February 14, 2009

BY MARY MITCHELL Sun-Times Columnist
If Black History Month were an animal, it would be a mouse scampering from the light right about now.

The light being that pulsating beam that struck a lot of people when Barack Obama became the nation's first black president.

Some people were so smitten, they declared the dawning of a post-racial era.

Nothing wrong with being hopeful.

But does that have to mean an end to observances such as Black History Month?

This year, a heated debate has broken out about whether or not Black History Month should be canceled altogether.

"At what juncture, then, does Black History Month run the risk of becoming a pointless exercise in race chest-bumping?" asked Phillip Morris in a recent column in the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

Black History Month is still relevant because there is still a need to educate Americans on the outstanding intellectual and artistic contributions that African Americans have made to this nation.

Despite Black History Month, in most American schools, students still learn more about white achievers than they do about black ones.

Despite the celebrity of black geniuses such as Frederick Douglass, abolitionist; Mary McLeod Bethune, educator; George Washington Carver, agricultural chemist, and Duke Ellington, composer, there are hundreds of black geniuses whose accomplishments are unknown in the mainstream.

A different perspective
That's why it wasn't surprising that after decades of so-called "race chest-bumping," a lot of working-class whites in this country still couldn't imagine that a black man had the right stuff to lead this country.

Obviously, the snatches of black history we get every February won't change the minds of people who consider blacks as the source of America's ills.

But the time taken out during 28 days each year to observe black history, as President Obama put it in his proclamation, "is a chance to examine the evolution of our country and how African Americans helped draw us ever closer to becoming a more perfect union."

And the snippets of black high achievers served up by newspapers and broadcasts in February may give the offspring of hardened bigots a different perspective on what it means to be black in America.

This debate over Black History Month is also a reminder that parents shouldn't depend on schools to incorporate the African-American narrative in lessons taught in the classroom.

If you're one of those people who don't appreciate Black History Month because you believe black history should be an integral part of American history, I agree.

Educate yourself
But, until then, here are a few books about black achievements that should be on your bookshelf:

• • From Slavery to Freedom: A History of Negro Americans by John Hope Franklin and Alfred A. Moss Jr. Franklin's book is still considered the most authoritative history of black Americans. The book traces the black experience from Africa to the Reagan years.

• • The Black Poets: A New Anthology, edited by Dudley Randall. I love Langston Hughes, but there are other important black poets. Black children need to know who they are. One of my favorites is Lucille Clifton, but I wasn't introduced to her poems until I was in college. Shameful.

• • For Every Season: The Complete Guide to African American Celebrations by Barbara Eklof. What is often missing in single-family households is tradition. Eklof has researched celebrations that can be observed with minimal resources. The chapter titled "The Dawn of Womanhood and Manhood" outlines the importance of rites-of-passage ceremonies, especially in communities struggling to save at-risk youth.

• • Crossing the Danger Water: Three Hundred Years of African-American Writing by Deirdre Mullane. An incredible reference tool, and only $14.28 on Amazon .com.

While a lot of schools are still on board (my grandson is working on a report about Fannie Lou Hamer, a voting and civil rights activist), the observance of Black History Month has lost its oomph.

But you don't need a celebration to help your children fill in the gaps.

Filling in the gaps is in the nation's best interest.

After all, it isn't a fluke that young people, who likely had more exposure to a diverse society, overwhelmingly supported Obama's presidential campaign.

That's how change is made.