EQUITY & INCLUSION

One Meaningful Thing White Folk Can Do for Black History Month

Listening and learning

My fourth-grade teacher, Mrs. Sims, was fixated on Black history. And times tables. Our small school with mostly white students was a rarity in the late ’60s and early ’70s: we had several Black teachers. I had Miss Grace for third grade (and adored her), and Mrs. Sims for fourth grade.

Mrs. Sims was bound and determined that we would learn about contributions by people of color. And so, we wrote report after report on George Washington Carver, Harriet Tubman, and 20+ other great figures from history, using laminated cards created by a publisher for source material.

And we wrote our times tables up to 12 x 12 EVERY day after lunch.

Honestly, those are the only two things I remember from that grade.

A brief history of Black History Month

Amid calls for greater acknowledgment of the hidden contributions of Black Americans, President Gerald Ford officially recognized Black History Month in 1976, calling on the public to “seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of Black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history.” Every U.S. president since has renewed the annual designation for the month of February.

Organizations such as the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History had begun celebrating Negro History Week as early as 1926. February was chosen in honor of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass, whose birthdays land in that month. Schools and communities nationwide were encouraged to organize local celebrations, establish history clubs, and host performances and lectures.

Why should we care?

In recent years, the entertainment industry has expanded its coverage of contributions to science, education, and culture by Black people. For example, the 2017 movie Hidden Figures, which showcased the contributions of Black women to the science and computational excellence behind NASA’s space program. It also received three Oscar nominations and was among the top grossing movies that year.

For those who wonder why “we” (non-Black people) should care to know these stories, I’d offer the following reasons:

• Because the stories are largely untold and unknown. And this lack of knowledge on our part denies the value of significant contributions that deserve celebration.
• Because celebrating contributions of all people lifts us all. There’s no such thing as too many accomplishments to celebrate! Celebrating more accomplishments does not diminish others’ accomplishments a whit.
• Because expanding our worlds to include the accomplishments of others helps us grow and makes others feel valued. Our nation continues to struggle with racial inequity — in policing, in sentencing, in healthcare, and so many other areas. It’s a good time to reach out and lift each other up.

One easy suggestion

During this Black History Month, consider engaging and learning. Talk to your Black friends. Ask them:

Who is your favorite Black historical figure or a little-known Black person that it would be good for me to learn about?

Asking that simple question can open doors for dialogue about race or possibly encourage a mutual interest in history or a particular topic. It can also demonstrate your hopefully sincere interest in learning more.

I asked this question of a friend today, and she sent me an article about her husband’s grandmother. Tonight, I will savor reading about her and gaining deeper insight into my friends’ family.

Mrs. Sims did her best to highlight Black accomplishments to a room of squirmy white children. I actually remember a fair bit of the histories and feel it’s been a benefit to me over the years (as were the times tables, because 7 x 8 can be tricky if you don’t have it memorized).

It occurs to me now, nearly 50 years later, that the reason we wrote our reports from laminated cards was that these historical luminaries did not appear in our textbooks.

To heal racial divides, we have so much work to do. Listening and learning seems like a very good place to start. I encourage you to be bold. Reach out. Start a conversation about Black history, or race, or inequity. And listen with an open heart.

© Tina L. Smith, 2021

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