Do We Need a Black History Month

I would like to first say that I am not a racist or anything close to one
You can ask any of the AudiForums SoCal people who I have hung around with
 
While was at school there was a few people rallying about Black history month in the quad and it got me thinking. The person had a speech about
 
Equality, Lynching, Racism, and moving on to the future
 
This got me thinking
 
The first thing about equality, why is there a black history month, why do we need one, I believe it’s unfair to the rest of the people in this country (I not saying get rid of it or anything because Black history month does not bother me in anyway). We do not have a white history month, Asian history month or even a Middle Eastern history month, I guess maybe because there aren’t enough months in a year and we cant share I guess. But doing this aren’t we giving them special treatment and abusing the other races. If Black history month was created to acknowledge the struggles and pains of African Americans shouldn’t we have an Asian History month also to acknowledge the pain of the Chinese being used as slave labor to build the rail roads or the fact that we imprisoned innocent Japanese in WWII, and so on.
 
And now Lynching and moving on into the future, I just want to say lynching is in the past, it’s not like it happens all the time in this day and age. I believe they should stop bringing up all the bad things that has happened to them in the past, reminding a world where the majority of the people aren’t that racist is wrong. Majority of the people aren’t racist and you don’t have to keep reminding them don’t be racist, most of the world knows racism is wrong, you are telling people something they already know.
 
And the people who are racist you think they are going to listen to the people they hate, I don’t think so
 
 
How are we supposed to move on and forget about the dark times in history if they keep bringing it up and reminding us? Yes you where mistreated in the past and you where used and abused but once again its in the past and we cant change it, all we can do is move on and not do the same mistakes again.
 
Can’t you just forgive and forget?
 
Why do we owe them anything? Did it happen to you, I don’t think it did? How are you going to move on if you keep asking for everything. You don’t really see Chinese people asking for anything or the Japanese. WHAT MAKES YOU SO SPECIAL
 
Once again I am not a racist, I’m not trying to change anything or get rid of anything. I just want find a reason for having Black history Month
 
I just thought the speaker was a horrible one, and it got me thinking
I can keep going on about this but I’m feeling lazy
 
PLEASE FEEL FREE TO COMMENT OR ARGUE

IMO black history month is more about celebrating the lives of people who were instrumental in bringing about social changes. It's not just about bringing up the negatives. Ofcourse people have forgave but this country should never forget its past, both the good and bad. Now do I think other minorities should have their own month of remberance? Hell yea, we can't forget the struggles of the native americans and asians. Why only blacks have a month? I dunno, you'd have to ask the powers that be... From what I've seen the only blacks who continue to bitch about the past injustice are the ones who still harbor that hatred. They're the ones asking for reparations too. Ha! just cause your great great granddaddy was a slave doesn't mean you're entitled to sh!t. Get a job fool![/rant] Anyways, this country was built on the backs of minorities and they're all entitled to their month.

Since we're on the subject of inequality. Why whenever I make a call I gotta press 1 for english and 2 for spanish? What happened to press 3 for tagalog or 4 for hindi? Why can't they cater to everyone. I think you see where I'm going with this.

I completely agree.
but am way to tired to put up a huge rant.
ill rant later.
 
 
 
 
black history month.
stupid.
 
black history.
not stupid.

 if you look carefully you can see cheng in the middle with the black wrist band                                                                                 
 
 
 
 
 
 
j/k
cheng is a great guy and i know he does not want to offend anyone, so if this offended you get a life
 
 
ASIAN POWER!

kill whitey!!  oh wait, nm... yes i could add, but i wont.. one things... there is BET.. but no WET? now that sounds like fun! lol  hey what's that hose for?

posting pics of our old monthly gtgs john
if i recall ur to the right of me
 

quote:

ORIGINAL: germantech

 if you look carefully you can see cheng in the middle with the black wrist band                                                                                 






j/k
cheng is a great guy and i know he does not want to offend anyone, so if this offended you get a life


ASIAN POWER!

i wouldnt say a month of it..
 
definitely recognition for all of the blacks though that helped and influence the movement towards true equal rights (though they still really are "equal" IMHO)
 
but still, shuold recognize like MLK day, but a month? idk, whites dont really celebrate a month for those who fought against britain and formed the country... independence day not month so yea...
 
i guess you get my jist but thats just my 2 cents

i just have a problem with calling it "black history".  i totally agree that we need to celebrate the brave people who brought about change, but the very nature of calling it "black history" seems to reinforce the negative aspects.
i agree we need to then see white history, asian history, native american history....everything.

