Black History Month...

dac · 02-24-2009, 10:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Monkey

Colour blind.

Not just regarding skin colour but also sex and sexual orientation. Any different characteristics attributed to the members of the difference groups simply due to their membership are artificial and created by expectations from society, whether it's that black teens wear baggy clothes, that homosexual men have feminine characteristics or that women shouldn't desire sex as much as men. To quote Simone de Beauvoir, "One is not born a woman, one becomes one." This apply to black people just as much.

Read Harrison Bergeron. It's a short story that takes a "different" look at equal societies. Now I'm not saying racism and stuff is good, but having different cultures, origins, and beliefs is what makes us human.

"Harrison Bergeron" by Kurt Vonnegut

Thom Yorke · 02-07-2011, 08:25 AM

I thought this was an interesting take on Black History Month:

As a white man I don't really feel I'm in any place to agree/disagree with this though. Any takes on it by any black members? (And LOL at the scrambling interviewer)

Ska Lagos Jew Sun Ra · 02-07-2011, 09:54 AM

Christ, blacks did a **** load for American culture, they deserve their month. I'd especially like to point out, Black American Culture is one of the few purely American cultures. When we brought the slaves over from Africa, they were left with literally nothing to take with, and only fragments of their earlier cultures. When they were freed, they had to start from scratch, and invent a new culture, especially in the face of racial isolation. To be honest, they haven't particularly done bad for themselves.

Black History Month isn't about slavery, but rather acknowledging what Black culture has done for our society, and the improvement of, as a whole. It's an American holiday because Black Culture is crucial to the development of America, and America Black Culture's accomplishments are world acknowledged in terms of significance. Slavery just comes as a respectful acknowledgement to what blacks had to go through.

djchameleon · 02-07-2011, 10:05 AM

when comedians/people joke about them giving us the shortest month and how it's like a consolation prize. I always wondered much like Mr. Freeman. Why do we even need the month in the first place? It should be apart of American history. I get so annoyed now that they have all these other months coming out it's hard to keep track of them. yeah you can have pride in your heritage but there doesn't need to be a month for each single one. There is hispanic heritage month, asian heritage month, black music month, black teachers month or something along those lines. There are a few others i'm missing but geez. give it a rest already.

I don't agree with his take on racism though. The whole stop talking about it doesn't make it go away. It will still exist regardless of if we talk more about or even less about it. There are people that are just going to be racist and believe whatever they want because it is passed down through the generations.

Now if he said hate speech, I think we should talk MORE about it and take the sting out of hateful words so they no longer have the effect/sting behind them. I know it would be harder on older people that actually experienced the words being hatefully used again them and being physically impacted by them. The younger generations should be able to slowly phase out those hateful terms over time though where it doesn't have the same impact on them as an individual. When I heard they wanted to bury the word ******, I thought that was the most idiotic thing I have ever heard.

djchameleon · 02-07-2011, 10:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skaligojurah

Black History Month isn't about slavery, but rather acknowledging what Black culture has done for our society, and the improvement of, as a whole. It's an American holiday because Black Culture is crucial to the development of America, and America Black Culture's accomplishments are world acknowledged in terms of significance. Slavery just comes as a respectful acknowledgement to what blacks had to go through.

You are missing what Mr. Freeman is saying. He is trying to say there shouldn't be a special month set aside for acknowledgment. The acknowledgment should be consistent throughout the year just like you are learning regular American history.

Ska Lagos Jew Sun Ra · 02-07-2011, 10:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by djchameleon

You are missing what Mr. Freeman is saying. He is trying to say there shouldn't be a special month set aside for acknowledgment. The acknowledgment should be consistent throughout the year just like you are learning regular American history.

Didn't actually watch the clip, was just continuing with the discussion. Besides, to criticize the concept of relegating things to times/particular celebrations is kind of like criticizing all holidays and special events to ever be created. To me, it's one of the better reasons to make a special day/month. I mean, beats the hell out of Easter, which is basically a zombie story.

djchameleon · 02-07-2011, 10:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skaligojurah

Didn't actually watch the clip, was just continuing with the discussion. Besides, to criticize the concept of relegating things to times/particular celebrations is kind of like criticizing all holidays and special events to ever be created. To me, it's one of the better reasons to make a special day/month. I mean, beats the hell out of Easter, which is basically a zombie story.

comparing holidays to a full month of history/heritage isn't the same. The history should just be part of American history. I don't think there should be special focus placed on one particular group. America is about the sum of all the parts so why shouldn't black history be included? No they have to be pushed aside and given a month.

02-07-2011, 08:25 AM	#62 (permalink)
Thom Yorke Music Addict Join Date: Jan 2011 Posts: 1,848	I thought this was an interesting take on Black History Month: As a white man I don't really feel I'm in any place to agree/disagree with this though. Any takes on it by any black members? (And LOL at the scrambling interviewer)