Black History Month Proves To Be About The Present As Well
As we celebrated this past Black History Month, we gave praise and recognition to black men and women throughout this nation's history — Black men and women who made a difference, who made America and the world, a better place.
Because of the color of their skin, they were denied their rightful place in history, so we honor them by bringing to light their accomplishments and achievements.
This celebration of past achievements by black people is note – worthy, indeed; so is the ongoing fight against racism in America.
In a month where celebrating the greatness of black people in America should be taking center stage, we are reminded of this: Black man, black woman, you are still in America!
Don Lemon, a CNN anchor, said, "This may be the worst Black History Month ever; Black History Month proves that racism is not just in our past."
Now what did he mean by that? Here are some examples to support his claim:
• The Maryland House of Delegates voted to censor one of their own for using the n - word to describe a majority black district. Mary Ann Lisanti, a Democrat in a deeply red and mostly white county, said this in trying to defend her usage of the word. "I'm sure everyone has used it. I've used the f - word, I've used the Lord's name in vain."
Not EVERYONE, as you claim Ms. Lisanti, uses the N - word in their daily conversations when referring to black people. Granted, there are segments of non - black Americans where this is a common thing, but not everyone as you claim.
Just the non - black people that YOU are associated with!
• A publisher of a small - town newspaper in Alabama wrote an editorial calling for the "KKK to ride again." Goodloe Sutton, (sounds like a character from the "Dukes of Hazard"), said Democrats were planning to raise taxes, but he didn't stop there. He made sure everyone knew how he truly felt! "Seems like the Klan would be welcome to raid the gated communities up there. We'll get the hemp ropes out, loop them over a tall limb and hang all of them." Soon after that statement, Goodloe lost his job to a black woman.
• Of course, there's Virginia and the "Black Face" scandal with Governor Northam and the Attorney General. They just don't learn. Speaking of Governor Northam, how about his wife, Pam Northam. She had some 8th graders on a tour she conducted of the Governor's mansion and handed out cotton to the black students. She then asked them to imagine being slaves in the fields.
This according to a state employee and mother of one of the students: Pam Northam said, "I regret upsetting anyone, it was meant to be an educational tour"; the Governor's office said black students were not singled out. If she wanted to teach the students about the horrors of slavery, couldn't she come up with something better than that?
Enough of politics, let's look at the world of fashion for a moment, shall we?
• Burberry, a British luxury fashion house, came out with a hoodie. No big deal, right? How about this, it has a noose around the neck!
Really Burberry?
• Not to be outdone in the racist clothing line, Gucci presented a sweater that resembles "Black Face" with bright red lips! Gucci issued a statement, "The company deeply apologizes for the offense caused by the top and the item has been removed online from all our stores."
• Let's swing back over to politics again, ok? Congressman Mark Meadows, (R - NC) at the Michael Cohen hearing, was trying to defend 45 as not being a racist, which was asserted by Rep. Rashida Tlaib, (D - Mich.). In trying to make his point of 45 not being a racist, he does a racist thing, he parades a black woman out in front of TV cameras to say, "See! 45 is not racist, a black woman works for him!"
Not only did he have her just standing there, but he was speaking for her as well. He was telling us what she thought and felt about 45, like a parent would do with a young child.
In response to this dog and pony show, Rep. Tlaib said this, "Just because someone has a person of color, a black person working for them, does not mean they aren't racist. Using Lynne Patton as a political prop was racism itself."
And for the record, in 2012 Mark Meadows, one of 45's strongest supporters, vowed to send then - President Obama, "home to Kenya" Yeah, this guy. To expound on Rep. Tlaib's point, black women during slavery suckled their slave master's children and many were raised by their "mammy" like they were her own. While they may have had some feeling for this woman, at the end of the day she was still a slave who was there to do the master's bidding! History is a great road map to show us what to avoid and hopefully, what we have to do away with.
This past Black History Month has not been a lesson about past black greatness, but a case study about current black struggles. Racism is alive and well in America and it saturates every segment of our society.
A call for the resurgence of the Klan? Publicly speaking about lynching black people?
Elected officials seeing nothing wrong with referring to black people as n - words?
Clothing promoting racist symbols?
Again, all this during Black History Month!
Don Lemon was right; this has been the worst Black History Month ever!
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