I recently came across a social media post about Black History Month, which said: “Celebrating Black history does not take away from those of other backgrounds.”
While I technically agree with this statement, the problem is that removing statues, monuments, memorials, and holidays of other backgrounds does take away from those of other backgrounds. And unfortunately, removing statues, monuments, memorials, and holidays of other backgrounds is exactly what has been happening en masse in our country since 2020. Plus, it tends to be the people who are most adamant about celebrating Black History Month who are also the most strongly in favor of removing statues, monuments, memorials, and holidays of other backgrounds.
Personally, Black History Month isn’t exactly my favorite thing. I am more interested in ancient and medieval history, because people in those long-ago time periods were so different from people today, as well as the history of people and groups who are overlooked, misunderstood, and looked down upon today. Black history is so emphasized, so prominent, so widely celebrated, and so popular in today’s society that due to my contrarian nature, it isn’t super interesting to me.
With that being said, I don’t have anything against Black History Month, per se. I would have no problem with Black History Month being celebrated if Confederate Heritage Month, Confederate Memorial Day, Lee-Jackson Day, Italian Heritage Month, and Columbus Day were celebrated equally prominently, and if all of the Confederate statues and Columbus statues that have ever existed, continued to exist unharmed and unthreatened. But unfortunately, this is far from the case.
It’s not fair to celebrate the history and heritage one group, while the history and heritage of other groups are being deliberately erased, obliterated, and destroyed. It’s not fair to honor and venerate one group, while other groups are attacked as immoral and shameful merely because they are different.
So while I don’t have a problem with Black History Month itself, I have a problem with the inconsistency of celebrating and honoring some groups, while attacking and destroying others. It is unfair to celebrate Black History Month unless Italian history, European history in general, and Confederate history, to give just a few examples, are celebrated just as widely and prominently. That is why I will not be celebrating Black History Month.