Black History Month

[James R.]

In my opinion it's a complete crock of shit.

1st of all it's the shortest month of the year. Bull shit. If you're going to give a race month then do a normal month so they can't bitch about it.

2nd it's the coldest month of the year and everyone hates the fucking cold ESPECIALLY black people.

3rd it's coupled with the most annoying holiday of the year which is just fucking retarded.

I mean all those things are irrelevant really because I don't think the holiday should exist at all. Anything that you cover in black history month is already covered in American History about 50 times. Why is that? Oh, because "black history" IS American history. It's not like it's this little thing that happened once and now it's gone. It's part of how this country came to be.

Past that I think the entire focus is wrong. No one today gives a shit what people back in the 60's fought for. Yeah thanks for getting sprayed down with hoses so I could eat with a white chick at McDonalds, but anyone in their 20's or younger is so far removed from the movement that it doesn't mean as much to us. That being said I think it should be replaced with a youth acknowledgment month. I know tons of white people that are doing great things. I know like 4 legal Mexicans that are doing cool shit (just kidding... there's like 8). And of course there's a couple good blackies out there getting on top of their shit graduating at the top of their class at Harvard.

This is very long winded and opinionated, but deal with it. The point of the entire month is to make sure people don't forget the struggles black people went through just to attain something so basic as equal rights, and that's awesome. But I feel like people should acknowledge that and then bring it up to date and show us what people are going through now. What people are doing to help. Snoop Dogg making that youth football league to keep kids outta gangs. The goals of the Bill and Linda Gates Foundation. Russell Simmons' philanthropic triumphs.

This entire concept is just another thing holding people back in the past when they SHOULD be moving FORWARD.

[The GameKeeper]

Well put. I agree with you 100%.

[yoshi]

^ great answer, congratulations. That's probably the very reason it's the discussion section, so people could reply with one-liners.

Hmm.. I always thought it's something Black people would be proud of. Besides the fact that it's the shortest month in the year and it seems hypocritical to me [I'll explain later], it's still a kind of monument for all those who struggled for years and fought for the freedom.

Why I think it's hypocrisy? Because most of the Black people still deal with problems like racism and poverty and seems to me like Americans thought it'd be cool thing to do, to show that they actually care about what's been happening for hundreds of years. They thought it'd make up for all the shit they been doing for centuries - 'hey, let's call it Black History Month and pretend that we solved the problem'.

But still, no matter how stupid and fake it might seem, I think that Black history is one of the most interesting parts in the history. In general. I got into it when I started listening to hip hop, because I actually wanted to know the background. I watched alot of movies and read alot of books like Malcolm X's biography, King's autobiography, 'Roots' by Alex Haley and 'Makes Me Wanna Holler' by Nate McCall and they really helped me to understand what Black people went through. I think it is fascinating, the Nation of Islam, the Black Panthers, the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the March on Washington and that very special speech of Martin Luther King, which still gives me chills whenever I listen to it.

I know I'm far from those, since I live in Europe, I'm white and was born in the 80's and there's no connection between me and Malcolm X or any other part of the movement, but for me those people are real heroes. Like the ones who fought for my country when we were under the annexation, when Nazis invaded our country and young polish people organized a whole underground army to fight for the freedom. It's a part of my history and my heritage and I'm proud of it. I think it's the same with Black history, you should be proud of it.

And, like you said, at the same time people should move forward. Finding a balance between remembering about the past and moving into the future is hard, I know because we are dealing with the same problem here in Poland. But you can't just throw away the past and say 'hakuna matata' like Simba did. That's why I also feel that actions like that Snoop's one should get more promotion, so more people could follow.

[James R.]

Wait for it... I love this part.

Word to yosh

[The GameKeeper]

^ great answer, congratulations. That's probably the very reason it's the discussion section, so people could reply with one-liners.

Sorry about the one liner... just wanted to let him know that I agree with him. I am at work and its hard to elaborate because I dont have the time. I will comment on it later.

[yoshi]

Wait for it... I love this part.

