It wound up being my favorite class in college: a history course that I took just to get a few easy credits. The teacher stepped into the class on the first day and said something that forever changed my perspective on the study of history. He started by saying that he did not expect us to memorize a bunch of dates leading to a collective sigh of relief that was audible throughout the classroom. He then explained that he wanted us to be able to answer one simple question about everything we would learn that semester. How does each event affect our lives today? From that point on I’ve asked this question whenever I studied our history.
As I sit here in my home in Pennsylvania I’m overwhelmed by the number of people and events that have shaped the world and that set the stage for how the culture in which I am immersed functions today. And yet, as I look back on all of my years in grade school I realize there were so many names and events that were missed for one reason or another during all of those history classes. And the biggest omission of them all were the many contributions made by black men and women: contributions that our approved history books almost completely overlooked.
Why do we need Black History Month? I honestly wish that we didn’t need it. I wish that the text books did a better job of telling the story of how blacks and other minorities did important things so that we all can ask how their actions affect us today. But alas, with a few exceptions, those contributions are left out, leaving us with the need for a month designed to remind us not to leave people out.
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