Timeline
The history of African-Americans begins with slavery, the
fate of slaves in the United States would divide the nation during the Civil
War. After the war, the racist legacy of slavery would persist, spurring
movements of resistance, through it all, black leaders, artists, and writers would emerge and help shape the
character and identity of a nation.
February is dedicated as Black History Month, honoring the
triumphs and struggles of African Americans throughout U.S. history, including
the civil rights movement and their artistic, cultural and political
achievements.
Why Is Black
History Month In February?
The precursor to Black History Month was created in 1926 in
the United States when historian Carter
G. Woodson and the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History
announced the second week of February to be “Negro History Week”.
Enthusiasm
Negro History Week was met with an enthusiastic response; it prompted the creation of black history
clubs, an increase in interest among teachers, and interest from progressive
whites. Negro History Week grew in popularity throughout the following decades,
with mayors across the United States endorsing it as a holiday.
African-American
history
It is the part of American history that looks at the
African-Americans or Black Americans in the United States.
Although previously marginalized, African-American history
has gained ground in school and university curricula and gained wider scholarly
attention since the late 20th century. The black history that
pre-dates the slave trade is rarely taught in schools and is almost never
acknowledged. As a result, many
African-Americans grow up believing that slavery is the only event to occur in
their history before the civil rights movement, which is not accurate.
Of the 10.7 million Africans who were brought to the
Americas until the 1860s, 450 thousand were shipped to what is now the United
States.
Criticism
Black History Month often sparks an annual debate about the continued
usefulness and fairness of a designated month dedicated to the history of one
race. Criticisms include questions over whether it is appropriate to confine
the celebration of black history to one month, as opposed to integration of
black history into the mainstream education the rest of the year. Another
criticism is that contrary to the original inspiration for Black History Month,
which was a desire to redress the manner in which American schools failed to
represent black historical figures as anything other than slaves or colonial
subjects, Black History Month reduces complex historical figures to overly
simplified objects of hero worship. Other critics refer to the celebration as
racist.
