My History With Black History: A White Girl's Journey Toward Realizing the Importance of This Month

February 3, 2021

When I was a little white kid, I actually found Black History Month annoying. Not because it didn't cater to me or because I didn't like Black people, but for an extremely silly reason that I would consider the very definition of white privilege: because it interrupted my daily schedule for a month.

Privilege is a topic I want to talk more about in a future entry, but now isn't the time for that discussion because it would be rather lengthy. For now, all I'll say about it is that there are many different types of privilege. And some of them, such as wealth, I never had. But having white skin is one type of privilege I have always had. And all that means is that my life has never been made more difficult just because of the color of my skin. And even when life is difficult in other ways -- which it is, for everybody -- that is one particular thing that will never make it harder for me.

Despite not having wealth privilege, there was one indulgence that we had in my household: the television. My family was obsessed with watching TV. Any time someone was awake in my house, the TV was on. That's how I grew up, and what was normal for me at the time. I was pretty attached to my TV schedule, and it upset me when things interrupted it. That was the main reason I didn't like Black History Month: because my favorite channels were always changing their schedules during that month to make way for special programming.

It wasn't even that I was mad about there being more Black TV shows broadcast, or that Black people were getting attention or being elevated. I wouldn't say that I felt any anti-Black sentiment as a child, whether it was in my personal life or in the media I consumed. I simply didn't like it when there were changes to the schedule and the things I wanted to watch were moved to a different time or taken off altogether (part of this might have been that my favorite sitcoms were replaced with more history-based specials and documentaries, which I found boring as a kid).

It sounds so unbelievably stupid to say now. It was such a minor inconvenience to complain about.

But I've gone through much "character development" since then.

I wasn't old enough back then to really get it, but I know now why Black History Month is so important, and why everyone who's against racism should embrace it, even if it isn't celebrating us (because, my fellow white people, not everything has to celebrate us).

Back then, I had probably never witnessed extreme racism or known the extent to which it exists. I knew racism was a thing, and I'm not even going to claim that none of it existed in my household. I remember my father -- an old white man from Kentucky -- making several comments that made me uncomfortable even when I was a child.

But I don't think racism was a thing I was truly aware of at such a young age, not in the way I am now. As an adult, I know how deep it runs in the United States. And because of that, how important it is for Black voices to be heard, and Black history to be remembered.

There are people in our country who, if they could, would erase Black history altogether. They've already erased a lot of it, or at least attempted, stopping it from being widely taught, sweeping it under the rug. Even the textbook version of history taught to school kids is typically told only from a white person's perspective. That's why it's so important for us to make sure Black history isn't erased, to make it clear that we won't allow it to be erased.

People will always ask things like, "Why isn't there a white history month?" And the answer is because white history is celebrated every month, every day of the year, in every aspect of our lives. Everything is built around it. It's taught in school while the struggles of minorities are downplayed. It's on TV and in movies and everywhere. We, as white Americans, are in zero danger of having our history erased. But other Americans have people trying to erase theirs on a daily basis.

I was a kid, so my reasons for being annoyed -- although selfish -- weren't hateful. Unfortunately there are adults out there who hate Black History Month for reasons more sinister than my childlike self-centeredness. I'd like to think that, had I realized that at the time, I wouldn't have felt the way I did. Awareness changes perspectives. As an adult, I am dismayed to see so many people claiming that this month, and anything else that specifically uplifts or celebrates Black people, is "divisive" or "racist" because it excludes white people. If you're someone who believes that -- or uses it as a smokescreen for your anti-Blackness -- this is your fellow white person saying stop it. Seriously, knock it off.

Things like Black History Month, or the Black Lives Matter movement, are not "divisive" and they are also not claiming that Black people are more important than any other race of people. They are simply acknowledging that Black people have been treated, for centuries, as if they are less important. Lifting up Black people does not put them above anyone else; it puts them on equal ground. In fact, after so many years of them being treated as "less than," we'll have to do a whole lot more uplifting before things are ever truly even.

This is also why it's considered progress when Black actors or other actors of color are cast in things like Hamilton or The Little Mermaid, but it would be a huge step backward if a white actor had been cast as a Black historical figure, or even as Aladdin or Freddie Mercury.

Perhaps neither one is "historically accurate" or "accurate to the original work" -- but one example is clearly more offensive than the other. One upholds racist casting trends that have existed since movies and TV were invented, and the other is showing solidarity with the victims of those racist trends. It isn't a double standard that "favors" minorities, but a small attempt at leveling a playing field that has always been uneven.

And only the people who are used to being favored are upset about this loss or redistribution of power. Because when things that have been done to other people for decades are finally done to them, white people tend to get a little upset.

Of course, there are bigger things than Hollywood, or even Broadway, but representation in media is powerful, and it's just one of the areas in which white people have always had the upper hand. If you always saw yourself represented in media while you were growing up, you can't possibly understand how meaningful and inspiring it is when other people, who haven't had that wide array of representation, finally see a protagonist who looks like them, or even an actor who looks like them being given a starring role. "Forced diversity" is a nonsense term that actually describes fair representation. In a country as diverse as ours, the majority of our TV shows, movies and theatrical performances should not cast almost strictly white people.

Just like in a country as diverse as ours, the majority of our elected officials, who are meant to represent the people of the nation, should not be white men.

And in a country that was built by Black slaves, on land stolen from Native Americans, it should not be the whitewashed version of history that is taught to everyone. Black history is important. Black history is American history. It is not divisive to lift up those who have been pushed down, nor is it racist to focus on the oppressed for one month of the year when the oppressors receive daily attention.

Some other similar celebrations, which I hope will someday receive more airtime, include Native American Heritage Month in November, Hispanic Heritage Month from mid-September to mid-October, Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month in May, and what is probably the most well-known aside from its Black counterpart, Women's History Month in March.

Anyway, my point is, don't let other people's history be erased and buried in favor of your own. Don't let their voices be silenced. Don't think that their celebration of their own history or culture somehow means they are elevating it above yours or anyone else's. And don't choose your own comfort, even something as silly as your TV-watching schedule, over someone else's entire culture and history being celebrated.

I'm happy to say that I've grown and developed a lot since my childhood views. I will strive to continue doing so, and encourage others to do the same. Just because we felt a particular way or believed a particular thing at one time doesn't mean our views can't change for the better. There is always room to listen, learn, understand, and improve.

Happy Black History Month.

tags: black history month, childhood, personal growth