Black History Month
“This February, during Black History Month, I call on the American people to honor the history and achievements of Black Americans and to reflect on the centuries of struggle that have brought us to this time of reckoning, redemption, and hope. We have never fully lived up to the founding principles of this Nation—that all people are created equal and have the right to be treated equally throughout their lives.” Proclamation by President Joseph R. Biden, Jr., Feb. 2, 2021.
Black History Month began as Negro History Week, in February of 1925. Almost a hundred years ago. It was conceived by Carter Godwin Woodson, who founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History and received a PhD in history from Harvard University in 1912. He was the only person in the history of our country whose parents were former slaves and yet went on to receive a PhD. Although no white university would hire him to teach, he did become a professor at Howard University, the renowned historically Black institution. He believed in the study of history and the eventual triumph of truth and reason.
The recent events in Memphis illustrate the ongoing truth of President Biden’s words: “We have never fully lived up to the founding principles of the Nation…” But there has been progress, and for a historian and educator such as Woodson some statistics would surely have been encouraging had he known them: according to the Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, 2,512 Black Americans earned doctorates like his in 2019. That is up 30% from 2010.
Nevertheless, the poison of racism persists in many aspects of our society. And a look at the not very distant past reminds us not only of how far we’ve come but how far we have yet to go.