Calling All White People, Part 49
TODAY’S EPISODE: It’s learn and reflect, not show and tell
Welcome, my fellow white people, to Black History Month once again. We’ve all heard the joke: Black people get the shortest month of the year for their history month. We’ve all heard the complaint: Why isn’t there a White History Month? And some of you have probably heard or even asked the question: What does Black History Month have to do with me as a white person?
I think there are plenty of white people who would like to know if they should celebrate Black History Month. And if they should or are allowed to, how do they celebrate it?
I, personally, think that’s the wrong way to look at it.
I don’t see history months so much as a celebratory thing. Oh, I certainly think there can and should be celebratory events during such months from a thematic basis, but is a month set aside for acknowledging the successes, struggles and contributions of an entire race really about celebration at its core? Maybe it’s just that I see the word “celebrate” and I think about how people—particularly white people—turn regularly scheduled memorial times into party time. Especially when race or ethnicity are involved. Cinco de Mayo and St. Patrick’s Day leap to mind.
There is much to celebrate in terms of Black history in the United States—and about Black people and their place in this country as survivors and successes despite the headwinds that have always been against them.
But I think perhaps for white people this month is best used as a time to learn. And believe me, there is plenty more to learn than what you think. There is so much more to know than just the history of the enslavement of Africans and the civil rights movement.
There are, of course, the painful parts of history—not just things like the Tuskegee syphilis experiment but also many of which have been buried even deeper and hidden even more carefully by white people, like the story of Seneca Village in New York and the Tulsa race massacre. But there are also largely untold and mostly unheard stories of Black heroes beyond just Harriet Tubman or Frederick Douglass and the like, including Robert Smalls and Ella Baker and so many others. And there are larger stories about how in the times shortly after slavery when significant numbers of Black people were voted into political offices in the South—their freedom and power didn’t last long, but it is still a notable thing.
And there are so many Black people on all kinds of social media, from Facebook to Twitter, from YouTube to TikTok and everywhere else sharing tidbits of history, like spreading the word about unknown Black artists who blazed trails that white people are more associated with.
I would argue that for us white people, this month is a good time to remind ourselves of how much we don’t know about Black history and to learn more about it. Because it is in learning how much Black people have not only gone through and suffered but also how they have added to American culture and arts and succeeded in professions and endeavors that gives us a better understanding of what it means to be Black in this country.
Getting rid of our preconceptions and our prejudices is critical to uprooting white supremacy and undoing the whole ridiculous notion of whiteness itself, which is rooted in nothing historical, nothing cultural and nothing ethnic. It is simply a label and a classification that gets defined and redefined and expanded and contracted as the ruling institutions and structural systems deem necessary to keep “undesirable” races and ethnicities down.
What I would not suggest doing is sending a bunch of Black history tidbits to Black people you know or interact with. They don’t need that from us. Really. If you’re going to send such knowledge, send it to white people who need it.
But in the end, remember this is not “show and tell.” This is not a time to appear smart or open-minded or to feel better about yourself or superior to others just because you can look up a bunch of information and hit send. This is a time for you to expand your knowledge—but more so your understanding—and to self-reflect. To become better internally and help others do the same.
Do it all year round, too. But consider this month your alert reminder.
[To find other installments of “Calling All White People,” click here]
If this piece or this blog resonates with you, please consider a one-time “tip” or become a monthly “patron”…this space runs on love and reader support. Want more BGIM? Consider booking me to speak with your group or organization.
Comments will close on this post in 60-90 days; earlier if there are spam attacks or other nonsense.