  Can most people even tell those who have adopted American (European) clothing styles, habits and accents from those of us who have deep roots in this country? 

Back to the Presidency.  President Obama was dealt the Old Maid in our political card game when he accepted the nomination.  He knew she was in his deck of cards and there was nothing he could do but accept his fate. And he did so with dignity and....Hope.  A Hope that he tried hard to instill in all of us.  He was taking over at a time that was so much like the Panic of 1873 that the only difference was the clothing style, technology and the color of the President’s skin.  The interesting thing about the Panic of 1873 is that it began during the middle of Reconstruction.  After Reconstruction, African-Americans were relegated to (in the best of times) second-classed citizens whenever they were remembered to be human at all. 

Do we still need to celebrate Black History?  Now more than ever.  Now that television shows like “Who Do You Think You Are” are popular and many Americans are trying to find out about their heritage.  Especially now since there is freedom of access to a lot more information about that heritage.  We need to make  sure that this information stays available, is not deemed folklore, myth  and legend, or obliterated all together.  We need to take up the slogan, "Never Forget", and instill in current and future generations the knowledge of where we came from so we do not have to go back there ever again.  Remember, those who do not know their history are doomed to repeat it. The Panic of 1873 is just one of many examples of that.  Let's let it stop, now.