Why we still need Black History Month, even though #28daysarenotenough

In 1843 Noah Webster, said by some to be the founding father of American scholarship and education, was asked by black minister Amos Beman to share “some account of the origin of the African race.” Of Africans, Webster replied, “there is no history, and there can be none.” To be outside of history in Webster’s view, was to be in a permanent state of “barbarism,” without the benefit of Europe’s civilizing influence.

Webster’s view is no throwback. Take the 2007 example of then-French President Nicolas Sarkozy who, during a state visit to Senegal, remarked: “The tragedy of Africa is that the African has not fully entered into history.” Sarkozy deemed Africa a place unaffected by change and without a capacity for progress, and thus beyond historical analysis.

Carter Woodson’s vision stands the test of time. And his approach — which we call Black History Month — helps ensure that understandings of the black past extend beyond ivy-covered towers and into the lives of students, teachers and the world.

The opinions expressed are solely those of Martha S. Jones.

CNN