I think you all need some Gil Scot Heron to sort this out.

http://www.gilscottheron.com/lywhitey.html

Actually this guy was amazing.

what you are all saying may or may not be true but if a politician ever attempted to pass a bill getting rid of black history month it would be career suicide

quote:

ORIGINAL: PandaXpress

I would like to first say that I am not a racist or anything close to one

You might not be racist, but you sure get some of your opinions from racist people if you think that black history is composed of nothing more than slavery and segregation. Black History Month is not just about pointing out all of the bad things that happened, but about making current generations aware of all of the positive influences and acheivements made by black people. It's not a time to focus on and wallow in the bad though many do, but rather a time to educate all who otherwise wouldn't know about the good AND the bad.
 
 
And by the way, there IS the Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, National Hispanic Heritage Month, National American Indian Heritage Month, Greek-American History Month, Womens' History Month, Filipino-American History Month, Polish-American History Month and so on to go along with Black History Month.

naw man i dont share the same opinions of a racist
i just like to touch on sensitive topics and see what people think once in a while
we all just cant be looking at the thong thread you kno
 
i dont want to offend anyone
 
i did forget about those months, i was making this topic late at night instead of studyin for my econ test
 

quote:

And by the way, there IS the Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, National Hispanic Heritage Month, National American Indian Heritage Month, Greek-American History Month, Womens' History Month, Filipino-American History Month, Polish-American History Month and so on to go along with Black History Month.

 
but they arent even promoted at all i guess, do u even kno wat month all of those are on with out researching
 
 
 

quote:

ORIGINAL: SilverSeven

quote:

ORIGINAL: PandaXpress

I would like to first say that I am not a racist or anything close to one

You might not be racist, but you sure get some of your opinions from racist people if you think that black history is composed of nothing more than slavery and segregation. Black History Month is not just about pointing out all of the bad things that happened, but about making current generations aware of all of the positive influences and acheivements made by black people. It's not a time to focus on and wallow in the bad though many do, but rather a time to educate all who otherwise wouldn't know about the good AND the bad.


And by the way, there IS the Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, National Hispanic Heritage Month, National American Indian Heritage Month, Greek-American History Month, Womens' History Month, Filipino-American History Month, Polish-American History Month and so on to go along with Black History Month.

im not sayin get rid of it, its more like why do we have it or need it
its like how our money says IN GOD WE TRUST
it serves no purpose and its just there and doesnt really bother or do anything to me at all
 
 

quote:

ORIGINAL: Swaynest

what you are all saying may or may not be true but if a politician ever attempted to pass a bill getting rid of black history month it would be career suicide

yeah I can see points everyones making.. but I agree.
theres nothing wrong w/ celebrating our US history.. good bad or indifferent.

Asian / pacific islander heritage month is May ( I only know this bec Im of Filipino decent)
& yes its not as widely known - but thats our own fault.. asian / pac isl. americans
should do more to promote awareness etc.


I know Cheng isnt a racist etc.hes the nicest guy..
but I do feel we NEED to keep bringing up the past. especially the bad parts.

what if we just forgot about the halocaust or didnt mention the civil rights struggles
of the 60's...

and we are FAR from being a perfect nation. Racism / prejudice exist everywhere - and probably always will. so we have a long way to continue to fight against ignorance.


just remember:

quote:

original: George Santayana
Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

I think bringing up the past would be alright to certain point because we do learn from history.
However, some are taking advantages of the past; in which case like Trey25 mentioned, get a life.
 
The past are there so we won't make the same mistake but some people are taking advantages of it making it seems like we owe them something because of the past (I am talking in general, not pointing at any race). We did have changed the wrong things we did in the past and what more can be done other than not repeating it?
 
To be honest, I have no problem with Black History Month but do we seriously need a month for it?

Also, I totally laughed out loud after reading what germantech wrote. Thanks for posting one of our GTG pictures. That was when we had a KKK ritual installing the KKK turbo.

And yes, I can assure you PandaXpress is not a racist.

hmmm...
 
Well, if we have a Black and Asian History Month should we not honor others... such races as the American Indian (there may already be one), Mexican, Middle Eastern, Eskimo, etc...
 
But why stop at race? why not race or nationalities...?
 
