Dr. Woodson believed the same premise as The Radical Agenda: teaching all of history is how we reduce racism. Teaching only parts of history is how we enforce racism. In his book, The Mis-Education of the Negro<\/a>, he said \u201cIf 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.\u201d This core belief was what fueled his passion to include Black history in schools, and he created “Negro History Week” in 1926. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Remember in the 1920s that Jim Crow laws were still in full effect and school segregation was still normal. So even though Black Americans build the White House, even though Black inventors were saving lives like Garrett Morgan<\/a> and his “smoke hood,” which became the gas masks that helped save soldiers in World War I, even though the popular Jazz music of the time predominantly came from Black artists<\/a>, those lessons were not being taught to children in the classrooms. This lack of knowledge led white people to believe that Black Americans didn’t have history worth telling, and thus they felt justified treated Black Americans as “less than.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n One week was not enough time to honor and teach all the contributions of Black Americans in American history. Almost forty years after “Negro History Week” had been instituted, middle school American History textbooks books barely featured any people of color in the 1960s. In 1976, President Gerald Ford issued a Presidential message to all Americans to celebrate for the full month of February, encouraging them to “seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of Black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n On February 11, 1986, Congress passed Public Law 99-244<\/a>, officially designating February as Black History Month, and specifying Dr. Carter Woodson as the one who initiated the movement with “Negro History Week.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n We repeat \u201cwith liberty and justice for all\u201d in every American classrooms; it should be a given that the history of all should be taught within those same classrooms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 1954, when the United States Supreme Court issued their ruling on Brown vs. Board of Education, declaring segregated schools to be unconstitutional, many white families pulled their children from public schools, founding private schools rather than being forced to integrate at a public school. <\/p>\n\n\n\n And here we are, some seventy years later, still arguing about what Black history stories to include, with some white women crying to the school board about how their children might “feel guilt or shame about the color of their skin.” The events in 2021 covered in this article<\/a> were the catalyst for the creation of this entire blog and mission. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It seems that even with an entire month dedicated to the achievements and contributions of the black community, we are still fighting for that pesky word \u201call.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Note: The Radical Agenda believes in supporting independent bookstores over big box stores, so we share book links using Bookshop.org. Click on the picture to order your copy of the books that catch your eye, and thank you for supporting small businesses around the country!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Click here for the full book list for easy ordering<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWhy Do We Still Need Black History Month?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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<\/a><\/figure>Carter Reads the Newspaper: The Story of Dr. Carter G. Woodson, Founder of Black History Month by Deborah Hopkinson, illustrated by Dan Tate<\/h3>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Carter G. Woodson in Washington, D.C. The Father of Black History by Pero Gaglo Dagbovie, PhD<\/h3>\n<\/div>
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