Stop Segregating History

It all started as an attempt to educate Blacks about their history and culture, as well as to shed light upon the role blacks played in American history. But, in this day and age, is it really necessary to have a whole month dedicated to the history that is now an integral part of the history curriculum everywhere?

I have nothing against blacks, or any other race for that matter, and I genuinely appreciate their contributions to this society, both today and in our history. Black history is a part of American history and we are learning all about this history year round, not just February. So, do we really need this month dedicated to learning black history when we’re already learning it in class? As Rochelle Riley of freep.com puts it, “it’s time to stop celebrating, learning and being Americans separately”. We stopped segregating schools 40 years ago, so now it is time to stop separating our history.

In an interview with 60 Minutes, Morgan Freeman, an African American, states that he thinks black history month is “ridiculous”. He does not want a black history month because black history is American history and should not be “relegated to one month”.

Several races and ethnic groups played a big part in American history, but we do not have a month for Hispanic, Jewish or French history. I am not trying to take anything away from the blacks, but I do not believe it is necessary to have a month dedicated to black history. It all started as a way to make everyone aware of the contributions African Americans have made to our history and it was effective. The rich cultural history of blacks is everywhere in text books now, so I think black history month has accomplished what it was established to do. Let’s stop separating ourselves and learn American history as a whole.