If the name “Black History Month” were to be modified to “Diversity Month,” how would you react?
The problem sounds hypothetical but truly is not; the modification, it seems, is already beginning—at least at my university.
As a minority at a four-year university in Los Angeles who grew up in a community of mostly white faces, I can easily understand why controversy is brewing on campus: the housing staff, in an effort to advertise the many events going on this month, have termed the month “Diversity Month.”
I’ll pause to let those two words sink in—DIVERSITY MONTH.
At first I had a major problem with it too. To strip away the culture and history of what the month of February commemorates and replace it with a generic word meaning “difference” has some people, understandably, on edge; the truth is, however, these days the word diverse is beginning to take on a new meaning. Instead of just race, it involves the mutual understanding of all sexes, cultures, and lifestyles.
So where’s the problem? Easy. In this country, the African-American population sometimes feels so tremendously small that many blacks feel that they must positively represent the whole of their culture—its history, its pride, its cuisine—to the majority to compensate for all the negative images out there.
So when someone threatens to snatch away the “little” bit of positive national recognition we do get, we throw our dukes up.
Traditionally during February, organizations, businesses, and even TV programs make a special effort to sponsor a plethora of social, educational, musical, and religious events to promote cultural awareness in the greater community at large. However, the vast majority of people who crack open the door to even peek into these events are African-American themselves.
This is a severe problem, and it raises several questions:
Who exactly is Black History Month for? Is it truly for the minority group whose history it celebrates? Or is it for everyone else?
If it is just for the minority, then what are the other channels besides BET doing during this month? What are the other websites other than theFreshxPress doing during this month? Better yet, what is the other 87.7 percent of America doing during this month? Did they skip February completely and go straight to March? Is Valentine’s Day on February 14th for blacks, but on March 14th for everyone else?
No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No.
The meaning of the word diversity is “having variety.” It includes all and excludes none; Black History Month is for everyone, and if changing the title is the best way to get this message across, I’m all for it. This month is not for us, and this month is not for them; it’s for all. Never expect an inanimate object, or a title, to do your dirty work for you; in other words, we as African-Americans are responsible for celebrating and commemorating our own heritage—not the month of February. The same energy that we expect other ethnicities to put into learning and respecting our culture is the same effort we should put into respecting theirs, year-round.
The people who created the idea of “Diversity Month” and the people who are offended by it are unknowingly both fighting for the same ideal: cultural awareness.
Modifying the name of the month does not suggest that the meaning of Black History Month is outdated; it suggests that its title is. It suggests that instead of smiling complacently as only 12.3 percent of America celebrates the notion of nationwide cultural awareness, no one should rest until 100 percent celebrates it.
Of course we could enter a debate about whether or not the title truly is outdated—but by the time we finish, the month will be long over and 2012 will be right around the corner. Hell, it might even be next year’s February. And all for what? We as Americans place entirely too much emphasis on titles and labels and rarely have any energy left to focus on the core of the problem. Whatever technical name we give the month, it’s what we do during February that matters, and how much we take away from it for the rest of the year and the rest of our lives that determines its success.
As long as the same lessons are learned, I personally don’t give a damn what it’s called.
There is, after all, a reason why colleges operate on a semester or quarterly basis, and never on a monthly one: Twenty-eight days will never be enough time to learn about the history, the present, or the future of any culture.
Allow me to clarify one thing: black history will always be black history; there is no taking that away. Therefore, at the end of the day, no one will take the blackness away from February or any other month for that matter; Diversity Month, if accepted by more people, would be—at BEST—only an additional title.
The fact that this month has multiple aliases that do not always involve the words “black” or “history” does not mean that black is history (meaning, of course, extinct).
It means we are making history.
How do you feel about using the term Diversity Month instead of Black History Month? Does it dishonor the struggles of blacks who sacrificed their own freedom for the sake of ours? Or does it merely add an inclusive element to a term that seems to be dividing more people than it connects?
