African American history is diverse and deep-rooted. What the world knows of it today is through the words of historians. Historians have the ability to describe the events and happenings of a certain age in time and reveal what happened with precision. However if the events are too far-fetched and date back in time, then history can be altered or distorted to suit the needs of biased historians who might be of a particular race or ethnicity. Similarly, African American history has faced the issue of bias in texts and reading, which created hatred and animosity for the race. The 19th century saw an emerging spokesperson for the African American community in America who would stand up to depict a correct representation of his forefathers in history.
This was Carter G. Woodson, the famous African American author, publisher, editor and historian who cultivated the belief in the African American community that the black race needed to know about their history and he did so by publishing books and articles, which illustrated the correct picture of African American history and belonging. The most important aspect of Carter G. Woodson’s efforts in life was the long-lasting event he would forever leave to the world to help the African Americans in the world, in the form of Black History Month.
An event which engaged the public in large numbers at the time is still one that is celebrated till date. However, the event has now become a controversial topic as some authors hold the view that does not need to be celebrated any longer.
The point of view supporting the Carter’s efforts and endorsing the Black History Month is given by Jacqueline Goggin, who authored the book Carter G. Woodson: A life in Black History talks of the positive efforts made by the author and how he is able to accomplish so much in so little time. She provides a thorough basis of why Woodson had to come up with
Black History Month in the first place. She supports her argument by recollecting the position of the African American at the time prior to that of Woodson’s and that which Woodson was living through, by providing a biographical account of Woodson’s life and the circumstances that surrounded his being. She provides examples of how Woodson has struggled over the years and why he deemed it important that a day is celebrating the black race needs to be made and commemorated. It is the atrocities and the hard time that these people have faced, and it has made them subject to a lot of discrimination in a country that is supposed to give them freedom and equality. Hence, when the voice is raised for this purpose, and they are given one chance at doing so, the day should be taken as a positive step towards recognizing and eliminating discrimination against the African American.
A contradicting view to Woodson’s approach and to Goggin’s is provided by authors Abul Pitre, Ruth Ray and Esrom Pitre in their book titled The Struggle for Black History. Their stance on the argument is that it is partial of the society to depict the situation of the African American society that existed years ago. They believe that particularly mentioning the past atrocities and events create a grudge in the minds of the African American students studying in schools. Similarly, if Black History Month continues to exist, then it will turn into an ugly and hateful form of self-expression for the black race and its presence today depicts that the hatchet has not been buried, and the controversial past lingers in the minds of those who live as equal and free as any other citizen in the country.
In light of these arguments, Black History Month needs to be taken as an event that is simply a remembrance of the past events rather than a source of spreading racial and ethnic
hatred and bigotry and must be argued in the light of the original reason for its creation rather
than a controversial event that could worsen the interracial connections between the people of the world.
Jacqueline Goggin begins the historical analysis of Carter G. Woodson’s life by depicting his early life and events and what triggered him to become whom he is remembered for today. Carter G. Woodson earned the name of ‘Father of Black History’ due to his services as the teller of African American history as it happened. It was his aim to correct and define what his ancestors exactly went through and what befell the people of his race. His autobiographical description shows that he was born in New Canton, Buckingham County, Virginia. His parents were formerly slaves, named Anne Eliza and James Henry Woodson. His parents were illiterate, and his father worked as a miner and a sharecropper, earning bread for the family.
However, Woodson was not able to attend high school until he was 20. Meanwhile, he pursued writing articles and began attending Berea College, Kentucky. While studying here, he worked abroad as well. In the Philippines, he served as an educational superintendent. Before he returned to his homeland, he undertook several trips abroad, expanding his horizon and learning much from his surroundings.
She writes that “education turned to him as a weapon against the atrocities of the time and he came back to Chicago only to earn his master’s degree.” Moving on from here, he enrolled in Harvard and pursued his doctorate. His success is chartered in history as Woodson becoming the second African American Ph.D. scholar from such a prestigious institution, after W.E.B Du Bois.
The strengths of her argument are the intense understanding of the author that she provides to the readers. She mentions that his educational correlation with another legendary figure in African American literature and history made him follow, more or less, the steps to leading his community out of the shady existence it had fallen into and pull it through the harsh times. Hence, after realizing the plight and situation of the African American minority in America, Woodson took to dedicating his life to African American history. What he wanted to ensure was that African American history had due importance in the country since the black race made up more than the other minorities in the country and they needed to become a part of the academics of the country. He thus worked to ensure that African American history was taught in schools as a subject and would be studied and revised by scholars. These are the efforts that made him the Father of Black History’ and he was recognized as a revolutionary figure in the western world.
Therefore, according to Goggin, what makes him so reliable and eminent is his thought and philosophy. Woodson believed that history had its own philosophy and needed to be studied with intense insight and in-depth exploration of events and facts. His views on history are what led to the Black History Month in the first place. Woodson believed that African American history was distorted and interpreted which was true to an extent. Moreover, textbooks in school did not contain material related to African American history.
In the year 1915, Woodson and his friends founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History. He also began to start publishing the work he had in mind under the titles of various articles and Journals. Soon after the Association, he published The Journal of Negro History. The purpose of setting up the Association and printing the Journal was to emphasize and exert the importance of primary materials for gathering and writing history. Therefore taking the pen and beginning to work on a correct historical analysis of the African Diaspora, Woodson also persevered to form the African-American Associated Publishers Press, in 1921, which was run and owned by the African American community. Moreover, Woodson went over to write over a dozen books with the passage of time which includes famous writing such as Mis-Education of the Negro, A Century of Negro Migration, Negro Church and The Negro in our History. The focal point of all these books was the Western system of white supremacy and hatred against the black race and the opposing view of the African American self-empowerment and strength against adverse situations. Today, his writings are a major part of the syllabi in colleges and universities teaching African American history. Also, Woodson was adamant on creating an event so huge that it would help the world commemorate and celebrate the struggles and works of the ancestors as well as the existing African American community. He began to gain the support and attention of schools and various organizations to participate in a program whose attention was based on promoting interest into studying African American history. This began in the February of 1926. Woodson named it Negro History Week. Later, this event expanded, and February became Black History Month.
