Black History Month: Recognizing our shared heritage

My latest op-ed appeared in The Virginian-Pilot last Wednesday. (Although I love the fact that the columns are online, I have to admit that the printed newspaper looks a lot better.)

A couple of points in the piece that bear a little additional information.

First, despite the president’s proclamation, I still consider it Black History Month, not African American History Month. In my lifetime, I’ve been (at least) colored, a Negro, Black, Afro-American and African American. I came of age in the “Young, Gifted and Black” era – and I’m completely comfortable with being stuck there 😉

Second, I feel strongly that Black History Month has turned into either a Martin Luther King Jr. lovefest or a celebration of “the first black _______ ” (fill in the blank), neither of which was the intent of Carter G. Woodson, when he started Negro History Week in 1926. Firsts are all well good but knowledge of such doesn’t necessarily add to the understanding of how our American culture has been shaped by the contributions of blacks. Elvis Pressley, for example, was influenced by gospel music, which can trace its roots to black Americans during slavery. One of those cited in my op-ed, Dr. Charles Drew, is featured rather prominently on the American Red Cross website for his contribution to their work.

Finally, there is the issue of oral tradition. That so much of black history wasn’t written down made it possible for misinformation to be passed from one generation to the next – note the case of Benjamin Banneker  – and for so much to have been lost. “History,”  Winston Churchill said, “is written by the victors.”  It should not, therefore, be of surprise that the claim of Matthew Henson is open to suspicion. Henson was a member of expeditions to the North Pole with famed explorer Robert E. Peary and his account of it can be read here. (While this article says that there is controversy surrounding whether Peary’s team or that of Frederick Cook got to the pole first, this one disputes that and says that Cook’s claims have been “widely discredited.”) Arlington National Cemetery, where Henson is now buried, calls him the “Co-Discoverer of the North Pole” and says that it was Henson, not Peary, “who first reached the Pole and planted the American flag.” In this profile of him, National Geographic says Henson arrived 45 minutes ahead of Peary.

Henson greeted Peary, “I think I’m the first man to sit on top of the world.”Henson later recalled that this angered Peary. “Oh, he got hopping mad … No, he didn’t say anything, but I could tell,” wrote Henson. Henson wrote that Peary “fastened the flag to a staff and planted it firmly on top of his igloo.”

That Henson’s name is not as well known as that of Peary is a testament to Churchill’s statement.

I think there is a continuing need for Black History Month, no matter what it is called, because we all need to know who contributed to our shared heritage.