Does anyone else hate Black Hisory Month?

I think it's the stupidest idea to give any race a month to celebrate their history no matter what hardships they faced through history. In giving them a month it is in fact racist because it demeans everything their race stands for out of greater society's false sense of pity over what transpired over the years.

The same goes with Black History Month. It's just a stupid idea and it also demeans black history cause it is on February the shortest month of the year, so what are they trying to say?

Moreover, I hate it cause black historical figures are talked about more often than others whom deserved to be talked about more than the ones actually being talked about. An example of this is MLK. Everyone knows and loves MLK. He was a smart man and through civil disobedience wanted to make the world more egalitarian shifting away from ones creed and should be defined through the content of their character. Nevertheless, this guy is one of the most overrated historical figures of the 20th century for sure.

I mean he had some stupid ideas, like how to resolve Vietnam and other issues of the day and wasn't as brilliant as greater men of the time period. Yet, he is given the green light over them cause what was he a Christian, a Reverend no less. Yet, men like Malcolm X, who was ten times more of an intellectual than MLK ever was is hardly spoken about in the history books. Like, MLK he fought and lost his life to make sure blacks were treated as equals in mainstream society. However, his ideas were much better and he was far beyond the public speaker MLK ever was. Yet, because his ideas were more radical and above all else because he wasn't a Christian and converted to Islam. The fact that he was a Muslim makes him seem like a leper in the history and is hardly mentioned in the same breathes as the overrated MLK during Black History Month. If you were to ask me it's total BS.

"it is on February the shortest month of the year, so what are they trying to say?"
Don't be picky

And no one gives a shit about MLK's ideas about Vietnam....he is celebrated because he tried to unite the entire nation...
I bet your sorry ass can't do that nor do you have the guts to even attempt it....

And Malcolm X is celebrated a lot too...where the hell have you been?

Correct me if I'm wrong....but some other races have their own "months" too....aka a month to appreciate their culture..
Not just black history month...

The only reason you have this view is because you are looking at it after everything has happened...
You have not experienced anything...therefore you have a very frank and unattached point of view...
If I wanted to have that kind of point of view...I could easily say..why didn't the jews rebel against the officers in the holocaust camps, afterall they did outnumber the officers...
But it is never that simple....think about things AFTER considering the environment...

Every "great" person in our history had faults...
I could name 10 major major faults (for this era) for each of our first 10 presidents...
Does that diminish anything they have done? Not at all

There is no need to be picky about everything....
And put things in perspective...

Every month to celebrate a race is wrong. And Malcolm X is depicted as a villain in so many novels pick one up and you would see. He is extolled very rarely in the history books. And who is to say I won't ever do something on a scale parallel to that of MLK's? I would think I could cause otherwise why else study international relations and enter the foreign service?

OK...

First off....its obvious you need some sleep....a little too delusional if you ask me...
I highly doubt there will ever be a major issue in America that you can do that would surpass what MLK did...
But if you do...good for you....but until then...yeeeeeeeeah not buying it

And many books depict MLK as a bad guy too.....it shouldn't bother you that much..
They're just using something known as uhhh...freedom of speech...

You read books to collect info and facts to form your own opinion...
You shouldn't buy into what the book says
Just because a book says something doesn't mean everyone portrays him as such...

I agree that's why I hate most historians that write books on certain figures. Cause they don't know what the hell they're talking about. And I would write a book much better than them cause I know history better than they do. I'm a God when it comes to History.

I agree tony, Even as a black person.

I'm sure they felt they were god when they wrote the book too, Tony....

I think this dedicating a month/week or whatever to a particular race is perpetuating racism (and other "isms" as well). By saying that you wanna dedicate a month to a particular group creates the notion that by doing so, it solves the problems of that group (when in actuality it does nothing).

That is why I hate multiculturalism because it places focus on celebrating diversity and does nothing to attack the root causes of the social problems that oppressed groups experience. Also why I hate Caribana in Toronto (a festival where carribean music/culture is celebrated) because the dominant group likes to celebrate the culture without comprehending the issues experienced by the group.

