Well, this month is “Black History Month” for those of use who pay attention to those sorts of things. I try not to think about it too much because I’m not so sure we should be having something like “Black History Month”. I know the intentions are probably good and everything, but to me, it seems to be just as (or more) problematic as it is positive for our culture.
Black History Month is supposed to recognize and celebrate the achievements of African-Americans in our nation’s history. From enduring slavery to overcoming racial descrimination, Black History Month is supposed to remind us of the incredible journey African-Americans have been on.
Here’s my problem with all of this: Isn’t the goal of our culture to eliminate “race” as an element? Didn’t Martin Luther King Jr. say that he dreamed for the day that we would judge each other in terms of character, not skin color? Then why in the world do we have a BLACK History Month!?! Does this seem strange to anyone? The problem with Black History Month is that it turns the clock back to the times where racism was a problem and tries to transport those emotions to our current culture. To me, it just stirs up the problem again. I think the only way to defeat racism is to leave those emotions in the past and look foward. We can hardly make progress if we’re focused on the 60’s.
I’m not saying we should ignore certain facets of our history, but we shouldn’t take every February to dwell on problems that have already been essentially solved and say we are making progress. Like I said—the goal is to make race a non-issue. How can we do that when we are constantly being reminded of “black” history? Children today do not even think about skin color. I’ve heard kids try to describe people…..they mention hair color, eyes, clothes, but never skin color. Now why would we want these kids to go off to school and learn about skin color and racism every February? It doesn’t make sense to me.
Morgan Freeman sums it up for me in brilliantly simple terms. He did a 60 Minutes interview with Mike Wallace in December. Freeman has been one of my favorite actors, but now he gives me a new reason to love him. I don’t know his politics, but he certainly speaks the truth in this interview and leaves the liberal Wallace completely dumbfounded. Follow this link and in the video player in the sidebar, click the link that says “Freeman on Black History”. He’s a stinking genius and a new hero of mine.
Hey Chris…just a few months ago, the same thoughts started popping into my head about race relations. One day at school there was something about joining a Latin American Student Club. My reaction is that culture is great but (like our friend Morgan says) if you want racism to go away, stop focusing on it. I strongly believe that if we stop trying to make the distinctions (African, Hispanic, Asian American) and just start refering to each other as people and fellow Americans, racism just might become a non-issue. Anyway…those are my two cents…
Right on Jeffery. Keep posting on your blog. I love seeing new posts from you. And by the way, why do you have commenting disbled on yours? I would love to drop a clever line every once in a while!
hi, im nicole, i read your blog sometimes, and youre definitely entitled to your opinion on black history month and whatever else. im not really commenting on that. what im commenting on is how you said that the problems have been essentially solved. which if the problems you are talking about are like, being valued at 3/5ths of a man or the kkk burning and hanging or being called derogatory things on a regular basis, then, those are mostly things that black people dont have to endure anymore. but to say that the problems are solved, is to me, incorrect. and please forgive my mini-novel. and please dont misread my tone of voice. its just me talking it out. im a black girl, and im 23, which makes my parents generation a generation who went to segregated schools, so we are not far removed from that, and i dont think forgetting about it will make it a non-issue. i do think we can see the time when racism on a small scale doesnt exist, by being an active part to change it. but when you forget about things, you tend to repeat them, ya know? just because racism isnt rampant doesnt mean its not alive. when i was in 6th grade, i was walking down the hall, and i ran into this boy, and he said to me, “watch it nigger.” that for me was enough to know. to experience it myself at the age of 11. the kkk still exists, very much so, and they claim Jesus! omg, seriously. thats the worst part of it all. i guess my point is that it still goes on, not on a large scale, but a scale. and we’re not far enough removed from the civil rights era to try and forget about it. we need to remember.
and on the first comment on the blog, about the student clubs. i thought that was kind of a weird argument. i dont think getting rid of racism means getting rid of race or anything distinctive about people. society would be grey and boring if we werent different, like pleasantville i guess. racism is a distinct behavior, but what makes america so cool is that we are all different. anyone can be our neighbor. and what makes us different is also part of what makes us interesting, even down to personalities.
and because you are also a john piper fan, i thought this was excellently written by him. its from Race and Cross, one of his sermons on racial harmony:
“But let us also dwell on this: that God ordained the death of his Son to reconcile alien people groups to each other in one body in Christ. This too was the design of the death of Christ. Think on this: Christ died to take enmity and anger and disgust and jealousy and self-pity and fear and envy and hatred and malice and indifference away from your heart toward all other persons who are in Christ by faith - whatever the race…then will we not display and magnify the cross of Christ better by more and deeper and sweeter ethnic diversity and unity in our worship and life?”
those are my 89 cents, haha, cuz i wrote alot. okay, have a good day. (i cant believe i wrote this much)
Nicole, I totally understand what you’re talking about and you’re right about a lot of things. I used the word “essentially” very carefully because I’m well aware that racism is by no means defeated or eliminated. You’re right that it still goes on, the KKK is still around, etc. I had to use “essentially” because for the very most part in American culture, people do not struggle with racism—especially in the generation following mine.
You’re also right in pointing out that forgetting about the past will not make racism a non-issue. I tried pointing this out in my post, but maybe I wasn’t clear enough. We can’t be ignorant of history. I think history is one of our greatest tools of instruction. I’m simply saying that I’ve been observing an effort to make race an issue again, all for the sake of fighting racism again. Does this make sense to anyone? I feel like there are political forces out there trying to keep the race issue alive, make it thrive, and stir up more negative emotions.
