!” crowd will mention as proof that our racist history is now a closed chapter, deserving of no more reflection than the shortest month of the year can offer. their behalf since the Act violated the rights of individuals and private property.4 In this regard, then, the Civil Rights Act was an important and bold step forward for protecting those blacks integrating into American society. For blacks, of course, skin color has always been an issue, a factor, good or bad. Black History Month. More bluntly, it is largely an opportunity for the black and white, bourgeoisie to demonstrate the virtues of integrating into a dominant ethnic caste which is tolerant enough to allow other ethnicities their moments on stage. We’d be better served without the month, to be frank, as separating so-called “black” history from American history, European history, human history is the sort of slick pat-you-on-the-head-while-kicking-you-in-the-ass trickery that seems all too familiar to Black America in our “post-racial” society.

Quotas, of course, imply groups, and since there are no provisions in business or government for the advancement of groups, the liberal supporter of affirmative action tends to shy away from endorsing quotas. But I want to stress that black history is also the history of the black working classes' failure to support black cultural institutions, black businesses and black political organizations. If black history is American history, and vice versa, one might never know the contours of this relationship on the view of certain history texts. This pride, black pride, does not, however, have to come at the expense of non-black dignity. NOTES Illustration depicting slaves working a Virginia tobacco plantation circa 1670, likely not in standard-issue U.S. history textbooks. There are three glaring issues with the “celebration” of Black History Month ever since its first demonstration: we were given the shortest month of the year, we don’t dive deep enough, and new forms of black history are met with too much animosity. And it goes without saying that collective responsibility presupposes individual responsibility. Kiki Monifa of Oakland, California, is editor-in-chief of Arise 2.0, a digital global publication focusing on news, issues, and opinions impacting the LGBTQ of color community.

For example, two of the three majority culture holidays cited above--Christmas and Independence Day--celebrate consumerism in the guise of Christianity and Jingoism in the guise of patriotism. It will be a first step in removing the "us versus them" mentality that gets us to choose sides. This line of argument and its variants are quite familiar to affirmative action proponents.

When a black says that he never thinks of himself as black, that the fact of his blackness is "accidental" and thus "unimportant," that he just wants to be known as an "American," one can be certain that this person has internalized what he thinks--what he desperately hopes--is the viewpoint of whites. Though this person is invariably a member of the bourgeoisie in fact or value, he is rarely a member of the left black intelligentsia (though he may be a liberal or conservative: Carl Rowan, Walter Williams, Thomas Sowell, etc.).

What if Ying had never been allowed to take on the cross of martyrdom? Thus class conflict is only evident when integrationism is at work, which is why poor blacks, and poor whites in the same neighborhood often share specific contempt for the intelligentsia (though not the bourgeoisie in general). But what Allen, Wilson and Cruse fail to sufficiently emphasize is this: the black working classes aspire to the status of the black bourgeoisie. Return to Top

Here I would need to offer a critique of labor in its present-day form--in particular the 40-hour week--as well as the concept of the "expert" which supports it, but I can only gesture in the direction of that task.8. Er habe sich auch gefragt, wie weit seine Heimat Großbritannien sei. If one views black history month in the context of other ethnic celebrations and holidays-Oktoberfest, Hanukkah, St. Patrick's Day, etc.--one notices three things immediately: (1) black history is celebrated over the course of a month--however short--as opposed to a day or weekend; (2) this "privilege" is alleged to derive from the simple fact that blacks represent the largest minority in this country and, unlike other minorities, were the victims of the cruelest system of slavery in modem history; (3) the existence of ethnic holidays presupposes and acknowledges the cultural norm that is in place all the other days--or months--of the year. If we get rid of Black History Month, it will be our (and I mean everyone's) responsibility to fill all 365 days with a celebration of our shared history. Sign-up for our free weekly e-mail newsletter. This recognition needs to be an integral part of our lives all year, not just during the year’s shortest month. Segregation within nationalism concerns only these resources: it does not entail isolation from whites. I had to sing “Dixie” in an elementary school play about the Civil War, having no idea of the context of the song I was belting out.

As a constituent himself he also represents his interests. If we do not require leaders to tell us what is to be done, then where do we find the solutions to our problems as a race? Black history month is not an advancement; at best it amounts to an annual cease-fire during what continues to be a protracted war. As I've suggested, the position of the black intelligentsia, especially at the extremes of the political spectrum, is ambivalent in regard to the bourgeoisie and working classes in general. Darum heiratet Hardy Krüger jr. seine Frau ein ... Delphine Boël darf Prinzessinnen-Titel tragen.

Cruse 439-40. Wir haben großes Glück mit unserem Kleinen.

