Black History Month

[Imperator Romani]

I was torn on where to put this, but I went with my instinct. What is your view of Black History Month in the USA? I wonder why there isn't a White History Month or Latino History Month. I don't mind them having their own month, but why? Why does America celebrate a certain race of people?

[Edward lV]

Another reason for me to live in Britain.

[Lord Tomyris]

Another reason for me to live in Britain.

We have a black history month here too; or at least my sixth form college always had posters up proudly proclaiming its imminence!

[bushbush]

because as a minority, they were oppressed for so long, and they had to fight so hard to it to somewhat ended and the legacy of oppression still affects them to this day? Not to mention everyday is already a white-history day in school for many americans but for so long, how many of them were taught really how much black ppl have gone through as americans?

[Edward lV]

Lol you said ppl in an emotional post.

[bushbush]

Lol you said ppl in an emotional post.

what?

[Imperator Romani]

So they should be treated special from now on.

[bushbush]

So they should be treated special from now on.

how the hell is that being treated special? The legacy of oppression is still there for many black people. Their history, especially their journey as americans ought to be studied more because it's a very ugly part of american history and frankly speaking, it's not taught enough in school.

ya i get it, you are one of those "omg minorities are taking over the country" angry white men. My advice to you is, you are the reason why there is a black history month in the first place. ppl like u need to be educated better on why these things are set up.

[Edward lV]

Surely that hoes against everything they faught for?

[Imperator Romani]

Don't criticize me and tell me who I am when I make such an open statement. I could have meant that in many different ways. Why assume I meant that in the racist or critical way.

[bushbush]

Don't criticize me and tell me who I am when I make such an open statement. I could have meant that in many different ways. Why assume I meant that in the racist or critical way.

i sincerely doubt that. My advice is that you should maybe check out a thing or two from the black history month, and hey, you might just learn a few things about black americans in general and their history that you did not know or appreciate before for whatever reasons.

[Ciabhán]

i sincerely doubt that. My advice is that you should maybe check out a thing or two from the black history month, and hey, you might just learn a few things about black americans in general and their history that you did not know or appreciate before for whatever reasons.

It is nothing more than reverse racism. We lived in the States for a while and considered staying but did move back to the UK thankfully. Things like this are part of the reason. If blacks would stop acting like an oppressed minority and stop acting as if they were different, less people would treat them that way. The first step towards being 'just like everyone else' is acting like it and not playing these stupid political 'my great great great great grandfather was a slave' games.

Had we stayed in the US and my son gone to school there I would have pulled him out of school for that particular month or found one that didn't do this. Not because I am racist but because until they have Irish-American history month, Polish-American history month, Latin-American history month, etc it is reverse racism and all they are doing is feeding the flames of division.

I am ostensibly Catholic, I am Irish, and I am from Northern Ireland so I could clamour for Fenian History Month because we were so terribly oppressed. However whinging about something and making yourself out to be different does you no service.

[bushbush]

I am ostensibly Catholic, I am Irish, and I am from Northern Ireland so I could clamour for Fenian History Month because we were so terribly oppressed. However whinging about something and making yourself out to be different does you no service.

ya totally, your people were shipped to america forcibly as slaves and stayed as slaves for years until sort of "emancipated" but your rights weren't fully honored until the 60s and 70s and the legacy of oppression still continues to this day?

oh please, just like i said to another poster, people like you are reasons there are black history month in the first place, because of your ignorance you post crap like "this is reverse racism". How about check out waht's being taught in these activities? How much do you know about black americans and their journey as americans?

oh, and thank god you move back to UK, i hope you have a nice time with your fellow BNP champs. lmao.

[Ciabhán]

ya totally, your people were shipped to america forcibly as slaves and stayed as slaves for years until sort of "emancipated" but your rights weren't fully honored until the 60s and 70s and the legacy of oppression still continues to this day?

oh please, just like i said to another poster, people like you are reasons there are black history month in the first place, because of your ignorance you post crap like "this is reverse racism". How about check out waht's being taught in these activities? How much do you know about black americans and their journey as americans?

oh, and thank god you move back to UK, i hope you have a nice time with your fellow BNP champs. lmao.

