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You asked for black inventors and I provided you some. So what if only one is a household product, all of them or a variation of the original are used every day in this country.
Because uggabugga asked about black inventors....
Wrong. I asked for the names of the alleged household products.
I would say that is to those who celebrate it. To those who don't. Not so much.
Me? A great American is a great American, race is not a qualifier.
Colin Powell, a man any of us can and should respect. Came from very humble beginnings and worked his way up to the top of the Military food chain, served as Secretary of State. His Biography is a great read.
There are many examples, but Mr. Powell is a man that I can respect and is as good an example as there ever will be.
I would say that is to those who celebrate it. To those who don't. Not so much.
Me? A great American is a great American, race is not a qualifier.
Colin Powell, a man any of us can and should respect. Came from very humble beginnings and worked his way up to the top of the Military food chain, served as Secretary of State. His Biography is a great read.
There are many examples, but Mr. Powell is a man that I can respect and is as good an example as there ever will be.
ask a conservative white male about powell, they will say the nastiest things about him. i agree though that hes a great man.
If you think black history month actually creates positive roll models for the black youth of today then I really have nothing more to add to the conversation
Please tell me about how learning about the inventor of peanut butter, traffic single or the mail box creates roll models.
Black history month is not just about learning about inventors. Uggabugga asked about them so I mentioned some I knew. You people (and yes, I said "you people") really get off into a tangent really quickly.
And as I stated in my response, I wish black history month was not needed. Unfortunately, though black history is not taught regularly in school. I personally feel that more white majority schools need to focus on black history and other minorities' history moreso in order to combat the silly racial prejudices and stereotypes that are very prevalent in todays society.
But it is important IMO that for one - the fact that black people trailblazed the idea of setting aside a portion of the school year to focus on teaching black children about black accomplishments. Most schools don't teach that - the fact that Black History Month was unique and that it was indicative of the self-reliance of black people on teaching black children the history of black accomplishment, not just in this country but globally. The purpose was to show we are more than servants or the lowliest of those and to give children hope that they too can accomplish and contribute great things to our society. There is nothing wrong with that.
The majority of American history in regards to black people are focused on 1-Slavery, 2-Racism, 3-Civil Rights, 4-Sports, 5-Entertainers. Black people have made lots of contributions to our country than the latter and if it weren't for black history month, most children would never be aware of anything about black people other than those 5.
I personally learned about Frederick Douglass as a child via a black history month lesson. He and Sojourner Truth. I had never heard of him or her. I was 8 at the time and was intrigued and read everything I could find on both, including their biographies (in Douglass' case the Narrative in the Life of Frederick Douglass and his subsequent writings - I was an Honor's student and in the TAG program so read at an 11th grade level so reading those were not hard. I wish more middle schoolers read this book as it is a great lesson in American history). I was amazed at their accomplishments and Frederick Douglass is still a huge role model of mine. I am nerdy and tell people that I basically fell in love with him lol! He was my first love, he was smart, handsome, strong, and determined. He was instrumental in me knowing that we as black people should not make excuses in regards to setting goals and achieving them. He is an excellent figure that all to often is overlooked now-a-days. I can go on and on about him but won't. Many people don't know that Sojourner Truth didn't even speak English until she was an adult due to being a slave in NY state and owned by a Dutch family. I never even knew the Dutch history in NY state until I read her narrative, so I learned a lot about America in general via reading about her and learned about the early women's movement. She is buried in Battle Creek, MI - I have relatives who live there so I visited the monument to her, so it made me feel close to her and that proud history. Frederick Douglass lived in Ohio for a time as well, so I felt a connection to him in that fashion. I mentioned Paul Laurence Dunbar - one of my family's surnames is Dunbar and they are from the same town (he and Garret Morgan who invented the traffic signal). Learning about Paul Dunbar is what got me interested in genealogy as I wanted to see if I was related to him via research. I am!! So that was exciting and brought history alive to me in a way. As stated Paul Dunbar went to high school with the Wright Brothers so that is a connection as well that can be taught to children - how we are all so connected in this country and can be friends and colleagues even in times that may seem hostile to one or both friends. So black history in this country is something that connects us, shows our American-ness in a way that regular history does not. We can learn about black contributions to nearly every facet of American society and personally, I don't think there is anything wrong with that.
I agree that all history should be taught together, but unfortunately that is not the case in our country. Many of you who complain about it, if in charge, would not teach anything about any sorts of black contributions because you would weigh them against some other white person's accomplishment. I thought it interesting too that someone mentioned construction projects in this countries (bridges and such) as if black people did not contribute to the labor and engineering of those bridges. Many black American's ideas were stolen from them and not acknowledged.
The difference is BHM is actually part of the school curriculum and receives national attention. I don't see the history channel running a series of programs about polish people in October or a month dedicated to the Irish at school.
Apples and Oranges, but both a fruit.
Are you kidding me? There are TONS of such programs about all kinds of immigrant groups. And St. Patrick's Day receives plenty of national attention.
There is no apples vs. oranges issue here. This is just a move by people who uncomfortable about discussions of race.
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