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Black History Month:Does it heal old wounds or make new ones?
Racism exists in America today, just hoping it goes away isn't an option
By: Kenny Ryan
Issue date: 2/26/09 Section: Opinion
Last week newly appointed Attorney General Eric Holder said, "Though this nation has proudly thought of itself as an ethnic melting pot, in things racial, we have always been and we - I believe - continue to be, in too many ways, essentially a nation of cowards."
I agree with what Holder said when he shared his sentiment that today's America is one that is "voluntarily socially segregated." By and large, Americans are too much of cowards to acknowledge it or do anything about it.
My colleague believes that concepts like Black History Month encourage this segregation, and he wishes it went away. If Black History Month weren't around reminding us about the differences between the races, he logics, then the differences would be forgotten and racial harmony would set in.
I'm afraid it's not that simple. A whimsically childish notion that America can close its eyes on a problem and come to the conclusion that if we can't see it, It's not there, isn't a viable solution to a problem that has vexed this nation from the beginning. The first step to a solution is to acknowledge that there is a problem, and while Black History Month is a celebration of the many accomplishments of black Americans, it should also be a reminder of how far we have to go before racial equality is realized.
The fact of the matter is that I still meet Aggies who are not shy of believing, without a shred of scientific evidence, that African Americans are biologically a sub-intellectual race. I meet even more Aggies who deny the inherent disadvantage of growing up in the poor neighborhoods African Americans, freed from the bondage of slavery, found themselves thrown in over 100 years ago, and instead proclaim there is an innate laziness which delegates blacks to naturally live in a state of poverty.
I grew up in Westlake with the fortunate sons of Texas. I have friends and family who live five to a two-bedroom house in East Texas. Based on what I have seen, I have to say that if there is an innate laziness, it exists on the top and not the bottom.
I agree with what Holder said when he shared his sentiment that today's America is one that is "voluntarily socially segregated." By and large, Americans are too much of cowards to acknowledge it or do anything about it.
My colleague believes that concepts like Black History Month encourage this segregation, and he wishes it went away. If Black History Month weren't around reminding us about the differences between the races, he logics, then the differences would be forgotten and racial harmony would set in.
I'm afraid it's not that simple. A whimsically childish notion that America can close its eyes on a problem and come to the conclusion that if we can't see it, It's not there, isn't a viable solution to a problem that has vexed this nation from the beginning. The first step to a solution is to acknowledge that there is a problem, and while Black History Month is a celebration of the many accomplishments of black Americans, it should also be a reminder of how far we have to go before racial equality is realized.
The fact of the matter is that I still meet Aggies who are not shy of believing, without a shred of scientific evidence, that African Americans are biologically a sub-intellectual race. I meet even more Aggies who deny the inherent disadvantage of growing up in the poor neighborhoods African Americans, freed from the bondage of slavery, found themselves thrown in over 100 years ago, and instead proclaim there is an innate laziness which delegates blacks to naturally live in a state of poverty.
I grew up in Westlake with the fortunate sons of Texas. I have friends and family who live five to a two-bedroom house in East Texas. Based on what I have seen, I have to say that if there is an innate laziness, it exists on the top and not the bottom.
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