I meant in the bloody UK. Not in America. I don't give a flying what you s do. No we were not forcibly shipped from our homeland it was rather invaded. The invaders then attempted to breed us out, kill us, or otherwise destroy us so they could take our worthless little grass covered rock away from us. Similar to your Native-Americans. They don't get a month do they? They should as they were ed over at least as badly as the blacks.

As I am Irish I am not particularly welcome in the BNP. I hate them almost as much as ignorant white-apologist Americans who feed the flames of racism by supporting radical blacks in pursuing their differences.

Any activity official or otherwise that assists only one ethnic group in some way or focuses only on that particular ethnic group is racist.

You may want to avoid the personal attacks on other posters as well since it just makes you look stupid.

[Aaron7]

It is nothing more than reverse racism. We lived in the States for a while and considered staying but did move back to the UK thankfully. Things like this are part of the reason. If blacks would stop acting like an oppressed minority and stop acting as if they were different, less people would treat them that way. The first step towards being 'just like everyone else' is acting like it and not playing these stupid political 'my great great great great grandfather was a slave' games.

I probably shouldn't bother responding to topic such as this because I know the opinions of people are normally hard pressed into their personal identities and therefore hard to change. However, I find myself drawn in to the point of comment. Sense you have only lived in America for a "while" you should not believe that you are qualified to comment on something such as racial relationships within America. Like many things in the modern world there is a great deal of complexity in the essence of race in America, and I honestly believe it is much different here than in the UK.
The problem with most of the racial topics is a ignorance towards one aspect of racial culture. I am not claiming that I am deprived of that ignorance, but feel that I have been put in a acceptionally awkward social position which has allowed me immerse myself deeply within both sides the classical viewed dichotomical racial structure.
Ciabhan- I can tell, although you are probably going to tell me you have black friends, that you have some misconceptions about race and racial attitudes that are beyond me attempting to dispute. These are your conceptions and I will leave you with them but with a warning: There are more layers to this issue than what you had observed in America.
One thing I will dispute is you sense of time. My great grandfather was born a slave- and although I will admit that my fathers family has had an incredibly long life span (my great grandfather lived to 104 106 years old)-I am only 20 years old and therefore you need to expect that many of the older black men youmay have seen in America had known slave members- such as my father. I just wanted to address that what to you seems distant and irrelevant is still generationally fresh in many families.
Furthermore I can testify that racism is by no means dead in America and their is little reason for black men to need to resort to "[slave games]" to despise the conditions in America. Even I, one of the more current generations, and a man who lived in the northern midwest, was conditioned to being called a n1GG4R (sorry for leet talk but censoring necessitates) by kindergarten. The usage of the word only escalated throughout my life and only began to disapate through the attitudes of "political correctness" which are so prevalent in Northern colleges. As I said- I had considerable racial flexibility and many times it was explained to me by friends what type of black men they considered n1GG4Rs and who they did not- the later was extraordinarily exclusionary.
Therefore I dispute your claim that "The first step towards being 'just like everyone else' is acting like it and not playing these stupid political 'my great great great great grandfather was a slave' games" Many black men do not want to be considered the "'everyone else'"- that would be conceding to a society which many Black individual despise. Furthermore, I feel that is a point that many Americans today regardless of any color can empathize with- we do not strive for monotomy we strive for a system which can value and utilize our different and diverse skills and experiences to help achieve, no matter how distant and foggy- a greater common good.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------This being said I should return to Black history month. I have heard this arguement consistently, and I feel it is normally resolves to arguements of reverse racism or to people pleaing that Blacks deserve a month which their history is put within the spotlight. I will not contribute to these trite arguements. Rather- and personally I feel this should have been done immediately, I will slightly refer to the historical aspect of the month. Carter G. Woodson is an important figure. http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blblackhistorymonth.htm What this article short fails to capture is the originality of his work. Whereas today we can argue about the substantiality of black history taught in school it can hardly be argued that the late 19th and early 20th century the teaching of black history was neglected nearly to the point of non-existance. (if their any scholars out there whom are experts in the area please message me, I would love to talk about it) Carter G. Woodson contribution is symbolic as the recognition of black people having a history. In 1926 he launched "Black history week"
If one is comfortable with the Early 20th century American history he knows that the 1920's is arguably the pinnacle of the KKK's power. Although I cannot prove it right now I severely doubt that Black History week was widely aknowledged or accepted in the 20's or for many of the generations after that time period. America- and especially the south was too racist to have allowed this week to gain any type of popularity.
I feel that I had read once that the origin of Black history month was embraced during the civil rights era and that around this time some how it became "official." Now if this is the case I would question the intentions- as well as the parties whom pushed/consolidated black history month. Was it Black civil rights activist attempting to gain recognition of the achievements and existence of the Black man or was it the government attempting to appease an aggravated population so it could better control rampant discontent? These are questions which I do not know the answer to, furthermore- I feel they are questions that anyone who legitimately wants to argue for or against the existance of black history month should be interested in as well. Of course we can continue the bickering of opinions without any fact or understanding of the broadness of the subject, but I feel the blessing of internet debates is that if there are a few people who dedicate themselves to actually exploring these issues then the multitudes of internet goers can replace their ignorance with the knowledge that these forums have the potential to devulge.

