In honor of Black History Month, I took some time out to talk to several fellow peers and people around campus about their thoughts on Black History Month. Many people feel as if Black History Month and Black History, in general, are misrepresented in the media and society. They believe Black History Month specifically doesn’t embody true Black History. On the other hand, like myself, others believe that Black History Month is the best tool we have to help society understand where our struggles come from and to enlighten those who do not acknowledge what we have fought for throughout history. Some believe Black History Month is all we have until the world can all agree to move on from racism as a whole.
I believe that everyone’s experience in life is completely unique, regardless of race. However, one must acknowledge that various groups in society have dealt with and continue to deal with multiple challenges that make it a shared experience within that group. Growing up black, I knew that I would be treated differently and had been prepared my whole life for the days when I would face adversity and racism. Unfortunately, those days occur frequently, even now, and I believe will continue. However, through everything I have faced as a black man in this country, I have learned to use it to not only empower myself but also other brothers and sisters in the black community. In Black History Month, we honor black people in history who have helped pave the way for civil rights and freedom in the black community—Dr. King, W.E.B. Du Bois, Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, Ida B. Wells, Malcolm X—and the list goes on. Being educated about the history of our community is one of the ways we can empower ourselves and learn how to handle adversity and racism.
Unfortunately, the black community is not perfect, just as many other groups are—we are all human. Gang violence, crime, and many other things could be associated with the black community in the eyes of many people. We face internal issues that we as a people need to come together to fix. Systemically, the black community can have a lot of negatives said about it, and our poor actions only perpetuate the stereotypes already labeled onto us throughout the country. Finding a way to reunify internally as a community wouldn’t just be to appeal to other races and change their point of view about the black community, but more importantly, it would build the black community’s integrity—being true to ourselves, knowing that we are “One People”, unified, and empowered together internally.
People of all races and backgrounds must work together to be unified as “One People”—to wean from the use of the word “race” in media, turning away from separating ourselves in society with different labels and stereotypes and coming together to resolve internal conflicts in our communities, including challenges we face as a whole. The world is forever changing, and society will always have difficult problems to face. Let us work together as one to make the challenges we face as a society less of a burden on all our shoulders.
