By Kashvi Jain
Black History Month honors the contributions made by African Americans to U.S. History. Historian Carter G. Woodson co-founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History and played a large role in establishing in 1915 Black History Month. But Black history month isn’t always known as a peaceful and honorable time. Many critics argue that if theres a Black month there should be a White month while others think that Black History Month forces them to be supportive to their Black colleagues and customers.
Many people think that Black History Month is not important and is not a good way to celebrate Black History. They feel that we shouldn’t dedicate only a month to celebrate the accomplishments of Black people but throughout the year. They also feel like its very limited to a few known leaders such as MLK, Rosa Parks, and Barack Obama. Its not inclusive of the wide ranging Black people who contributed to history. These include people like Mary Ellen, Bessie Coleman, Jesse Brown, and thousands more. It seems as if to many people Black History Month is just a way to celebrate popular Black people and ignore the rest.
There has also been a lot of backlash that theres no White history month or Irish history month or American Indian history month. Many ethnic groups believe that their cultures also made many contributions to U.S. history but they don’t even have a day acknowledging it. They feel secluded and unappreciated. It seems to them as if the U.S. is showing pity towards the Black community and ignoring the accomplishments of their communities.
Despite many tweets on twitter against backlash are being spread, in Tik Tok too theres lots of frustration. “ On Wednesday, Feb. 8, TikTok and Nicki invited influencers from the app to chat over Zoom with the Grammy-winning artist as part of TikTok's Black History Month celebration..” According to the Black Tik Tok stars there was a 300 person limit in which many non-Black creators dominated those spots. Many Black Tik Tok stars were furious about this because they didn’t even get a spot to celebrate their culture and weren’t even accepted but rather people of different ethnic groups were chosen over them.
Another backlash actually occurred at Bath and Body works where they promoted Black history month products that were seen as cultural appropriation. “The national bath shop unveiled the latest collection featuring products in some of its most popular scents with packaging inspired by traditional African art and designs.. Inspirational words including “unity” and “empowered” are set against the colorful prints.” Critics saw it as effortless and embarrassing. They believe all the bath shop did was “slap some tribal print and positive words on existing products” says a commenter.
In conclusion, Black History month has received lots of backlash and disrespect by many people. Many controversies have arisen on whether to preserve the cultural month. But despite this many people continue to celebrate it.
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