[Ciabhán]

However, I find myself drawn in to the point of comment. Sense you have only lived in America for a "while" you should not believe that you are qualified to comment on something such as racial relationships within America. Like many things in the modern world there is a great deal of complexity in the essence of race in America, and I honestly believe it is much different here than in the UK.
Ciabhan- I can tell, although you are probably going to tell me you have black friends, that you have some misconceptions about race and racial attitudes that are beyond me attempting to dispute. These are your conceptions and I will leave you with them but with a warning: There are more layers to this issue than what you had observed in America.

By a while I mean I came to the US as a teenager, served in the military and as a police officer there for a total of around 15 years, then moved back to the UK.

I had black friends as a soldier and cop but being as I live in Northern Ireland in one the most xenophobic areas of a xenophobic nation I cannot say that I have any now. However the ones that I do meet coming from the Big Island or from the States generally seem to think of themselves as either English, Scot, or American(not African-English, etc). I haven't yet met a dark(er)skinned Welshman so I am unsure how they consider themselves and foreign peoples on our little slice of paradise are normally seen as welcome oddities. I don't know much about being black but I do know a lot about being downtrodden and persecuted in ones homeland. I know that by having things like Black History Month you only fuel racism and that considering oneself Black(African)-American or Irish-American, or Latin-American, or White-American you only make things worse. I know that blaming the government, or society, or the majority(or powerful) for your problems only makes your problems worse because it is a bloody way around working hard(er) and making something of oneself. I do believe that I once heard something along the lines of "the Irish are the of Europe" and while the circumstances may be different getting somewhere in the world is not.

[Imperator Romani]

So you think I'm racist and unappreciative...off one statement that didn't hint at either...cool dude
What I'm saying is why don't White and Latin people get there own months for what they have done for the country.

[bushbush]

So you think I'm racist and unappreciative...off one statement that didn't hint at either...cool dude
What I'm saying is why don't White and Latin people get there own months for what they have done for the country.

I doubt u r a racist. People like you are just uninformed about the background of black history month and its purpose and yet you still make a quick judgment of this being "special treatment" for a group.

[Marie Louise von Preussen]

OHHH Da oppression!!!11 Raise in arms, comrades!

[Imperator Romani]

It's a "special" month for them. That isn't special treatment?