February is Black History Month. My daughter-in-law wrote about a conversation
she had with Liam the other day. He overheard
a news broadcast mentioning Black History Month and asked why it is Black
history month when the color of the skin is brown. Jackie wisely did not trivialize his thought
nor did she give an extended lecture.
Rather she asked him what he thought they would want to be called. Liam answered “By their name”
Of course it is more complicated than that. Right?
Maybe. Or perhaps we are missing
the whole point of Black History Month.
As a child in rural Louisiana I was taught literally nothing about the
part people of color played in the making of our nation other than the many
ways in which we oppressed, enslaved, and tried to eliminate them. Nor was I taught about the persecution of Gay and Lesbian individuals. Harsh words I know, but I know of no other
way to talk about the Trail of Tears, the Triangle Trade, the Sand Creek
Massacre, the Pulse Nightclub massacre or decades of lynching, voter suppression, bullying, and profiling. As an adult I began to pick up on the massive
injustice. I wondered about the moral
validity of separate but equal or the existence of reservations. What I have come to understand is that it is
literally impossible for me to imagine the pain and suffering of people of
color or immigrants or the LGBTQ+ community in our country. If I truly want to
know our history, then I must listen to the stories told by those who have
experienced that history. In other words
I must know them by their name.
Julius Lester is the author of a children’s book called “Let’s
Talk About Race”. He gently leads us to
imagine going out into the world with no skin – where it is impossible to tell
woman for man, dark skin tone from light skin tone, Hispanic from Caucasian,
etc etc. Instead he says the thing that
makes us who we are is not gender or race or place of origin, rather it is our
STORY. He asks what kind foods do you
like? What is your favorite time of
day? When were you born? WHAT IS YOUR NAME? The book ends: “I am
so , so, many things besides my race. To
know my story, you have to put together everything I am. Beneath the skin we all look alike. You and Me.”
And then he admonishes us …. “I’ll take
off my skin. Will you take off yours?”
Studying the history of our country should include more than one perspective. Black History Month is important because we need to know the
stories of others in order to fully understand our own stories. Perhaps we also need a "Native American History month, a Growing up Gay History Month, a Born in the South, or the North or the Midwest History Month. Silly and overkill - perhaps. But until we know the stories of the parts, we will not know the story of the whole.
We are inextricably linked – you and I. We all have fears - nuclear war- car wrecks, climate change, house fire, being robbed or raped. We all have likes and dislikes - spinach, thunderstorms, magnolias, cats and dogs, spy movies, reading. We all have pain, sorrow, love, loss. We are not so different you and I. I’ll tell you my story. Will you tell me yours?
