Should Black History Month include White History?

[qwlauren35]

I posted this in General Discussion, in part because I can guess the answer that some people here would have to my question. However, it may be that your answer, after you read this, is that this information does not need to be a part of Black History Month. Should it stay a month to lift up? Or should it also be a month to call out the perpetrators?

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I have been celebrating Black History Month since I was a toddler. And that was a very long time ago. And mainly what was taught was the amazing things that we did to triumph over adversity. However, it's very rare that black history month includes the WHO. WHO DID THIS TO US???

Now, you could say "white people", and generalize as some nameless, faceless entity, but it's very rare that names are called out.

For example, it was only when I was an adult that eight of the first 12 presidents owned slaves. That Washington owned over 100 slaves, that Jefferson owned over 600 slaves. It was only when I was an adult that I learned that Jefferson slept with a 16 year old slave - Sally Hemings, and had 4 children by her, probably because she was kin to his dead wife.

We don't hear about the politicians across the South who decided to create black codes so that black people after Reconstruction would be forced into jails and made to work for free because of a loophole in the 13th amendment.

We don't know the names of the families with the largest numbers of slaves, and how they were able to pool their monies and resources to remain rich by using black sharecroppers, even after the Civil War.

We never seem to know which politicians were part of the Ku Klux Klan. Are current members.

We know Commissioner Bull Connor who directed the use of fire hoses and police attack dogs in Birmingham against civil rights marchers... but only because he was on national television.

We know about Georgia Governor George Wallace's declaration of "segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever" because he ran for president.

But otherwise, it's just nebulous. So many people jump up and down saying "it wasn't me"... but who were the slave overseers responsible for whipping us? Who were the partygoers who attended lynchings with children and lunch baskets as if it was a fun time? Why don't we take a photo and identify everyone?

Who were the people in Illinois and Indiana who decided to keep slaves... even though they were supposed to be free states?

Who were the people in Oregon who decided that it would be a white utopia and wrote into their constitution that black people were not allowed to live there?

We know the names of the individuals who were killed by cops, but not the names of the cops that did the killing.

Who were these people? Who made the laws to keep blacks poor? Who held the hoses? Who enforced the segregation of the buses? Which policemen beat the black men who were imprisoned for ridiculous reasons?

I think you get my point. We seem to know WHAT was done to us... but not WHO. We seem to know that we were kept down, but not whose foot was on our back. The people who did this to us get to go on and live their lives, and pass their wealth onto their children... who get to go on and live their lives. Why is there a wealth gap in the US? Because of inheritances. Because of white people who could pass on their land, their houses, their savings. Not always a lot. Maybe just a few thousand dollars. But it might be enough to go to college, or buy a house or start a business.

We all know they were white people. But I want to know their names. And I want to know the names of their children. And their children's children... and I want their children to know which of their ancestors did the things that black people had to endure. If so many white people want to say that they had nothing to do with it, then they shouldn't have any problem saying that their parents and grandparents did horrendous things... and enjoyed doing it.

" target="_blank">White History Month

[brer cat]

1. I am white and cannot speak for Black people, but imo

we need to do just as you say and name the names and identify those who subjugated an entire race of people. We desperately need reconciliation, especially now that so many republicans are rewriting history and trying to ban the study of Black history. That early American history is ugly; it demonstrates how inhumane our ancestors were including many leading founders and Presidents. It needs to be faced head on not brushed under the rug.

I fear that we are raising another generation of white children who do not know history and do not have the background to allow them to fend off the calls of racists who try to hide our past. They deserve better. Also Black children need to hear that history from white people too.

OTOH, I have gone through a lot of Black History Months and I love the uplifting and inspiring messages. It would tarnish that message a bit if we shifted part of the month's celebration to placing blame.

[70sEraVet]

2. I think of myself as being pretty racially 'woke'

But that clip showed me that I have a lot to learn.
Thanks, qwlauren35!

[live love laugh]

3. Black history is American history. It's all one story.

[willamette]

4. Great post, great video. Thanks.