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Western Carolinian Volume 70 Number 09

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  • History in public schools: A Commentary By Carla Batchelor * Wenewsmagazine The month of February all over the country is delegated to Black History, a month in which various organizations and educational institutions celebrate black history. This celebration was started by Dr. Carter G. Woodson, a historian who believed that national attention was needed in order to bring a larger contribution of Afican American history into American society. He specifically chose this month because it is the birth month of Abraham Lincoln and Fredrick Douglas, strong activists to the African American cause. It was officially celebrated for the first ime in 1926, There has been continuous controversy surrounding this celebration, most recently during the December 18, 2005 episode of 60 minutes where Morgan Freeman stated that black history month is ridiculous. This is due to the fact he does not want African American history relegated to just one month. I don't want a black history month. Black history is American history. Morgan Freeman, a native of Mississippi, faced multiple accounts of racism growing up. Now with his prominent status in Hollywood with an Oscar win last year, he has become more outspoken. Following the actions taken after Hurricane Katrina, the issue of race has come back to the forefront of media attention. When Black History month was originally created, Woodson stated thathe hoped the week could be eliminated - when black history would become fundamental to American History. But, this year is the 80th year of celebrating Black History Month, and how far has American come? In the last eighty years WCnewsmagazine 11 country has been involved in multiple wars overseas, our citizens have protested for their individual rights, and our educational system has supposedly advanced, yet we have not incorporated fundamental American history into our classrooms. Why is this? History classrooms across the country are reliving the past, yet forgoing some of the most important sections of our history. While the issues of slavery and racism are hard to discuss in many situations, who said that education was going to be easy? Racism has been around for hundreds of years and yet in this advanced society, we stil refer to our fellow man as black and white. We are all Americans, plain and simple; our forefathers of all colors fought for the freedoms in which we enjoy today. Throughout every calendar year we celebrate designated history months. These include Hispanic history and womens history. While there are multitudes of history that need to be studied, but cannot due to time constraints, why do we have to delegate specific months to educate our citizens on topics that should be included in a basic history class? Recently, | found out about a petition for a white history month. Should citizens sign this petition when normal history classes are typically taught to the white man superiority historical view? Every month is white history month! It is time to change our educational system so that in 20 years from now, we will have no need to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Black History Month. wc news magazine Who is your favorite Civil Rights leader? This issue is a preview to Black History Month, We began our discussion of Civil Rights leaders with two of the three most popular, How many other Civil Rights leaders can you name? Turn the age to see how 150 WCU students reshondled to that very question, Which leaders in the Movement would i you like to learn more about? Email us at we@weu,edu Mai he your choice will show up in our next issue!
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