A Palestinian woman was visiting the United States one summer and she was talking to a black family. A conversation about the public school system and its teachers arose causing the Palestinian woman to stop and ask in astonishment; “Black families let White teachers educate their children? Palestinians would not allow Jews to teach our children.” It was a fascinating thought coming from someone who “ain’t” even from around here. You’d think that at least during black history month we could respect tradition and teach our own children a thing or two, huh! Black history month just isn’t the same anymore is it? We’re so full of gossip and complicity that we’ve began to seriously lose focus.
The question was posed; do we still need Black history month? Well, is racism (white supremacy) still dominating Black culture? Do we still celebrate Columbus Day? Go tell White Americans to get rid of Columbus Day and well talk. African- Americans will spend a billion dollars on Valentines Day but zero on black history month. Black bookstores are falling like dominos and somebody asks if we still need black history month. Sadly, most Black folks still don’t know their history. If the failed public school system is going to make a Black child pick up a book that teaches him/her something about themselves for 28 days a year, what’s the problem? They’re being taught White history every day of their lives.
Dr. Carter G. Woodson started Black history week (before it became a month) because during his lifetime we were being taught that we had no history. We contributed nothing to society; we practically didn’t exist. He got the ball rolling. I’ve never seen White America collectively do the right thing without being pushed into it. Black history month pushes their curriculum into a corner. But Dr. Woodson was also hoping that by now we’d taken Black history month to the next level by challenging the teacher’s lies. Would you sit quietly inside of a classroom while your teacher tells everybody the world was flat without posing the question as to why the water hasn’t run over the edge yet? No.
If the teacher is feeding you false attribution and folklore disguised as facts, vocalize your disagreement and show proof. All Black students must take the evidence to school and challenge their teachers. That’s the only way these lies are going to stop. That's the only way to make them put the truth inside their books. You don’t have to disrupt the class but you can let the teacher know you’re aware that what she’s teaching you is not the truth. That’s the next level Dr. Woodson was hoping for; change from within. Now that we know we have a history its time to find out everything we can about that history. Why was our history stolen from us? And most importantly, who’s behind the theft? What Negroes were involved and put into place to help hide the truth? The information is out there. It still remains a fact; we build our future by using bricks from our past. Taken from xavierjamesuncensored.blogspot.com
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