But don't hate on MLK my friend; despite how you may view him...I still believe he was a VERY influential figure for black culture. Personally though, Mr. X is my main man, haha.

Nonetheless, Jay brought up some very good points himself. I agree with him too...

Nah, I like Black History month.

MLK is easily the best American Hero.
Malcolm X was a racist imo so it's not really a good comparison.

Im the best black hero, Look at my body of work, look at the doors iv'e opened, look at the impact ive made in the black cummunity!

mlk is celebrated more because he wasn't a racist, and he promoted non-violence

malcom x is not close to the man that mlk was

and multiculturalism isn't racist in the slightest. maybe if you continue to view it as something that is meant just as a token of guilt, you'll keep seeing it that way. the reason that there is such a thing as black history month here in the united states, is because the movement for african-american rights was one of the biggest chapters in our history. if i'm not correct, there is also a month for other cultures as well, due to the other things that have happened in our nation. the month is meant to be viewed as celebratory, as is any other multicultural celebration. taking a view of it as racist, and or assuming that others want to know nothing about the culture or the past, is just way too negative in my opinion. if you keep doing that, you just make things worse, because what isn't racism, is being turned into racism. if you hate racism so much, why would you want to make something that wasn't, racist?

☆®¥ån☆ wrote:

mlk is celebrated more because he wasn't a racist, and he promoted non-violence

malcom x is not close to the man that mlk was

and multiculturalism isn't racist in the slightest. maybe if you continue to view it as something that is meant just as a token of guilt, you'll keep seeing it that way. the reason that there is such a thing as black history month here in the united states, is because the movement for african-american rights was one of the biggest chapters in our history. if i'm not correct, there is also a month for other cultures as well, due to the other things that have happened in our nation. the month is meant to be viewed as celebratory, as is any other multicultural celebration. taking a view of it as racist, and or assuming that others want to know nothing about the culture or the past, is just way too negative in my opinion. if you keep doing that, you just make things worse, because what isn't racism, is being turned into racism. if you hate racism so much, why would you want to make something that wasn't, racist?

yeee, yee, good stuff here lol.


mm, where can i read about you Visa?

Multiculturalism is racist to me...

It assumes that everyone is the same and that other cultures should assimilate with the dominant culture which is very problematic because you are basically stating that you should becoming a "melting pot" per se and adopt the values/customs of the dominant group. What we ought to be striving for is equity - acknowledging the difference in our society and not expecting others to assimilate into the main culture.

And instead of this black history month and other months/weeks dedicated to other oppressed groups in society...it makes more sense to me incorporate diversity studies into the school's curriculum on a daily basis so learning about different cultures/groups is seen as something normal that occurs frequently...not something that occurs for a certain period of time.

multiculturalism celebrates those differences. it doesn't expect others to "assimilate," or even change in the slightest. the whole idea behind multiculturalism is for others to learn about those differences, and better understand one another. it simply cannot be racist, if the definition of multiculturalism is "the preservation of different cultures or cultural identities within a unified society, as a state or nation."

how do you know what we americans learn in schools? in junior year in high school, my whole english class was based off reading african or african-american literature. learning about diversity and different cultures and groups was actually pretty common at my high school. it still is in my university classes on occasion, which are meant to focus on just one subject. so for you to say the country doesn't do it, without any idea of it, essentially means nothing.

During the black history month...no one is expected to assimilate into that culture...
They're just expected to appreciate all the work that has gone into making the country a more racially-tolerant country...

Studying about various cultures and traditions is done in every single school, sometimes even in middle schools..
So people do learn about it....that is not a problem..
The problem is that people learn about it and then proceed to mock it or make fun of it because of the "bizarre" things that are done compared to here in U.S

Everyone knows about the differences in culture.....and no one expects people to conform to the main group..
I don't see where you're getting that from....
Maybe I'm missing something...