The black intelligentsia thus tends to elevate class over race as its socializing determinant; its conflict with the bourgeois-working classes alliance often assumes the form of a conflict between intellectualism and anti-intellectualism. Those who thus propose to change the system from "within" rarely understand that radical systemic changes would mean the abolition of the processes that allowed them to get into the system. Clinton Yates. Black women launch Instagram takeover for UK's Black History Month. Along with select leaders of struggles of the past, entertainers and athletes are pushed forward as proof of the undeniable upward trajectory of superficial black progress, and thus white progress, cuz see, we now let y’all amass fame and millions, whereas, in the words of Michael Richards, “Fifty years ago we’d have you upside-down with a fucking fork up your ass!” (insert Seinfeld bass line). As coach Popovich put it, “you have to keep it in front of everybody’s nose, so that they understand that it still hasn't been taken care of, and we have a lot of work to do.”. For blacks, the implementation of black history month represents a retreat on the frontlines of cultural warfare. The cruel irony, as Cruse shows, is that the Constitution itself was formulated for the political, cultural and economic interests of a particular ethnic group: White Anglo-Saxon Protestants.5 It is from the perspective of this majority ethnic group--which never calls itself ethnic--that all other groups get designated as ethnicities, special interests, the 'Other," etc. It spends more energy damning whiteness than it does affirming blackness because it secretly longs for the approval of white society. But these tailored narratives are often devoid of a vital bit of context: That the respective struggles of these individuals were borne of a system that maimed and killed their brothers and sisters, physically and spiritually, actively nullifying their humanity. Consequently the black intelligentsia, right or left, often finds itself living out the civil rights dream: integrated neighborhoods, schools, stores, friendships, etc. Für das Gespräch mit den Journalisten der britischen Zeitung schaltete sich das Paar aus seinem Zuhause im kalifornischen Santa Barbara zu.

Image via Wikimedia Commons. Thus, critics of the ERA also cited the Constitution to argue against the proposed amendment which, they claimed, sought to protect the rights of a group (women). Whither Black History Month? By clicking “I agree” below, you consent to the use by us and our third-party partners of cookies and data gathered from your use of our platforms. This joke has circulated in black communities for several years, and the cynicism embedded in it is telling. The Problem with Black History Month There’s a few good reasons to suspect the month hinders, rather than helps, understanding and celebrating black contributions to civilization. But as most blacks, like most Hispanics and whites, live in segregated communities, the Civil Rights Act meant very little for the majority of blacks. Some people do make good use of Black History Month, like San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich. Sure, MLK was beaten and jailed, but he really was “one of the good ones.” Yet, his goodness (acknowledged by white America more readily in death than while he was alive and “agitating”) did not save him from an untimely death. Sadly, at the time I just couldn’t count on my teachers—all white and sometimes wary of teaching “black” history to the only black child in the class—for such insight. And I mean the “bad” kinda bougie. Because the Constitution is The #BlackHistoryIsAmericanHistory and #BlackHistoryYouDidntLearnInSchool tags (which point to black leaders and achievers throughout history that textbooks and 30-second ad spots may have missed) that have already cropped up on social media are vital, and reinforce the importance of taking pride in learning about one’s past. But the sometimes subtle no-the-fuck-they-didn’t racism we’ve seen in everyone from elected officials to the peanut gallery (shout out to that “Somewhere in Kenya, a village is missing its idiot” bumper sticker) is actually proof that President Obama’s election upset the status quo in such a way as to reveal the deep roots of racial prejudice in this country. But Cruse criticizes.-and rightly so--nationalism in general for one critical error: separatism.6 This is an important distinction. Petersen was the first African American Marine Corps aviator, the first African American to command a squadron in the Naval Service and at the time of this photo, he was the senior African American officer in the Marine Corps. This anti-intellectualism has a direct relation ship with the anti-historicism I cited earlier. Es gehe nicht darum, mit dem Finger zu zeigen und Schuldige zu suchen. The black working classes--industrial or service oriented, Northern or Southern, small town or big city--also desire to integrate into the predominant culture. These poets in the nine poems we've rounded up unabashedly retell our history, dispel stereotypes and celebrate our culture.

We need collective functionaries, not collective leadership. (c) GOOD Worldwide Inc. All Rights Reserved. To do this is to play back into the hands of a culture that has always told us to choose, that formal and informal learning involves either/or. By getting rid of Black History Month, we will no longer allow the rest of them (whoever “they” happen to be) to relegate our history to 28 days out of every 365.

What better way to convey these necessary details than through poetry and spoken word? We rely on readers like you to uphold a free press. Of particular interest to me is Woodson's life-long criticism of black colleges. This Black History Month, and in light of the Black Lives Matter movement, employers should consider whether they can make a change today.