Article by Raishad Hardnett
Raishad Hardnett is a currently a student at the University of Southern California, a writer of stories, poetry, and fanfictions, and a classical pianist. He attributes both his failures and achievements to the fact that “God does not throw dice.” For him, writing is that female with the love-hate relationship who just won’t go the hell away. So he does her.Follow him on twitter at www.twitter.com/#!/shadray
Raishad has written 4 article(s) for us.
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I think the title “Diversity Month” is a slight toward the name Black History Month in an attempt to try diversity. I think it stems from a failed misunderstanding of how to dialogue about race in this country. Such a term implies post-racial thought in a racist society–and it comes off as patronizing.
Bottom line for me is how convenient that they pick February as the month to try out this new title. I don’t see them using any other ethnic or gender minority month designates–Women’s History Month will still be in March I’m sure and Hispanic Heritage Month will still be in September.
This is about where I get off the band wagon and get insulted.
It’s a marginalization and I think to accept it as anything less than that, or offer up excuses as to why titular labels don’t really mean anything is catering a group of people that want to excise history for their own warped sense of justice. It’s not so much that it dishonors those from the past, but that it dishonors me here in the present. I’m tired of blacks having to bear the brunt of whites’ warped sense of political correctness when it comes to celebrating OUR CULTURE.
No offense to the author, but the tone of this article comes off as conciliatory toward a group of people who want you to do just that: be some pet Negro who allows themselves to be defined. Perhaps that’s what ultimately my problem is: we shouldn’t allow others to define ourselves when we are perfectly capable of naming and defining for ourselves. To allow someone else to do that for us, well, we’ve lost the battle already.
I agree completely. Just another example of white’s taking a Black innovation corrupting it and making it wack. The reality is we need to follow the Honorable Elijah Muhammad’s advice and stop trying to find validation from their community.
But can you blame them for doing that?
How many self labeled “progressive” blacks have trotted out their annual questions “Do we really need Black History Month?” or “Do we really need Kwanzaa?” and whoever the powers that be at this school (presuming it’s USC based on the author’s profile) were maybe even thinking that they were making the right move.
The sad thing is that with Black History Month being our unique cultural creation here in the U.S., it’s something else that we give away. It’s not so much that “they” take it away from us, as we give it away. When “they” take and reshape it, and try and sell it back to us, then we want to raise all of these concerns.
It’s baffling.
it’s our rush to be included becasuse of our fundamental lack of self-esteem as a people. We are like the slutty girl that everybody bangs and nobody dates.
I do not like the term diversity month instead of black history month because other minority groups are celebrated in other months.
February
African-American History Month
March
Women’s History Month
May
Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month
June
Gay and Lesbian Pride Month
September
Hispanic Heritage Month: Celebrated from September 15-October 15.
November
National American Indian Heritage Month
Diversity History Month? Man, GTFOHWTBS. Let them go do that “diversity history” month on some other ethnic people’s holiday and watch how much shit hits the fan.
I find this quite interesting. I’m all for diversity but why February? Why not January, December or April? Heck, why should diversity be celebrated in only a month and not everyday? I mean this is America and we should learn about and celebrate diversity everyday.
Hahahaha! That’s what happened when I was in high school. Sometime during my sophomore year in 2002 the administrators decided it would be better to change the name to ‘Multicultural Celebration Month’ because of the September 11th attacks. Of course most of the Black students had a problem with the change because it was just down right unnecessary.
this is wrong on so many different levels.
1- we still live in a country where a seperate black history recognition month is necessary because we have been systematically excluded or diminished from the whole of history. last i checked, that hasn’t changed. scholastic books are still incredibly skewed toward a european history. and that’s not to even touch on the new civil rights issue of education, where some children are being educated with books that aren’t even current enough to include some of the more recent black achievements! (and no, we’re not just talking obama)
2- black history month has yet to live up the expectations of what it was established to do in the first place. we’ve been talking about mlk, malcolm x and marcus garvey since ’76; black history month has remained relatively stagnant as far as it’s educational expansion properties and yet we’re trying to expand its inclusive properties? how does that even make sense.
