Happy February! As many of you know, in the states this month is Black History Month. I am sharing a post that I do every February because with the world we live in, apparently, a lot of people need this reminder. So, here is a (shortened) list of things that I do not want to hear this month.
“Why do we still need to talk about slavery?”
Because it’s still relevant. Just because you’re not affected by it doesn’t mean that other people aren’t. Slavery only ended 154 years ago. That’s not a long time. Not to mention the fact that racism is still very much a part of our every day lives.
How could racism still exist when we had a Black president?
You mean to tell me that you think racism is nonexistent because for 8 years (only eight years since 1789) we had ONE Black president? Did you suddenly forget what those eight years were like and block out all of the times that he was called the n-word or that he and his wife were called apes? All of the death threats against him? The fact that during his term someone actually made it across the White House lawn with weapons before Secret Service got them? Or did you just turn a blind eye to all of that?
All Lives Matter
*long dramatic aggravated sigh* I’m so tired of having to explain this. The statement itself is fine, but you have to understand context and intent vs impact. The problem is that no one starting saying it until Black Lives Matter became a thing. If it’s used as a rebuttal then obviously you don’t really mean that all lives matter because “all” has to include us.
The same goes for “Blue Lives Matter.” Yes, the lives of law enforcement officers absolutely do matter. But you shouldn’t be using that as a rebuttal to Black Lives Matter or as an excuse to justify the death of civilians.
“Why isn’t there a ‘White History Month?’ That’s not fair.”
Well…. because what the fuck do you think we learn during every month outside of February? Also, if we’re being honest, most Black History Month lessons are bullshit. We only learn about slavery and the same four Civil Rights activists. Nothing about accomplishments of inventors, mathematicians, or scientists, etc. Any advancements made by Black people (and many other POC) are either swept under the rug or credited to white people.
Let’s also take into consideration the fact that we are required to learn about European history through middle and high school, but for anything else (Asian Studies, Africana Studies, Latin American Studies, etc.) they’re only offered as college electives. Maybe a minor if you’re lucky.
However, if you want to celebrate other cultures within their respective months then here you go:
- Greek American Heritage Month | March
- Irish American Heritage Month | March
- Asian/Pacific Islander Heritage Month | May
- Jewish American Heritage Month | May
- Caribbean American Heritage Month | June
- French American Heritage Month | July
- Hispanic/Latinx Heritage Month | Sept 15- Oct 15
- German American Heritage Month | Oct
- Italian Heritage Month | Oct
- Polish American Heritage Month | Oct
- American Indian/Alaskan Native Heritage Month | Nov
There may even be more, this is all that I could find. But the point is, if you were actually worried about equality and fairness, then you would have found this information on your own and you would call out anyone who complains about Black History Month. Also, have you ever noticed that the people who say this only say it during the month of February? Interesting, right?
There are many more ignorant comments that could be added to this list, but I’ll stop here for now.
This post was written by Rae from Bookmark Chronicles and originally ran on the Bookmark Chronicles blog.