SlimBaby wrote:

☆®¥ån☆ wrote:

mlk is celebrated more because he wasn't a racist, and he promoted non-violence

malcom x is not close to the man that mlk was

and multiculturalism isn't racist in the slightest. maybe if you continue to view it as something that is meant just as a token of guilt, you'll keep seeing it that way. the reason that there is such a thing as black history month here in the united states, is because the movement for african-american rights was one of the biggest chapters in our history. if i'm not correct, there is also a month for other cultures as well, due to the other things that have happened in our nation. the month is meant to be viewed as celebratory, as is any other multicultural celebration. taking a view of it as racist, and or assuming that others want to know nothing about the culture or the past, is just way too negative in my opinion. if you keep doing that, you just make things worse, because what isn't racism, is being turned into racism. if you hate racism so much, why would you want to make something that wasn't, racist?

mm, where can i read about you Visa?

im workin on it..

They're right.

Idk about every state in the US, but we do learn about various cultures in Ca.
I specifically remember grade 11 being dedicated to African/African American literature and history. Grade 10 was Hispanic literature and so on.

lol, kay Visa.

Based on what I have studied on multiculturalism in my program, I have come learn that its beliefs/ideas are perpetuating racism. Anyway, when I was referring to schools; I was speaking from a Canadian context...not American.

And as a black person, I understand how this so-called multiculturalism perpetuates the racism that I experience on a daily basis. You cannot convince me that multiculturalism isn't racist because I have seen the effect that it has on my own race as well as other races within Canada. People love to celebrate Caribana in my city in particular, but by the next day...people from the dominant group are calling people from my race a bunch of criminals, lazy, deviants...so what is multiculturalism doing to stop this? not a damn thing if you ask me. Black people are among the poorest in Canadian (and most likely American) society but what is the theories/ideas of multiculturalism saying we should do to end this? Nothing.


I rather advocate for something else (e.g. recognition of difference and social problems experienced by those who are different) rather than this multiculturalism crap because if you ask me...it is not eradicating the problems experienced by black people or any other race in Canada for that matter.

Black History Month is NOT there to come up with solutions for racism...
It is there to just celebrate the culture.....regardless of whether racists want to or not...

Of course there are gonna be people who take advantage of this month to express their racist beliefs...
But its still a small number of people...

I'm pretty damn sure that there are more people who take part in the celebration because they actually appreciate it, than people who take part to mock the culture..

There are always a few detractors....you can't let them bother you that much....

SRF I don't hate MLK at all he did a lot during the Civil Rights Era. I just despise how Malcolm X gets the rap sheet that he does. When to me he was more of an intellectual than MLK and was pure fire in his speeches the man in an icon. Marcus Garvey is also cool and underappreciated for his works. W.E.B DuBois was a great man. Elijah Muhammad was a scrub and Malcolm X called him out on it when he left the Nation of Islam and decided to take a pilgrimage to Mecca as well as African Ghana. Malcolm X and the Black Panthers was where it was at. Malcolm X and Angela Davis forever.

And I agree on what you said on multiculturalism Jal and I know very well what Caribana is. The Junkanoo festivals in The Bahamas are pretty cool though, but that's cause they don't promote multiculturalism thus spearhead racism, but they promote Pan-Bahamianism.

Honesly i dont have anything against Black history month but u have ot me thinking that if there is a black history month, other cultures should have their months too.

Aborignial month?It was another race that was oppressd and took advantage of by the early settlers. But then again u could go on and on cause the british and french basically took over a good portion of the world.

Blacks have undergone more suffering and faced more adversity than any other race/culture in recent memory. The least we can do is commemorate a month dedicated towards them. I mean honestly, it's not like we have to dedicate a shrine to them every day...all we have to do is recognize how far blacks have come, from slavery to being the President.

I'm pretty sure November is Native American heritage month...CO

u were speaking about black history month, which is american, not canadian.

that's exactly what multiculturalism is. it recognizes and celebrates differences.

i don't understand why you insist on calling something that is meant to deter racism, exactly what it is meant to rid people of. it just makes the situation worse, because then, you have the people who know it isn't racist, and are for multiculturalism thinking that you are in fact, calling there ideas racist. obviously, u can't expect everyone to just agree to not be racist because they've been informed about other cultures. there are racists in the world. it's a simple fact. you can't expect them all to change just from informing them, which is exactly what multiculturalism does. it's events get news' time, television exposure, and public recognition. what better way to increase knowledge than that?

black history month is in US, Canada and Britain...