Our country is for sure in a different place than it was when historian Carter G. Woodson originated "Negro History Week" in 1926. Most obvious, of course, is that 83 years later we have a black man in the White House. So in February, you students need to know that George Washington Carver didn’t actually invent the peanut, and a black man did invent the stoplight. Beyond that, black American history is now seemingly cranked out on a regular basis. Eric Holder becomes the first black attorney general. Mike Tomlin becomes the second black coach to win a Super Bowl championship in three years. The Republican National Committee is so desperate for relevance it elects Michael Steele as its chairman, so, clearly a nation whose icons are the likes of Tiger Woods, Oprah, and Barack Obama doesn’t need a Black History Month… OH REALLY!!

People who think that dumping black history month is watching Tiger sink a 20-foot putt or Oprah cooking with Rachael Ray it doesn’t exactly teach people about the Tuskegee Airmen or the Middle Passage or Plessy v. Ferguson. Now, I happen to agree that Black History Month is a set-aside. But a necessary set-aside because even in 2009, most schools do a poor job of integrating black history into its studies this isn’t the history of one ethnicity. It’s all America’s history, and until our history is fully explored throughout the school year, then Black History Month remains relevant. Black History Month is necessary as long as people continue to downplay the damage that was done to African Americans through the legacy of slavery. Black History Month is necessary as long as US History Education tends to white wash slavery to make it less offensive or to leave it in the past. Black History Month is necessary as long as racial tensions such as the Jena 6 incidents of last year continue to grip our nation. Black History Month is necessary as long as people in the media can call defenseless girls Nappy Headed Ho’s and people do not find it offensive until they are told otherwise. Black History Month is necessary as long as the N-word continues to have as much power as it does. This isn’t the history of one ethnicity. It’s our history. And until our history is fully explored throughout the school year, then Black History Month remains relevant.

   Sincerely,
Michael E. Johnson
Executive Director Paul Robeson Institute
Northwestern Senior High National Alumina Association President