Thursday, February 16, 2017 Edition of The Red & Black by The Red & Black

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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2017

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Valerie Babb (top left), Destin Mizelle (top right), Stephanie Toliver (bottom left) and Anna Golding (bottom right) share their experiences. A U S T I N STEELE/ S TA F F

‘Black history is American history’ Danny McArthur Senior Staff Writer Since 1976, Black History Month has been recognized in February across the U.S. The month is meant to celebrate noted figures, culture and stories in the black community, from the past to the present. Students, university faculty members and organization leaders weigh edin on what Black History Month means to them, their experiences with the month and how it should change going forward.

From a professor:

Valerie Babb is a Franklin professor of English, and is the director for the Institute for African American Studies. Babb said she believes real progress will be achieved when information about black history programs consistently rather than within the boundaries of a single month.

Can you tell me about Black History Month in your own words? If you ask me as a teacher, my response tends to be that I find Black History Month inadequate because what goes on there should go on the 11 other months of the year as well. Black history is so intricately tied to American history that you can’t accurately talk about one without talking about the other. So for me, it’s much more than just a series of events or focusing on a particular issue or concern in the month of February. It should be about finding ways to integrate black history—or I should say recognizing ways black history is American history.

Community members share thoughts on Black History Month Why do you think the general mindset ‘This is the month we focus on black people’ exists? There’s still this presumption in the United States that the ‘true American’ identity is a white American identity. That identity can then be very generous and acknowledge and support a women’s history month, or a Latino history month, or a Black History Month without fundamentally saying we are the only identity.

From students:

Stephanie Toliver is a first year doctoral student in language and literature education from New Castle, Pennsylvania. Toliver attended Florida Agricultural & Mechanical University, a historically black college, and said she noticed the difference in the celebration here versus when she was in undergrad. Toliver said at Florida A&M, celebration was year-long, so there was no need to create extra events. Here, she said she noticed the shift to try to come up with events for Black History Month.

Can you tell me about your experience as a black person at UGA? I went to Florida A&M for undergrad, and I went to Florida State for grad school, so I’ve been at a semi-predominantly white institution (PWI) before this one. But I will say this is the most PWI I’ve been in or around. I have experi-

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From a student organization:

enced... microaggressions. Like when you walk into a room, and people ask you what you research, and I tell them I do science fiction, fantasy and education and [they’ll say] “Black girls read that?” I will say that my department has made me feel really comfortable. I told one of my friends the other day that I feel like in this program I can be myself unapologetically. Anna Golding, a sophomore business marketing major from Griffin, said she was unaware of the issues surrounding racism until a personal experience in high school. After she began dating a black man, Golding said her friend group ostracized her and made her aware of her conservative town. She then began to notice how rarely Black History Month was talked about in a positive light at her school. However, she found UGA to be more diverse and accepting.

Can you tell me if you think Black History Month is necessary, and why or why not? I think it’s necessary and that it kind of gives African Americans that reassurance to know that they are as extraordinary as anybody else. It shows that not just the fact that they have a month—it’s the fact that they’re being recognized for all of the sacrifices, all the struggle, every tear that was shed, every life that was lost based upon solely

their skin color.

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Destin Mizelle, the social justice chair for Black Affairs Council, came from a majority black high school. Despite being a minority here, he said he felt he was able to thrive and feel comfortable. BAC hosted a Unity Ball earlier this month and has had other programs planned, such as a black history trivia event on Feb. 13.

Do you think Black History Month looks different here at UGA than at other schools? Oh, I’m sure. They go all out, and I do feel like UGA goes all out within its lane. I would say I don’t think anyone, any PWI, is doing it like UGA is doing it. This is primarily because BUGA—or rather, black UGA—is such a tight-knit community as to where they won’t accept anything less than a nice Black History Month.

Are there some aspects of it that you wish were better? I wish it was genuinely cared about because a lot of people may be doing stuff for the formality, “Oh it’s Black History Month so let me do this.” But let’s see who’s doing it because they really care about educating, because they really care about the culture, they care about the month. It’s so important...let’s do it because we really care, we really want to make a change and make people comfortable within the campus of UGA...to make the world a better place.

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