Month prompts reflection
By Jane Muhlstein
Black History Month has been seen as a time to reflect on past racial injustices and the fight against them. However, some argue that to do so would be assuming that the issues have been resolved.
February became Black History Month in 1976 because the month marks the birth of two men who changed the course of black history: Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln.
In the 27 years since its establishment, February has been a time to celebrate the contributions of blacks to society and reflect on how far blacks have come forward throughout American history to encourage further work toward social equality.
"People's ideologies in the past can very easily be repeated if people don't learn from the past," said sophomore combined sciences major Bethiel Girma. "I think it's important to keep in mind how hard people had to work and all the things they had to change."
Some would say there is still a considerable amount of change to be done. "The segregation of races is almost as great as it was in the '60s, especially in terms of housing and education," said David Skinner, a professor in the history department. "There was a great deal of progress made in the '70s, but there has been a gradual erosion."
Skinner, who teaches classes on African and African-American history, and Girma both believe that the best way to fight prejudice in society is through education. Skinner emphasizes education about the aspects of African culture that have been contributed to American history.
"Certainly there's this image that Africans never created anything worthwhile," he said. "If we can identify the technology that they brought to the new world, it will go a long way to combat prejudice."
In recent decades, there has been monumental expansion in the study of African contributions to American society. When Skinner began teaching a class on black history 20 years ago, he had a hard time finding text books to use for the class.
"Now the problem isn't that there are not enough books, it's that there are too many. There's been an explosion of literature in the last 20 years," he said.
African culture has had a much greater impact on American culture than most people realize. African languages have contributed about 5,000 words to the English language in America. African rhythms were arguably the most important influence on the creation of most American styles of music.
Blacks also brought new technologies to America for which they were not credited until recently. "The rice-growing system as it exists today actually came over from Africa during the slave trade. The Europeans had no idea how to grow rice.
When Black History Month was established, "nobody was studying black culture," he said. "African-Americans and other groups tended to get less coverage, so it was a way to introduce these problems."
"There are always going to be people who need to be taught and there are always going to be people who need to learn."
Girma is hopeful that Black History Month can be a time for people of all backgrounds to gain awareness about the contributions of all cultures.
"It should be about promoting unity of every American culture. I was so happy to see all the different student unions coming together at Martin Luther King, Jr. Night because that's what it should really be about," she said.