The limitation in her argument is the failure to explain what the repercussions of celebrating the event can be and how it will impact the psyche of the African Americans of the present day and coming generations. If the world revolves around the theory of burying the hatchet, then why should Black History Month remain being celebrated in such a jubilant manner although slavery as been abolished and there is ample equality for the minority race in the country. This side of the argument remains unexplored in her work.
On the other side, opposing the argument of celebration of Black History Week is that by Pitre et al., that state celebration of this month is actually a negative step because it promotes an ethnic and hatred of the white race amongst the African Americans.
He uses this by theorizing the fact that there is a lack of evidence and studies that could easily tell how far the celebration of this event on a long term basis is justified as it was a week celebrating Negro history and it became a lifelong celebration of an entire month only because some people wanted that this should be known to the generations to come. He conducted research on a study that recorded the experiences of student leaders of African-American origin undergoing the Black History program and student protest. This study was done to understand the influence the entire process had on their lives and how it was affecting their mental health and psychological feelings regarding the other races and what they felt about their own race when it came to the material they studied in textbooks.
Woodson had intended to Woodson’s ideas revolved around spreading awareness and knowledge of the African American community and teaching black history because it was the only way to ensure the continuation and survival of the African American community in the society, persisting for a long time. He believed that history was equivalent to tradition because if history is preserved, then a person will have their tradition and respect preserved in the world. If history is eliminated, then one’s survival is at stake. He used to exemplify this with the idea of the American Indian, who did not carry a continuous and preserved record of their history and belonging thus they did not give value to tradition. This resulted in their lack of importance in the present day. It was in fact, the Bible itself that asserted importance on tradition and history which was something almost religious for the community. Therefore, even in the face of all the hatred and violence against the African American community, their history was one thing that kept them alive.
In 1929, The Journal of Negro History made sure that the event was officially ensuring that States holding a substantial Negro population had their teachers had received the official literature that was related to the event. The Church was also one domain which played a major role in distributing the literature with the help of Negro History Week, when in the initial week; they were helping the black press gain publicity through their efforts.
The outcomes of the Negro History Week were that it met the enthusiastic and wholehearted response where it prompted the formation of black history clubs and increased the interest of the teachers and scholars as well. It also helped to gain the attention and interest of progressive and liberal whites who were against discrimination and segregation. As the years went by, Negro History Week became a celebrated day in American history and mayors all across the United States declared it a national holiday. Today, Black History Month is celebrated as a holiday across the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada. Therefore, the crux of Dr. Woodson’s efforts is to realize that all people have a history and every soul, irrespective of their background and skin color, is important. It is important that humanity puts aside its biases and understands the struggles and background of people coming from difficulty and hard work.
The strength of his argument lies in the manner in which he takes the topic; the influence of student protests on the way these children perceived school and the Black History Month. According to his views, American education has been catalytic in providing the capitalist or the racist outlook of individuals. As Pitre et al., point out, Woodson clearly stated that the power to go for higher education rested in the hands of the high ups in the American education boards. At the time, there was no Negro American serving the educational board who could facilitate the African American children into good educational facilities.
Another point he puts forward is that the process of slavery and the African American history is educational in context. They need to be educated in a manner that is non-violent and does not involve the process of demonstrations. These leave an impression of ever-lasting negativity where the younger generations may think they have been wronged in the worst manner. He summarized the work of Lynch, who said that education of a Negro is not merely going to happen because they the modern times call for it, rather it will happen after the process of changing the way people perceive the African Americans and how the African Americans view themselves. Therefore, the Black History Month is just another addition to the chain of events that can prevent the African Americans from changing their self-perception and believe they are still a victimized race in America.
The limitation of the author is preserved in the fact that he does not treat Black History Month as a holiday rather he takes it as a political and social problem. Woodson wanted to make the event a commemoration of his success in being able to bring some level of equality to his race by introducing their history into textbooks, and this was it. He did not intend on turning it into a political stance for the African Americans to stand up against the whites in the country.
I prefer to choose the stance taken by Jacqueline Goggin because she carries the thought which Woodson actually came forward with. Historians have gathered evidence from their own perspectives however since Woodson himself wrote and had solid evidence for his actions and consequences. Hence, this research can be taken a positive way and the impacts of Black History Month on young people can be studied to understand the real effects of the holiday on their minds. It will also help to reveal the better side of things in society and how Woodson’s work is generating good today.
Works Cited
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Blakemore, Erin. Carter G. Woodson, The Father of Black History Month. JStor Daily. 2015.
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<http://www.britannica.com/biography/Carter-G-Woodson>
Carr, Gregory. The History of Black History Month. Ebony. 2016. Web. 22 April 2016.
<http://www.ebony.com/news-views/history-of-black-history-month-ebonybhm#axzz46ZyE4vlo>
Goggin, Jacqueline. Carter G. Woodson: A life in Black History. Amazon. 1997. Print.
NAACP. NAACP History: Carter G. Woodson. 2016. Web. 22 April 2016.
< http://www.naacp.org/pages/naacp-history-Carter-G.-Woodson>
Pitre et al., The Struggle for Black History. University Press of America. 1984. Print.
Woodson Museum. Dr. Carter G. Woodson. 2016. Web. 22 April 2016.
< http://www.woodsonmuseum.org/about-us>
