Galewarning

by Daryl Gale

The Last Black History Month

Every February, it’s the same old song and dance. White folks complain about the need for a Black History Month, and black folks counter that if their ancestors hadn’t been deliberately excised from the annals of history, maybe there wouldn’t be a need for one. Back and forth it goes, until March comes along and the argument lies dormant for another year. Most of the time, you wouldn’t know that it was Black History Month if the occasional public service announcement didn’t remind you.

Here's the real problem, folks: Other than its use as a once-a-year racial wedge, most people just don't care much about Black History Month.

Established in 1926 by educator, historian and activist Carter G. Woodson as "Negro History Week," it was designed as a celebration and acknowledgment of the myriad contributions African Americans have made to the betterment, comfort and quality of life of their countrymen. A high school teacher, Woodson was appalled by the conspiracy of silence keeping blacks out of the history books that he distributed in his class. From engine-lubricating oil to traffic lights, blacks had traditionally been ignored or had their inventions attributed to white men. After all, it was more than reasonable at the time to assume that an obviously inferior race couldn't possibly have made any significant contributions to society that didn't involve manual labor.

That was all true in the old days, sure, but now that Philadelphia has had two African-American mayors, and the country has seen firsthand the intelligence, class and dedication of Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice and a host of others, you have to admit that blacks in general have it better than in Woodson's day, right? The short answer is yes, but now we're back to the glass being half-empty or half-full. And the sad fact is, whichever way you perceive the glass depends on whether you're the guy who just drank half a glass, or the guy who's still thirsty.

These days, the vast majority of white people know about and are happy to give a nod of thanks to Dr. Charles Drew, the Tuskegee Airmen, Jackie Robinson and the other blacks who became, by sheer force of their indomitable spirit, an integral part of American history. They'll go to the stadium and cheer black players, go to the movies to see Denzel Washington or Will Smith's latest movie, and read books by Toni Morrison or Walter Mosley. Of course, there are still, and probably always will be, die-hard racists who demean the contributions of African Americans on the basis of pure hatred, but they're complete idiots, and we can ignore them for the purposes of this conversation.

What most white folks don't know is that many African Americans would be more than happy to drop the notion of a Black History Month. I know how that sounds, but hear me out. The notion that it's somehow necessary to put aside a month to celebrate what should be common knowledge is in itself galling. The fact that there was ever a need to do so is galling, and tends to piss black folk off.

In that respect, it's a little like affirmative action. You can't get rid of affirmative action without getting rid of the reasons for it in the first place. We'd all love to see affirmative action go the way of the dinosaur, just as soon as everyone is assured that all Americans will finally be treated equally and fairly when it comes to housing, education and employment. If we could be certain that no one would ever again be discriminated against in this country on the basis of race, gender or sexual orientation, I'd be the first guy to put the nail in affirmative action's coffin. And if we could be similarly assured that, henceforth, the books of history would fairly and evenhandedly catalog the whole story, warts and all, we'd be just as happy to say goodbye to Black History Month.

Unfortunately, it's not as easy as Rodney King's famous line, "Can't we all just get along?"

I host a radio show every Friday, and just last week, an African-American listener went on and on about the book he was reading, titled Why the White Man Is the Devil. My co-hosts and I laughed him off the airwaves, but he was serious, and considered the book serious reading.

A white friend recently asked about why the black community was afraid of its own. If blacks are most often the victims of crime, he asked, why is it that when incidents happen like last week's schoolyard shooting of a 10-year-old, most of the neighbors remain silent, seemingly rallying behind the scumbags who peddle poison and shoot children? Don't they want to see these guys go to jail? It was a toughie, but I tried to explain as best I could that those neighbors were more afraid of the thugs than of the drugs. But at least my white friend and I are able to talk about it, and that's a start. It's also time to once and for all acknowledge that Black History is American History. They are inextricably intertwined and connected, and nobody needs a once-a-year argument to figure that one out.

Daryl Gale’s weekly radio show, Dialogues, with co-hosts Rotan Lee and Bill Miller, is burning up the airwaves Fridays 7-10 a.m. on WURD (900 AM) in Philadelphia.