As we begin celebrating the 90th anniversary of Black History Month—it was called Negro History Week when Dr. Carter G. Woodson established it in 1926—there are indications that it is needed now more than ever. The annual month for African-Americans to reflect on the past and rededicate themselves to purposeful causes was recently impugned by actress and FOX News Channel contributor Stacey Dash. She said we need to get rid of it, along with the BET television network.
Our first reaction was to consider the source. Who is Ms. Dash and by what authority does she speak? The best response, we thought, was not to dignify the suggestion of some self-appointed arbiter of our culture. It was a vacuous comment from a person who had no understanding of the month’s purpose, history or what it has signified for these many years.
But she, like any American, is entitled to her opinion, no matter how wrongheaded and clueless. Heaven only knows what her motivation is for such a comment, and if she sincerely believes it, then her predicament is all the more hopeless and irreversible.
Her charge comes at a time when there is much discussion about the lack of diversity in Hollywood, particularly the absence of African-American nominees for the second year in a row at the Oscars. It comes as the election kicks into full gear and candidates, at least the Democratic presidential contenders, are asked if they support reparations for Black Americans. Each of them balked on the issue. To even put the question to the Republicans is pointless.
Dash’s absurdity arrives, like a resounding Trump, when a federal court has begun hearing a case in North Carolina that has national implications on voter identification requirements. A ruling there could signal how federal courts might assess balloting laws elsewhere, especially in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court decision in 2013 that eviscerated the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Rather than any discussion about the eradication of Black History Month, we should be seeking ways to make it even more pertinent, ways to make it strike even harder at the inequities that permeate Black life.
Again, we salute those aligned with the Black Lives Matter movement. Our attention should be focused on their efforts challenging the ever current atrocities from menacing law-enforcement agencies that seem to have a reckless disregard for the life of young Black men.
Black Lives Matter is the fresh urgency, a renewal of the fight against injustice in our society, and we need to find creative ways to wed it to the longstanding determination of those affiliated with the importance of Black History Month. These should not be separate entities, and Dash’s outrageous suggestion is just a reminder of how much work we have to do.
Let her thoughtless comment be another wake up call, one more alarm about how prevalent ignorance and retrenchment is in America, whether among Blacks or whites.
In a word, Stacey, it’s all balderDASH!