Celebrating Black history month is beneficial to all American citizens. African descendants played a major element of American history, they helped build America, and schools now are not fully explaining black history. This is something we have to change.
Black history month explains what Africans American went through for centuries and their achievements. According to (History. Com) President Gerald R. Ford stated “seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history.” African Americans were given this month because they achieved so much in history and without this month most of the history of African Americans would be lost. For example, an African American who made great accomplishments was Harriet Tubman. She led the Underground Railroad for slaves to get to freedom to start a new life. This movement played a major role in American history. There would be big gap in America’s history black history month was taken away.
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At (http://www.gilderlehrman.org) stated that “slavery paid for a substantial share of the capital, iron, and manufactured good that laid the basis for American economic growth.” This shows that through in the early stages of agriculture in America slaves produced most of American money during this time period.
Now today, students really don’t understand why black history month is so important. Many schools around the nation are “forgetting” about black history month. For example, At Klein Forest high school for black history month, Students says a quote from a famous black person and that’s the end. Very few discussions about the meaning of this month are taught in the class
One of the greatest attempts at proving self-worth for Blacks in American History was showing they made an impact in the Revolutionary War. When the Colonies were established as
Kwanzaa encourages entrepreneurship among African-Americans and promotes the importance of supporting Black-owned businesses. This has helped to empower African-Americans economically and increase their representation in the business world. Kwanzaa also shows the importance of honoring ancestors and building a legacy for future generations. The holiday encourages families to reflect on their family history and traditions and to pass them down to the next generation.
and Frederick Douglass were two of the greatest abolitionists, writers, and statesmen to ever exist; devoting their life's work to tirelessly fight for the rights of African Americans. During the span of their lives, the "Letter from Birmingham Jail" and speech "The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro" took America by storm and have left a tangible impact on American history. In these acclaimed works, Dr. King and Douglass both use appeals to sadness to elaborate on the vile treatment of African Americans, evidence-based arguments to expose the corruption in the American church and justice system, careful, calculated, and persuasive language to establish their credibility. It is clear that speeches, essays, works of art, and music produced during a civil rights movement is nothing short of powerful, provocative, and most of the time, painful; but they are absolutely
The celebration of the 4th of July was a “sham” to the blacks because they were not as fortunate as the white Americans to have been “torn from [their] chains of servitude.” Douglass sought to bring attention to the inequality still suffered by the black slaves in America in comparison to the freedom experienced by the white citizens. “The conscience of the nation must be roused,” proclaimed Douglass as a final effort to spark social change in
An idea that was not well liked in the United States. It was considered radical. In “What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?” Frederick Douglass tried not only to convince people of the wrongfulness of slavery but also to change people's minds about the abilities and intelligence of African Americans. Most white Americans believed that African Americans were inferior, even went as far to think of them as less human.
They represented the interests of all African Americans, and they started to make decisions based on ones which would make their lives better, because they still faced many hard ships even though they were now equal to whites. African Americans greatly shaped the outcome and consequences of the Civil War. They were the cause of it, they played a key role in the battles, and they effected the political make up regarding African Americans, of not only the South, but the whole country. If the African Americans had not played a role in the war, the north may have still won because of their size, but the odds are that there would still be slavery and or segregation in the United States
According to Mr. Douglass, Fourth of July was a negative holiday to American slaves. In Douglass speech he gives countless examples and reasoning behind why this holiday, to him and all American slaves, was a reason to mourn. For example, in Douglass speech he explains how in his eyes, the Fourth of July was meant for the white people, not him. “This Fourth of July is yours, not mine. You may rejoice, I must mourn.”
Being enslaved was not an easy job for African Americans. African Americans survived slavery through their connection with their culture. They then went on to contribute to the economic and social development of the South and America. African Americans survived the institution of slavery and Africanized the American South. They helped free themselves by sticking together as a family, resisting, as well as wanting slavery to change.
In some ways, it can help put an end to racism, it shows the contributions African Americans have made throughout America’s history. These are beneficial things to students and can make schools a place where all children can feel valued, appreciated and safe. It is hard for students to learn in a place where they feel unvalued, unappreciated, and unsafe, their focus is outside of schools, but teaching black history may have a positive impact on students not just during black history month, but all year
The African Americans had a big impact on the Civil War. They had to have all of these laws and papers wrote because of the slavery deal. They had the role of the debate for slavery. They were the slaves and they wanted to have their freedom. The Declaration of Independence said that, “All men are created equal”, but the slaves were not free.
Have you ever thought to yourself, “Gee, Morgan Freeman is quite a person is’t he.” Have you ever gone as far as to ask yourself, “Could Morgan Freeman possibly be a hero?” Well the answer to that question is right here. Morgan Freeman deserves the status of hero.
In the 1940s, about 10 years prior to Woodson’s death, the state of West Virginia began celebrating Negro History Month. Nearly 20 years later, Midwestern cities would follow suit with creating opportunities to expand the celebration for the entire month of February. Chicago, Illinois cultural activist Frederic H. Hammurabi helped to organize the Negro History Month and began incorporating themes from African history in the celebration. The Black United Students at Kent State University in Kent, Ohio organized one of the first Black History Month celebrations on a college campus in February 1969. Seven years later, 1976, in celebration of the United States Bicentennial President Gerald Ford recognized the need to honor the accomplishments of African Americans.
Years later, President Ford extended the week into an entire month. It began as an infrastructure to help eradicate the neglection of African American history; nonetheless, over the years, there has been much debate concerning the annual celebration. Although Black History Month has received backlash from both African Americans and Caucasians, it is still a necessity in today’s life because it provides historical information that the youth cannot find in textbooks and recognizes neglected people who have fulfilled great actions. Historically, African American history has been deemed as an unimportant subject.
Douglass expresses to his spectators, while they dwell in the luxurious ability to partake in this joyous celebration of freedom for a nation, not everyone in that nation is sharing in the celebration. In The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro, he writes “The blessings in which you, this day, rejoice, are not enjoyed in common. The rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity and independence bequeathed by your fathers, is shared by you and not by me. This Fourth of July is yours, not mine. You may rejoice, I must mourn” (Douglass 1).
Morgan Freeman doesn’t like that his race has its own month, and that’s understandable. However, Black History Month is a great way to help show that not all people are racist. Black History Month helps recompense for how racist some people can be. Times and events like this are an effective and necessary way to prevent racism. We may never get rid of racism, but if we continue to fight it, it will lessen.