Black History worth more than just one short month

Equality has been etched into all facets of America and remains the most fundamental principle… Equality has been etched into all facets of America and remains the most fundamental principle in our Constitution, yet it is still perhaps the most overlooked.

For many people, the history of Black History month is a mystery. It originated as a week in 1926 under the organization of Dr. Carter G. Woodson. He chose the second week of February because it marks the births of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln. As the week began to gain recognition, it later became a month noting many of the other valuable contributions made by black Americans as well.

February marks an event that, while it is rooted in good intentions, only reinforces how misguided our attempts at realizing true equality have become. With black history month comes the corporate and commercial race for the appeasement of blacks in this country. As sad as it is, Black History month has become a period in which the accomplishments of blacks are either overshadowed or manipulated to sell products to black Americans.

McDonald’s, with their 365 black campaign is perhaps the best example of this phenomenon – the company runs a myriad of commercials featuring rapping black youth, loitering on corners, smiling and eating Big Macs. While they do attempt to present a black history fact at the end of the commercial, it is still eclipsed by the unnecessary rapping and urban slang used only moments before.

Why is it that when corporations choose to feature blacks in their commercials, it’s always to a hip-hop beat, regardless of the product being sold? Why do blacks have to rap in order to sell a pair of K-Swiss or break dance to eat a McFlurry? And if these practices are deemed necessary in order to sell these products, then why don’t they ever feature white actors participating in the same activities?

Black History month has become an excuse for corporations to overwhelm us with this subtle prejudice. These commercials paint a picture of blacks as dancing, smiling, rapping and singing fast food patrons and materialistic over-consumers. These ads do nothing to educate the masses about the important contributions of black Americans to our country or to nurture the notion of equality in our nation.

Another gripe I have with Black History month is the fact that it remains just a month. If the natural progression from a week was a month, shouldn’t we now have progressed into the whole year? Isn’t black history important enough to become fully integrated into American history? Why do we still only acknowledge the accomplishments of blacks in February?

If we continue to look at black history as if it is some entity separate from all of American history, then we will not only be doing ourselves a disservice but we will be dishonoring the many blacks who greatly contributed to what this country has become.

For America to continue the practice of isolating or, maybe even more accurately, segregating black history into the month of February – which also happens to be the shortest month of the year – is wrong.

Legalized segregation ended in the ’60s. Still, 40 years later we refuse to accurately acknowledge the historical contributions of minorities without racial labeling. It’s as if the laws have been lifted while the stigma and associations contrived from them remain.

This February, let us remember Dr. King, Harriet Tubman, Marcus Garvey, Fredrick Douglass and Malcolm X. However, this year, let us continue to remember the achievements of these individuals in June as well. Let us commit ourselves to the complete incorporation of not just black history, but the history of all our countries’ people into U.S. history. In doing this, we will not only become better informed about our own history – because black history is your history regardless of your race – but also better informed about ourselves.

E-mail Brandon Edmonds at ble3@pitt.edu.