Althouse: "Black History Month: What I've Learned."

February 1, 2011

"Black History Month: What I've Learned."

"From Al Sharpton to Al Green, seventeen headliners reflect on the journey, the experience, and the future of being a black man in America."

34 comments:

TWM said...: It's that time of year again?; 2/1/11, 11:25 AM
Unknown said...: Hmmm, a bunch of sports guys and entertainers, and an extortionist and a rabble-rousing fraud and accessory to murder. Yeah, they're the sum total of black people in America.

Gee, I wonder how they missed Condi Rice or Clarence Thomas, or Allen West, or Herman Cain. Must've been busy that week.; 2/1/11, 11:26 AM
The Crack Emcee said...: "From Al Sharpton to Al Green".

You really know how to hurt a guy.; 2/1/11, 11:26 AM
Anonymous said...: So, the perp of the Tawana Brawley hoax gets called out again.

How much longer do we have to put up with this bastard?

And, when will Black History Month get junked? I'm tired of it.; 2/1/11, 11:29 AM
AllenS said...: I'd rather listen to black men who were born in Africa tell me how much they love what this country has to offer.; 2/1/11, 11:30 AM
Ann Althouse said...: "You really know how to hurt a guy."

And by "you," you mean Esquire.; 2/1/11, 11:32 AM
Joaquin said...: God! Cry me a river.; 2/1/11, 11:51 AM
Unknown said...: In all point of fact, Black History month probably had some relevance - 40 years ago. There are elements of American history where black people played an important part, and that should be known.

The problem was that it became another grievance machine or something where the presence of a single black meant that little factoid was of earth-shattering importance.

It placed Dr Charles Drew or Elijah McCoy on the same level as CJ Walker and largely ignored the Buffalo Soldiers because what they did - and it was a lot - was hideously un-PC.; 2/1/11, 11:54 AM
rhhardin said...: When Black History Month started, I joked that they ought to have Women's History Month next.

The joke was that women have the same history as men.

Now parody is no longer possible.; 2/1/11, 11:58 AM
rhhardin said...: The official company lady librarian refused to order "Our Black Foremothers," showing some resistance to combination.; 2/1/11, 11:59 AM
coketown said...: Awesome. Black history month from A[l] to A[l]. Fa sho!; 2/1/11, 12:02 PM
rhhardin said...: You can still buy Black Foremothers.

I'm not springing for it.

I'm still smarting from The Sexual Politics of Meat: a feminist-vegetarian critical theory.; 2/1/11, 12:04 PM
David said...: Black history is fascinating, and a crucial aspect of American history as a whole. I'm studying and writing about the slave times and the end of slavery here in coastal South Carolina. Through Google Books, you can read much of the original sources, and the early histories.

But there's so much crap in the current media and big parts of current academia that the real value and interest of black history is obscured. This article is a great example of that.; 2/1/11, 12:05 PM
Anonymous said...: Black history is fascinating, and a crucial aspect of American history as a whole.

You're probably right. All history is fascinating.

But, this Black History Month is a pain in the ass.

Forced re-education.

And there is no White Trash History Month for me to celebrate. Perhaps the NASCAR championships?; 2/1/11, 12:11 PM
Rose said...: Not one of them mentions that Republicans Freed the Slaves...
At the suggestion of President Abraham Lincoln, RNC Chairman Edwin Morgan opened the 1864 Republican National Convention with a brief statement: “The party of which you, gentlemen, are the delegated and honored representatives, will fall far short of accomplishing its great mission, unless among its other resolves it shall declare for such an amendment of the Constitution as will positively prohibit African slavery in the United States.”
Abolishing slavery became part of the platform. Congressional Republicans passed the 13th Amendment unanimously – against nearly unanimous Democrat opposition – and it was ratified within the year. 1864

Standing At The Crossroads - Identity Politics, Multiculturalism & The Melting Pot (Updated & Bumped)

The Celebration Of Black Freedom

It's a different view than we have been brought up with. Interesting read and interesting points.; 2/1/11, 12:13 PM
Harold said...: I wish they had included one or two like Joe.

http://www.legion.org/magazine/94871/my-war-two-fronts; 2/1/11, 12:17 PM
Trooper York said...: As a white guy I have learned the less I say about black history month the better. Just sayn'; 2/1/11, 12:20 PM
SteveR said...: Three boxers and three rappers. OK; 2/1/11, 12:21 PM
The Crack Emcee said...: Ann,

And by "you," you mean Esquire.

Touchy, touchy. Like I (and everyone else here) didn't know you were quoting something else. Which makes my simple comment - directed at no one - look raaaaacist, maybe?

Very liberal of you.

I swear, you shame yourself sometimes.; 2/1/11, 12:21 PM
I'm Full of Soup said...: Esquire article has only men? I guess next year it will cover famous black women.; 2/1/11, 12:26 PM
Anonymous said...: The last quote is I think the best.

50 Cent, Rapper (Interviewed January 2010)
"Obama takes away the excuses."; 2/1/11, 12:27 PM
Toad Trend said...: @Tmon

Really enjoyed the article, great perspective.

I really don't have a problem with 'Black History' month, just wish it was more fact-based as @David points out; that it doesn't dwell on the negatives, rather, focus on the countless contributions made by blacks in communion with whites that were not necessarily prejudiced.

I will say that some of the people quoted in this article really bring little to promote harmony. Jim Brown's quote seems to parallel similar quotes I've heard from Bill Cosby, that is, get your act together and quit this foolishness of false individuality, that is, bucking the system and expecting to be accepted.

