Black History Month

A friend asked on Facebook, "So . . . why aren't we celebrating Jewish, Chicano, Slavic, or Irish History Month?" As often happens these days, a lot of (mostly white) commenters jumped on him in the comments. I decided to answer his question this way:

Most of the other commenters are focusing on the moral/ethical aspects in responding to your question, but a historical answer would be, "Because they asked for it." BHM goes back a long way to Negro History Week, which was created in the 1920s to highlight the accomplishments of black Americans. And the reason for that would probably be that no other group has had as difficult of a time assimilating into the larger culture (which is not to say that those other groups have never struggled in American society). In white-supremacist narratives, blacks were always farthest from the "ideal." Negro History Week was a way of creating a counter-narrative. 

To the question of, "Why does this one group get special treatment in having its accomplishments highlighted?", the most common answer seems to be, "Because this one group received special mistreatment for a long time and had its accomplishments prevented, discounted or ignored." 

Personally, though, I don't think guilt is the best way of motivating people to appreciate black history. I think all Americans should want to know about, acknowledge and appreciate the uniquely difficult path African-Americans have had to take in this nation, if for no other reason, than that it is uniquely interesting and inspiring. I don't think you have to be black to draw hope from the fact that the light of the image of God could never be put out and that so many encountered Jesus in the depths of their despair and found the strength to push back and push through. Black history also highlights human sinfulness in that it shows the gap between American ideals and reality. The difficulty and intermittent bursts of success this nation has had in achieving unity amid diversity remind us that this world is not our home and that true and ultimate unity will only be experienced in God's kingdom but that we get glimpses of it here and now on earth.