3- aren’t we already dealing with the backlash of finagling the name to be more PC? People are actually calling for “Black history month”- which is supposed to be a celebration of the contributions of members of the African diaspora- to be “African American history month,” which now limits the historic qualifiers to those who slave hobbled out of the cotton fields. I have a problem with that. the month is about more than history, it’s about pride; and i take issue with anything that limits who can be included in building that pride.
to a large degree, i can agree that we as blacks have to be responsible for our own education, however that’s not a flat statement; it has limits. we wouldn’t ask someone running a race with no shoes to achieve the same level of success as the person outfited with the best in footwear gear. our kids are being outfitted with the history of the majority from the beginning, but they’re being given “black history socks”. until we come to a place where the need, the function and the recognition of the month is all that it should (or should not) be, we should be outraged at any attempts to “improve” it.
Fantastic read, I just pseasd this onto a friend who was doing a little research on that. And he actually bought me lunch because I discovered it for him smile So let me rephrase that: Thanks for lunch!
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Diversity month? Absolutely not.
The wording used when dealing with anything having to do with black people has always made me uncomfortable. Terms such as multicultural, diverse, ethnic have all become synonymous with black. When did those words ever mean black? Multicultural describes something that pertains to or includes several cultures, ethnic is something that derives from a specific group of people, diverse means including more than one type of people in a specific context…Somehow, people have decided to use these words instead of straight up saying “black” because it makes them more comfortable when addressing matters regarding race. White people calling black history month “diversity history month” are not fighting for cultural awareness, they’re trying to make February less awkward for them. Seeing the words Diversity History ruffles less feathers than the words Black History do. I say F*ck that..Black history month is a celebration of Black people. Period.
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I could be completely wrong, but I think a number of people are incorrectly looking at this as an attack against African Americans specifically. The reason, I’m guessing, that they have singled out Black History Month for change is simply because its the only one anyone even knows about. I’ve been taught about this month since I was in elementary, I’ve never heard of a single one of the other months.
If they changed: November – National American Indian Heritage Month, the overwhelming response would be nothing, because no one knows about it to begin with.
Now I’m not saying its good one way or the other, there are tons and tons of factors in play here. I just want to point out that while some people view it as an attack, I look at it as somewhat of a positive in the way that at least people are aware enough of Black History Month to even consider renaming it.
IMO they should just get rid of all the months and celebrate every culture equally year-round. I’ll just keep dreaming.
Like i said i dont give a damn what it’s called because that’s just a distraction from the main issue here. I just want everyone to see the hypocrisy of being angered when whites remain completely IGNORANT of black culture, yet also being angered when whites attempt mutual understanding. The problem is we as blacks are angered by everything and still expect not to remain stagnant- The reason why black history month is not going anywhere is because we won’t let it.
that’s not to say that changing the name is the solution to all our problems… or to any of our problems for that matter. i’m just saying somethings got to give. the question of allowing for an “extra” title was more of a theoretical question than a practical one because the going-ons within the social bubble of a gated college campus are not likely to pervade into the larger national black community–but it points to deeper racial implications we all have to think about.
Thank you, Raishad, for such an enlightening article. Although this kind of thing is not new, it only appears new for our generation. This is the reason we must stay connected through our many platforms of ideas and spheres of influence. The deep-seated undercurrents of yesteryear seem to have a way of sneaking into the present; especially when we are not connected. There has been so much misunderstanding on all sides that it’s good to take a step back, breathe, and look for the truth. In medicine, symptoms can be very similar, while the actual root issue could be very different. At some point we have to explore the root issue of these things so real progress can be made for everyone. Your article and this platform is aiding in that effort. Thanks again!
-YBP