Walter Williams has offered this to all who feel the need to overcompensate for something they were never party to:

http://econfaculty.gmu.edu/wew/gift.html

wv - pricks

Not making it up...; 2/1/11, 12:59 PM
Rumpletweezer said...: We achieved racial equality on the day that Charlie Rangel committed the first corrupt act that brought him money and position. Folks, we're done here. Whaddaya got next?; 2/1/11, 1:46 PM
ricpic said...: A race that created Freda Payne can't be all bad.; 2/1/11, 2:03 PM
TMink said...: Or how about Thomas Sowell? Walter J. Williams? Michael Steele? Now I love Al Green as an artist and a pastor, but Al Sharpton is just an extortionist.

I have to admit, I love it when succesful black folks say it is all about the work and deny the racism excuse.

Trey; 2/1/11, 2:20 PM
TMink said...: David, I completely agree. The source materials are fascinating! I remember reading a book about the Armistrad case that was written three years after the case was settled. My black history professor loved it when I went to the source, but his commie teaching assistants hated it because it put the lie to their propoganda.

Trey; 2/1/11, 2:23 PM
paul a'barge said...: um, they left out black women. Winning The Future (WTF)?; 2/1/11, 3:29 PM
bagoh20 said...: "I was born a poor Black child."; 2/1/11, 5:31 PM
Rose said...: Black History Month from Bob Parks at black-and-right.com

This is not your usual 5 minute YouTube. They're both almost an hour long. It's really quite amazing - and refreshing. An Unrevised History of Blacks in America... please take the time to watch.

Setting The Record Straight, Part 1 58:31
Setting The Record Straight, Part 2 58:33
David Barton, the guy who made the videos is here on Glenn Beck's show:
Glenn Beck - African-American Founders (Part 1) 8:27
Glenn Beck - African-American Founders (Part 2) 7:11; 2/1/11, 6:25 PM
Fen said...: s a white guy I have learned the less I say about black history month the better. Just sayn'

Echo. I'll get behind it when the race-hustlers are shoved overboard.; 2/1/11, 6:51 PM
Michael K said...: The comment about Africans was right on. I've seen them come over and thrive in school when American blacks fail. Some of it is a consequence of slavery but most of it is a consequence of the victim pathology of Al Sharpton and friends. When I was at Dartmouth, my next door neighbors had sponsored an African kid at Dartmouth. The kid worked the night shift in the Dining House which is open 24/7. He said he could not believe the kids coming in there drunk at 3 AM. He studied while working, since that is a slow time, and slept between the end of class and his 11 o'clock shift.; 2/1/11, 8:02 PM
Automatic_Wing said...: Some brother invented the traffic light, that's all I remember from Black History Month.; 2/1/11, 8:05 PM
William said...: Esquire has chosen mostly from the fields of sports and music. Those are two areas that blacks do not have to feel in any way deferential to whites. Whites are the ones that must adapt black styles in order to succeed in those areas. A fairer sampling, I think, would have culled from those areas where blacks got ahead by giving up some of their blackitude and ventured into white areas. For most people this is called assimilation, but the Esquire writers probably define it as being an Uncle Tom. Although Colin Powell and Condi Rice didn't succeed on their own terms, they, nevertheless, succeeded. Perhaps they have more wisdom than the average rap singer. And perhaps Esquire would rather celebrate the romance of confrontation than the hassle of integration.; 2/1/11, 9:33 PM
Erich Hicks said...: Dear Ann.

How do you keep a people down? ‘Never' let them 'know' their history.

"If a race has no history, it has no worthwhile tradition, it becomes a negligible factor in the thought of the world, and it stands in danger of being exterminated."

Dr. Carter G. Woodson 1875 – 1950

“A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots.”

Marcus Garvey 1887-1940

"A tree without roots can bare no fruit, it will die."

Erich Martin Hicks 1952 - Present

Keep telling that history, our history:

Read the novel; Rescue at Pine Ridge, "RaPR", a great story of Black military history...the first generation of Buffalo Soldiers.

The 7th Cavalry got their butts in a sling again after the Little Big Horn Massacre, fourteen years later, the day after the Wounded Knee Massacre. If it wasn't for the 9th Cavalry Buffalo Soldiers, there would of been a second massacre of the 7th Cavalry.

Read the novel, “Rescue at Pine Ridge”, 5 stars Amazon, Barnes & Noble and the youtube trailer commercial...and visit the website http://www.rescueatpineridge.com

I know you’ll enjoy the novel. I wrote the story that embodied the Native Americans, Outlaws and African-American/Black Soldiers, from the south to the north, in the days of the Native American Wars with the approaching United States of America. This story is about, brutality, compassion, reprisal, bravery, heroism and gallantry. Read the novel, Rescue at Pine Ridge, the story of the rescue of the famed 7th Cavalry by the 9th Cavalry Buffalo Soldiers.

The novel was taken from my mini-series movie of the same title, “RaPR” to keep my story alive. Hollywood has had a lot of strikes and doesn’t like telling our stories…its been “his-story” of history all along…until now. The movie so far has attached, Bill Duke directing, Hill Harper, Glynn Turman, James Whitmore Jr. and a host of other major actors in which we are in talks with.

When you get a chance, also please visit our Alpha Wolf Production website at; http://www.alphawolfprods.com and see our other productions, like Stagecoach Mary, the first Black Woman to deliver mail for the United States Postal System in Montana, in the 1890's, “spread the word”.

Peace.; 2/7/11, 9:28 PM