Has Black History month become passé to Black America?
I think the recanting of old tales of how people like Harriet Tubman narrowly escaped the clutches of bounty hunters are beginning to loose its value to much of this emerging black generation (18-24). What is even sadder is that unless there is a movie about black historical events staring Denzel or Foxx, black history has become a fading subject.
This is not a call to make black history more “hip”, instead we should blend the celebrations of our past contributions to this country with our present contributions. Of course, this will mean that there will be an acknowledgment that blacks have made great strides since the days of Jim Crow and beyond (something that Liberalism does not want to draw attention to).
Here is an excerpt from an article on how much history has been forgotten by this generation:
This semester, as an experiment, I asked my students to survey three people (two of them college students, one a person over 25) about Martin Luther King, Jr., a man they’ve surely studied at length in school. Almost all of the respondents volunteered that King was most famous for his “I Have a Dream” speech, and most said “elementary school” when asked where they had learned about King. But not that many people knew that King had opposed the war in Vietnam. And here’s generational narcissism and painful memory at work: the 45- and 50-year-olds surveyed thought Martin Luther King was close to their own age today when he was assassinated. Younger people were better at estimating the correct age (39). (more…)
The following was a question that was given to 8th graders in a recent study:
The phrase “Jim Crow” refers to laws that
A) made liquor illegal
B) enforced racial segregation
C) restricted immigration to the United States
D) protected the environment
Only 35% of this children got it right.
Here is another one:
6. What was one consequence of Nat Turner’s rebellion?
A) Large numbers of slaves fled to the North.
B) Slave revolts broke out throughout the South.
C) Conditions for slaves on many southern plantations improved.
D) Southern states passed laws designed to tightly control slaves.
Only 26% got this one right.
The only way our kids will not only remember important historical events from the past is to show them how the sacrifices of the past are directly tied to the successes of our present. Minimize our present successes and the only picture of black contribution to this country to our kids will be a picture of never-ending-struggle without purpose—just what Liberals want!
Related Links:
Black History events poorly attended
Slippery Rock University and the Black Action Society hosted almost two-dozen events celebrating Black History Month in the past few weeks, but with sub-par attendance from the SRU community.
…Land said that some students complained that most of the Black History Month events were held on the same night as basketball games; however, she said that lots of people showed up for the Mitch Hedberg stand-up comedy show Wednesday, despite a basketball game going on. (more…)