I’m sorry that you’ve had to deal with your share of racism, and I really wish our culture could make better progress, but I think the answer isn’t found in reminding everyone of their shade of skin. We can still be a diverse society and not have to think about race. As Morgan Freeman said, we can’t get past racism until we stop thinking about stuff like skin color. Black history is American history.
Chris, I’m not sure kids which you’ve talked to, but I’d question your sample size. I’ve seen racism in very young kids (and I wouldn’t blame Black History Month for that, by the way). Racism didn’t just end in the sixties, and ignoring it won’t make it go away.
Chris,
I also read your site from time to time but have never commented. So, I apologize that the first time I do is in opposition to what you’ve written.
I am so thankful that Nicole and Lex have spoken up. I agree with what both of them have had to say, but feel very compelled to add my own thoughts. Like Nicole said, please read this in the tone that it is written–one of concern, not condemnation. And, for some reason, I can’t open and listen to the interview with Morgan Freeman, so my response does not include any reaction to whatever he may have said. (Maybe I should listen to it before I write so as to understand better the context of your arguments. Sorry.) Anyway…
Just yesterday, I was visiting with three colleagues of mine. I am white. They are all black. We are all educated, and we all work in higher education. They were talking about the kinds of reactions they get when they visit with clients–overt surprise, maybe even shock–about their positions in the business world. Basically, each of them had instances where clients have questioned where they went to school, where they grew up, where they live now, what their parents do (?!), etc. Each of my colleagues has very recent instances of being made to feel “less than” because of their race, even in the world of higher education and business, even in metropolitan areas, even in 2006. So, to say that racism ended with the ’60’s is wrong and it perpetuates the very ignorance that “Black History Month” attempts to dispell.
I also disagree with your comment that there is an effort to make racism an issue again, but maybe you can clarify that. You mention political tactics–can you elaborate? Personally, I can’t think of a time when its ever been a non-issue. Can you?
I also question that we should even make race a non-issue. Though we never want to qualify a person because of their race (or gender, or religious preference, or even sexual preference) it doesn’t change the fact that those realities still exist for that person. Race is not who or what a person is, but I believe it is a part of person’s identity and it informs their view of the world. Thus, diversity.
I believe the purpose of Black History month is to educate ourselves (and our parents and our children) about a time of oppression and degradation so that we are aware of what it looks like and sounds like and feels like–so that maybe we won’t allow it to happen again. And the other purpose is to recognize and remember those agents of change–the Martin Luther King, Jr’s and the Rosa Parks’–so that we might learn from their boldness and their foresight and their courage. They are heroes and they should be celebrated as such.
I would like to respond to a few issues that have been brought out in comments that followed mine. First, with regards to Nicole’s comment about my “weird argument”. I simply intended the remark about racial-related school clubs to have been the catalyst for my thinking about the issue. It is not an argument. It just got me thinking about why we voluntarily make racial distinctions today when it is racial distinction that is so troublesome to some people. Furthermore, Nicole’s subsequent “pleasantville” comment is a misinterpretation. If you will notice, I said that culture is great (something everyone seems to be agreed upon) thus debunking any idea that we should all become culturally homogeneous. I think there is (or can be) a balance of celebrating your uniqueness and ancestoral heritage without being divisive. Second, Lex’s comment about the sampling used by Chris. His claim is that he has seen plenty of racist kids. While I tend to agree with Chris that most children don’t think about race like children did in generations past, I think that Lex’s point just illustrates one of the ideas that Chris and I have been advocating — that race is focused on to the point where it is still an issue for people. I think that children’s racist attitudes should probably be attributed to nurture (not nature) and so we have their family, friends, and society to thank for the manifestation of racial attitudes in them. Also, Lex remarked that ignoring race won’t make racism go away. I don’t know if it will automatically solve the problem, but maybe focusing less on our skin color differences will help us get to the point were people don’t think about others as white, black, or brown…but as people. Obviously the best solution to racism would be to eliminate hate from the human mind and spirit. Unfotunately, that is a difficult task. I just was thinking that pointing out our racial differences so often may perpetuate the problem.
Why would a child notice a person’s eye color, but not a person’s skin color? Doesn’t that strike both of you (Chris & Jeff) as both unlikely and unnatural? Not even adults remember eye color all the time. Skin is extremely noticeable. In fact, a child who doesn’t mention skin color is probably either describing a person of his/her own skin color, or, was told it’s wrong to ever mention another person’s skin color. Kids aren’t born racist, but they aren’t born blind to melanin, either. To avoid mentioning skin color seems too repressive to be healthy, to me.
I’m just not buying this, Chris. It reminds me of people who rail against therapy, saying that we shouldn’t dwell on the past. The truth is, the past affects us whether we acknowledge it or not. Racism is still a serious problem, and it’s a systemic problem. Yes, our nation is better now than it’s ever been, in terms of eliminating racism. How do you think it got that way? I think it was through action and education.
Okay people, I have avoided posting a comment, but felt the need to point out something that has not been discussed. Racism, along with all other kinds of prejudice, is of course always going to be a part of a fallen world, and is of course just another tool of the devil. Has bias against non-whites become less a part of “the system”, government, etc. Yes, I think so. But the evil one has succeeded also in elevating the level of prejudice of “minorities” against “whites.” Which again demonstrates that personal bias against people that are different from you in some way (race, religion, economic status) will always be something that Christians need to battle within themselves, their church, and communities. SO, is Black History Month “necessary?” Well personally, I think that the battle of racism is not going to be won, or even advanced, simply by having a government-sponsored “month.” Racism, just like other sin, is a battle for the heart and mind of individuals that need to be won to Christ. We can’t expect the secular, non-believing world to eliminate racism from the culture, Black History Month or not. It just won’t happen.