Personally, being proud of one's heritage is a great thing (I'm part German and Welsh) - but we need to stop looking at each other as being so dramatically different that we should get special recognition and perhaps being American will mean something other than being a hyphenated adjective...
 
just another 2 cents worth from a Whitey in Bako

While you may feel that telling the world not to be racist, or reminding people about the past is beating a dead horse, those statements are huge reasons for why the world in in such turmoil as it is.
 
People have a natural tendency to focus on only that which is in their immediate scope of vision. If they don't feel it has any value to them in the long run, they ignore it. When people focus on these things, however, change happens. Changes such as, Arizona finally recognizing Martin Luther King Day as a holiday, or Native Americans getting huge grants for college, or women's writes to vote, and so on.
 
Black History Month in itself, doesn NOTHING for you or I, it's the concept that Black History Month represents which is supposed to be the focus. people being aware of the differences between our many people of the world.
 
White history month??? Are you kidding?? That's like 90% of the history I've been taught all of my life. I had to actually LOOK and research most of the tings I know about minorities.
 
BET is definitely not unfair either, as WET (white entertainment channel) would probably comprise of most TV stations that exist.
 
Black History Month serves its purpose, just like Brest Cancer Awareness week, or Toys for Tots, or whatever event of something that comes up. It's all about awareness and recognition.
 
Oh, and to those saying that people asking for reparations are wrong.... reparations were supposed to be given to us long ago, just like how native Americans were supposed to be given land, just like how Japanese interment victims were supposed to be paid. It wouldn't seem like such an injustice if most of you could trace your family history or even last name back to a slave or two.
 
The worst part is, people literally get millions of dollars because their family member was killed in 9/11, but the families of those who die at war, or died in a camp, or as a slave, get sh!t.
 
Awareness...

alot of good points panda, but treys got some good points too whereas BHM is more aobut celebrating important individuals, although i do agree that that speaker was horrible, but then again it wouldnt be the first time i heard speeches like what you said.

who do you think started black history month? black people. if asians want an asian history month they should create one. they certainly deserve it. if white people want a white history month, all they gotta do is put forth the effort. The thing with black history month is so many black people acknowledge it and it is important to them, so you hear so much more about it. 

thats what we were saying above Brian...

there is asian / pacific isl. month (its may) etcetc
and we (asian / pac isl etc) need to do more to have it recognized.


on another note.. I dont say im filipino American. etc. etc.


Im American.

Bravo, mate! That's the motherf#%$ing spirit!

quote:

ORIGINAL: PandaXpress

but they arent even promoted at all i guess, do u even kno wat month all of those are on with out researching

I don't even keep track of what month is Black History Month until it's pointed as it was here. And Black History Month is probably the most promoted because black people make up the largest non-European demographic and they've had the largest impact on American history of all the non-European ethnic groups.

I'm down with black history month, so long as it inspires someone or helps someone learn something they otherwise wouldn't have known.  I didn't see a lot of promotion of black history month this year.  Maybe I was tuned out, but it kinda slipped by with the exception of this past week.  Are the networks doing their little ditty about black history this week, so they can gloat to the black public?

quote:

ORIGINAL: SilverSeven

quote:

ORIGINAL: PandaXpress

I would like to first say that I am not a racist or anything close to one

You might not be racist, but you sure get some of your opinions from racist people if you think that black history is composed of nothing more than slavery and segregation. Black History Month is not just about pointing out all of the bad things that happened, but about making current generations aware of all of the positive influences and acheivements made by black people. It's not a time to focus on and wallow in the bad though many do, but rather a time to educate all who otherwise wouldn't know about the good AND the bad.


And by the way, there IS the Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, National Hispanic Heritage Month, National American Indian Heritage Month, Greek-American History Month, Womens' History Month, Filipino-American History Month, Polish-American History Month and so on to go along with Black History Month.v

 
eeh for polish people its more like a day (may 3) check out the vids of what we do here in chi town
 
http://youtube.com/watch?v=bVt80EpHHNM
 
http://youtube.com/watch?v=wpMt9guybBY
 
http://youtube.com/watch?v=GW-2AllAfZE
 
well this happens every year
 
last year a guy was doing a burnout in a 300zx tt and this kid drove infront of him on his bike as he was letting go and broke both his legs
 
the two cars of the night
http://youtube.com/watch?v=xo0yKnVHgXg
 

I think we do. Otherwise we'd forget stuff like this:
 
http://www.intellectualconservative.com/2008/02/18/should-the-democratic-party-apologize-for-supporting-slavery/
 
Oh man, I can tell I'm gonna catch some grief for this.