The study of black history should not end with the month that celebrates it. It is commonplace for Americans to remind each other of that around Feb. 28, and in many ways Americans of every race already do acknowledge that truth. While VH1 may focus on black musicians in February, it does not ignore them the rest of the year. Schools may spend extra time studying the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. during this month, but they also note his importance in American history in other months as well. That is part of the success of Black History Month. Each year, Americans continue to leave black history month better understanding that black history is American history.
A further, and necessary, step is for Americans of all racial backgrounds to recognize that black issues are American issues. In 2002, racial injustice persists in America.
While this statement cannot be entirely illustrated with mere numbers, the available statistics stand solidly behind it. Nearly twice as many blacks as whites were victims of violent crimes in 2000. Though blacks made up 12.3 percent of the U.S. population in the 2000 census, in 1999 they accounted for 33 percent of the children living in poverty. In the second quarter of 2001, the unemployment rate among blacks was almost twice that of whites. Blacks represent a disproportionately high number of America's death row prisoners and a disproportionately low number of America's wealthy.
There is currently scant reason to believe that these disparities, rooted in slavery and a century of state-sponsored segregation, will disappear any time soon. Instead, they will continue to mock the United States' commitment to justice for all.
Despite these facts, issues of equality among the races rarely receive public attention, except for those instances in which white plaintiffs successfully force the end of an affirmative action program. Public opinion polls often ask voters to rate the importance of education, gun control, national security, a patient's bill of rights and many other issues. But rarely will the moral question of racial inequality appear on a pollster's question list. In this way, public opinion silently validates the view that black issues are not American issues, just as high school history textbooks that were blind to the achievements of black Americans once validated the view that black history was not American history.
Black History Month offers Americans an incentive to stop and talk about the role of race in U.S. society. As part of these conversations, Americans of every race must realize that racial inequality is not only a problem for those who are disadvantaged by it. It is of greatest concern to any person who believes the United States must uphold its stated ideals.
The problems African Americans face are the problems the United States faces. Failure to realize this truth will mean that Black History Month has failed to fulfill its entire mission; it means little to recognize the past accomplishments of a group of people if doing so lets a nation off the hook for helping to remedy its past and present injustices.
