Well... kind of. Not personally. The school I volunteer at definitely does, especially because they have a decent black population. They also had a big thing for the inauguration and MLK day. So when I'm at the school, yes, otherwise... eh.

i am black!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!­!!!­!!!­!!!­!!!­!!!­!!!

It's not really a big thing here anyway.

On a critical note: isn't the history of the blacks also the history of the USA (or any other country where black people live) and vice versa? Why make them separate?

exactly what i was going to say sapp......i see reason in celebrating the day when blacks had legal equal rights or something

I am black, but it's not that big a thing in the U.K.

I don't really know how I would :/

*Ahem.*

Due to our embarassing way of erasing any minority culture, American history classes, at least before the civil rights movement, focuses on the main points of the revolution and the civil war and all that jazz. But few classes (due more to time constraints than anything else) discuss, for example, the link of the Revolution, or the link of the Unionist Army, which were black regiments, or the crap they got just for BEING black, even though they fought the same as anyone else. One learns in history about folks like Frederick Douglas, Rosa Parks and MLK, but the smaller figures are generally overlooked.

What black history month celebrates the black culture and their heroes (which includes those mentioned above and many more). K-12 schools often have assemblies, specific lessons, or even events to help celebrate and recognize the heritage and culture of African Americans. My school, as I said, did a lot for MLK day, had their kids read a book called "Martin's Big Words" and then watch the inauguration speech and pick out "Obama's Big Words." Right now, I'm reading about Bessie Coleman, the first internationally-licensed black pilot in the world. The girl I'm reading with had heard of Amelia Earhart, but not Bessie Coleman (and frankly, neither had I).

Unfortunately, one of the drawbacks of devoting "months" to different ethnicities, IMO, is the fact that many schools who aren't as diverse as mine tend not to focus on these things for the rest of the year. In addition to that, not every minority has a whole month to themselves. Arab-Americans, for example, do not have a month in which to celebrate their heritage.

So while I support the furthering of multicultural education, I'm slightly "iffy" on the subject of doing that on a monthly basis.

If that makes any sense.

Anyways, the point is, Black History Month's goal is primarily to recognize the contributions of black individuals and their culture to modern society. In America, we also have "months" dedicated to other minorities.

* Jewish Heritage Month (January)
* Black History Month (February)
* Women's History Month (March)
* Asian Pacific American Heritage Month (May)
* Gay/Lesbian Heritage Month (June)
* Hispanic-Latino Heritage Month (September)
* Disability Employment Awareness Month (October)
* American Indian Heritage Month (November)

Again, note how that, while it covers several bases, there are still some cultures that make up America which are missing. And again, does celebrating these differences in just one month make up for an entire year of generally forgetting about their culture and contributions to our history?

Think about it. ;o)

I dont see this as a debate question

you know, adavila, I don't really, either.

I don't see the point in devoting a month to celebrating the history of one race.

same I think it would make more sense to gradually change the curriculum to include more cultures in it, at the same time you have to remeber the majority of America is white and white was the ruling race for a long period of time so a lot of the history is white, not that i am saying any less cultures is less important but there will be more records and sources to work with of white male history

No. I don't see a point in "celebrating" it anyway.

I must say I concur with your logic, debs. I celebrate because it's a reason for me to rant and rave about Langston Hughes, for example. But all in all, like I said, does one month dedicated to one culture (out of dozens) justify forgetting about that culture for the rest of the year?

And, just a thought, debs, one could argue that Native American history is much richer than Euro-American history, due to the fact that they were here longer. ;o)

^ but the records will be different, most general history learn in high school is of previous recent events mainly wars and such in the past two hundred years but yes point taken