Column for Feb. 16, 2012

To many blind fools, this is going to sound very racist.  Actually, it is intended to be completely the opposite.  So, if you are easily offended, see racism behind every criticism of activity, or have such a small view of mankind that you can only filter everything through the lenses of your race tinted glasses, please close the newspaper now.

Every February, Black History Month is celebrated in America.  I enjoy history that has a focus upon Black Americans, I truly do.  I am fascinated by the stories of valiant Negro men and women who had a strong faith, love of country, love for their fellow man; who fought, died, and contributed greatly to the nation’s formation.  Such stories should be an inspiration to all Americans, not just Black folks.  Just as many Blacks were enslaved in America, they were enslaved all over the world.  And, as is little taught, there were indeed a good many Black freemen who also owned slaves in America.

I don’t want there to be a distinction between “history” and “Black history”.  When the history of America is taught, it should be taught in its fulness, not just with an agenda attached to it, regardless of from whence the agenda comes.  Black history in America is inseparable from American history and should be taught as part of the whole, not neglected or relegated to one month per year.

Of course there are some who believe they are owed special treatment.  While working at NC State University years ago, I marveled at the “Black Cultural Center” and wondered why people who fought against segregation at a public university would want to self-segregate on campus and demand special consideration.

On television, we have Black Entertainment Television and The Black Shopping Channel.  I don’t begrudge anyone their TV viewing tastes or cultural choices.  That is why there are now hundreds of channels on cable and satellite TV.  Can you imagine the outcry, however, if someone came out with White Entertainment Television and only featured programming with actors as white as Marshmallow Fluff?  

How about our tax dollars paying for a White Cultural Center at NC State University?  Should we have a White Anglo-Saxon Protestant History Month?  When we study world history, it is not WASP or Euro-centric, so maybe we need one.  Yeah, that would go over real well, I am sure.  I do believe that there is an incredible double standard in place.

I am especially disgusted when it comes to American politics and the race card is played.  I remember asking the question that if Herman Cain actually got the Republican nomination for this year’s Presidential Election and I supported him over Barack Obama, would I still be considered a racist?  Of course anyone who does not support Obama was told that we were indeed racist if we did not support him.  Sorry, but I didn’t care for the White half of him either, nor did I support Joe Biden, Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, Bob Etheridge, or Kay Hagan.  All of them are fish belly white and have the same ideology as Obama.  Am I racist for not supporting them, as well, or do I just oppose socialism, communism, and values antithetical to the American founding?

I am going to quote a friend of mine from Wilson.  “Today, in light of black history month, when we watch black-achievement movies like “Men of Honor,” “The Express,” “The Pursuit of Happyness,” “Remember the Titans,” “The Great Debaters,” “Red Tails,” etc., we are inspired by people who transcended every obstacle, through persistence, personal sacrifice, self-determination, self-interest, and hard work, to become great. And to think they did it all on their own, while all of Hell seemed to fight against them, without an ounce of government assistance. [sic]”  

That, my friends, is the attitude we should take and how to honor greatness.  Yes, there are many stories of great Black men and women that we should celebrate in America.  Whether it is Crispus Attucks, Prince Whipple, Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, George Washington Carver, or a host of others, we should celebrate their achievements and contribution to America right along side any other facts taught as American history; the good, the bad, and the ugly.  Would this not be the essence of Martin Luther King’s famous quote, “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character”?