HISTORY: Black is beautiful

It’s that time of year again, folks, the time when the arrows of outrage and indignation shoot forth from the lips of talk show pundits and the fingers of social media addicts, all aimed at their latest target — Black History Month.

The complaint boils down to the perceived prestige black history is allocated over white history and the inclusion of black history in public education. The solution many complainants have cooked up is to cancel BHM in the interest of “fairness” and eliminate it from public education, or at least give students the ability to “opt out.”

This is beyond ironic, considering how no one subjected to slavery or oppression could or can opt out, and that they endured these horrors at all is inherently unfair. History, as it’s taught in Western culture, is told from the perspective of the conqueror, not the conquered; in our case, white, European colonialists and their descendants.

It’s no coincidence that our history reflects the perspective of the conquerors because they’re its beneficiaries. “And when history did not cooperate, history was changed.” Important pieces of our history that were unflattering to the status quo were modified, embellished, downplayed, or erased altogether.

Why does this matter? Because while our roots don’t necessarily define how we bloom, they do impact how we view ourselves and how others view us. Until we achieve a post-racial society, BHM will continue to bring awareness to contributions that have been marginalized and elevate voices that have been silenced for too long.

CARRIE MORRISON

Post Falls