Black History Month

February is designated as Black History Month each year. In 1976, as part of the nation’s bicentennial celebrations, it was formally recognised for the first time. However, it was first observed during the Jim Crow era. It aims to honour African Americans’ achievements and bring attention to the sacrifices they made.
Carter G. Woodson, a historian regarded as the “father of Black history,” established Negro History Week in 1926 to recognise the contributions made by Black people to civilisation.
One of Woodson’s most famous quotes is: “If a race has no history, if it has no good heritage, it becomes a minor factor in the thought of the world, and it stands in risk of being eliminated.” Woodson was the son of former slaves. Due to Frederick Douglass’s decision to celebrate his birth on February 14 despite being born into slavery. He not knowing his exact birthdate, and Abraham Lincoln’s birthday on February 12, Woodson chose a week in February.
There was a deliberate effort to suppress the teaching of Black history in the decades. Moreover following the Civil War and during the racial unrest that broke out across the nation in the years after World War I. On ther other hand in the South, Dulaney claims, “they literally distorted the curriculum by trying to suppress Black history or African American history in the public schools, particularly regarding things like Reconstruction and slavery.”
He shared that there were hardly any Black studies programmes offered at the university level. In 1951, California became the first state to truly require public schools to teach Black history.
According to Marcus Hunter, a sociology professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, the Black press also contributed to the idea’s advancement.
Hunter viewed that the Baltimore Afro-American, the Philadelphia Tribune, and the Chicago Defender all began to report that this is something to be happy about. President Gerald R. Ford established Black History Month in 1976, making it a recognised event.
He urged people to “seize the opportunity to honour the too-often neglected accomplishments of Black Americans in every field of endeavour throughout our history.”
The ASALH selects a different topic for Black History Month every year. The focus is on “Black Resistance” this year. The politically sensitive context around race at the moment played a role in the selection of this year’s topic.