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The Afro-American, February 14, 2015 - February 14, 2015
February 21, 2015 - February 27, 2015, The Afro-American
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The Mis-Educated Negro
“He believed that the negative ideas (Black) people had internalized about themselves were because of their ignorance about their own history.” of ASALH: Black history clubs sprang up; teachers demanded materials to instruct their pupils; and progressive Whites, not simply White scholars and philanthropists, stepped forward to endorse the effort. 464513-ADVR113402 AFRO Black Month Ad_v2_P.pdf 1 the 2/18/15 9:35 AM amplified the The “Black Awakening” and the History Civil Rights Movement of 1960s further
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Legg Mason is proud to support Black History Month and the 2015 AFRO Character Education Campaign
Carter G. Woodson institutionalized Black history as a legitimate area of scholarship.
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Continued from B1 Black history back then it was denigrated,” said Kendi, the Albany university professor. “For him to say we should appreciate it and celebrate it was revolutionary.” Woodson’s vision of the Negro History Week went beyond his goal of educating African Americans about themselves—though that was part of his aim; it was also about educating others about the value of Blacks’ contributions to America and the world. According to a Jan. 23, 1932 AFRO article, Woodson explained that the celebration of Negro History Week would be for nought if Black, White and all children were not given a chance to learn about all aspects of Black history in their schools. “Unless Negro History Week can be used to accomplish such a purpose, the mere celebration would be meaningless. To have numerous essays and speeches on what we have done while failing to do this thing which is necessary for our present good will mean absolute failure so far as this observance is concerned,” he is quoted as saying in the article. “The watchword throughout this season, therefore, should be to uproot propaganda in the minds of students and place in their hands certain works to inform them as to the contributions of all races. Interracial goodwill will be thereby stimulated, that this country may become a land of happiness and prosperity.” With the passage of time, Negro History Week caught on, according to an essay by Daryl Michael Scott, president
importance of and interest in the historic contributions of African Americans. And, in 1976, the celebration was expanded to a month through a proclamation by President Gerald Ford, who urged Americans to “seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history.” Though Black History Month has since become a national fixture, there are some who question whether the observance is still necessary or even beneficial in what some have claimed as a post-racial society. Experts say that is not surprising as it mirrors what some Woodson detractors have said from the beginning. “If you look back now at his lifetime, most people assume his movement was widely embraced when it was not,” Kendi said. “He received a huge amount of resistance both within the Black community and outside.” For example, among assimilationists, anything that played up racial differences was a no-no. “There have always been Black people who view Black progress as Black people assimilating with Whiteness,” Kendi added. In the presence of such self-effacing thought, persistent socioeconomic disparities and racism, Woodson would have likely argued that Black History Month, and its spotlighting of Black history and achievement, is very much an ongoing necessity, Kendi said. “Carter G. Woodson would have looked at the persistent disparities and said that clearly we are not an inclusive society [and that] so long as we have White Americans, Black Americans and those of other races who see Black people as inferior there is still a need for multiculturalism and the study of Black history.”
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