Word to yosh

Yeah well, I can be pretty elaborate at times.


@ TheGameKeeper: no worries man, I'm also a bitch at times.

[<Stiiccy>]

when the fuck is white history month...

EDIT: oh yeah December!!

[James R.]

when the fuck is white history month...

EDIT: oh yeah December!!

Lol every other month when we study American History, European History, World History. Most of the records that go back the farthest are from white cultures because it was customary to burn another city's records to try to really wipe them out.

[yoshi]

Lol every other month when we study American History, European History, World History. Most of the records that go back the farthest are from white cultures because it was customary to burn another city's records to try to really wipe them out.

How come, we usually started from the Mesopotamy, then Egypt and uhh.. well then we moved to the Greeks and Romans. HA!

[James R.]

Because since the discovery of the Rosetta Stone they've been able to uncover a TON abotu Egypt and other African cultures. Notice how all the other time periods are kinda glazed over, namely those during the Roman and Greek Empires? Burnage of the records yo.

[yoshi]

Egypt > Greeks

I love all that mystery about Egypt and the pyramids. Pure genius.

[James R.]

I understand your point, but I think you're missing mine, or it wasn't made clearly enough. I'm not saying black history month is a bad thing (even though it may seem as though I am) I'm just saying that the focus is wrong. It's undoubtedly important for everyone to know about the civil rights movement and everything people went through to get us to where we are today. And by us I mean everyone. But I don't think we need to spend a month, every year in our schools, talking about the SAME thing EVERY year. MLK, Malcolm X, Harriet Tubman, etc. In the early years sure, but once you hit about 6th grade you can tell someone what MLK was all about while sleeping upside down with your tongue cut out. There comes a point I think when the focus needs to shift from the HISTORY to the PROGRESSION.

Sure there's still fucked up shit going on because of cultural difference, but look at Israel or places in Africa. Cultural diversity has been the cause of wars since the beginning of time and will be until the end of it. I feel like once you're in middle school you should be able to spend lets say 2 weeks on the MLKs and Malcolm Xs and then spend another 2 weeks on where we've come since. There are billionaires, millionaires, celebrities, athletes, scientists, doctors, soldiers, philanthropists, and countless other (black) people that remain unsung even though they (some of those mentioned) are the true embodiment of what those leaders would have wanted, or they're fighting to protect and continue what those leaders and icons started.

So it's not that I don't think black history month is unnecessary because I think it's important that we understand the cultural struggles of anyone that inhabits our homeland, but I think that it has become misguided. Truth-be-told I'm grateful for what those people did for me, but it doesn't hit close to home because I didn't live anything like that. But I can see the differences that were made when Russell Simmons funded a new community center to be built. Or a group of ex-gang-banger guys from my old neighborhood started a youth basketball team to give kids smtn to do. Or when people were educated and driven enough to write up a petition to get more police in one of the worst areas in the city. That kind of thing I can relate to and I think it's important that people see that great black minds go beyond MLK and Malcolm X because with the media we don't see it a lot these days.

It would be more significant and meaningful if people could see how black people haven't taken 20 steps back since MLK's death and crack in the 80's because honestly a lot of people feel that way. It would also show that Dr. King's messages are still being heard today. History is only relevant if you can show its impact on TODAY. If you can't show someone what the past has done to the present then why would they care? Sure you can say that we can eat at the same restaurants as our lighter skinned counterparts but wouldn't it be a little more inspirational to see someone who was using their time to get something done instead of play NBA Live 2023 on their PS9 all day?

It just seems to me that there would be a larger impact made if it was MLK, Malcolm X, Farrakhan, Colin Powell, Obama instead MLK, civil rights movement...

Also it just segregates things even more which is totally against what King wanted. You can't just go from one extreme to the other and think shits gonna be ok.

[James R.]

-.-

why are you bitching about getting a month.. atleast you got one.
jeez.

Because the concept is great but the execution is shit.

[theJFKshow]

We white people get the other 11 months.

[Kez]

See this is why the UK wins