Why Isn’t There A White History Month? →
Why Isn’t There A White History Month?
Posted by: Keir on: February 2, 2012
- Filipino American History Month
- German American Heritage Month
- Italian American Heritage Month: Italian Heritage and Culture Month
- Polish American Heritage Month
- Jewish American Heritage Month
- Irish-American Heritage Month
- National Hispanic Heritage Month
- Haitian Heritage Month
- South Asian Heritage Month
- National American Indian Heritage Month
- Greek-American Heritage Month
- Arab-American Heritage Month
- Tartan (Scottish-American) Heritage Month
- Caribbean American Heritage Month
- French-American Heritage Month
And I’m sure there is many more where that came from. I’m not sure why Black History Month gets all the hate (actually, yes I am. Care to guess?)
But I guess that doesn’t answer people’s question so much as it does prove that they shouldn’t be asking the question in the first place. So again, I pose the question- Why Isn’t There A White History Month? And here is the long awaited answer (or at least part of it):
Looking back in history, we can deduce that when people decided to go conquer brown-skinned lands, they were confused by these people because they were different. To rectify the problem, they forced them to adopt White culture and to reject their own. They were forced to speak different languages, to wear different clothes, to practice different religions, to eat different foods, to live in different homes- and to serve the White savior who showed them the “right” way of life.
Of course, this is because White-skinned people did not considered people of color equal to them. This isn’t just black people. This is Native-American people, Asians… people who weren’t White and Christian, in a nutshell.
Now, let’s consider this. Because White people did not consider people of color equal to them, they considered everything about their way of life inferior to theirs, correct? That includes their history, by default. Their language wasn’t “civilized,” never mind how they came to that language in the first place. Same with their food, their clothing, their religion… everything. White people assumed that their culture was the default. And it’s the same today. White people are the default in the media, Christianity is considered a default religion, and White people’s history is the default.
The reason why there isn’t a White History Month is because every month is White History Month. In history classes, White men, especially White Christian men, are the default. They are the foundation and everything else are only considered minor details that aren’t necessary to the entire picture.
And that is why we have separate months for separate races- because anyone labelled “Other,” is considered a minor detail, something that should be mentioned but “isn’t necessary.” If we were all considered part of the same fabric of history, if every thread was vital to the entire picture- we wouldn’t need separate months because Black history, Asian history, Latin history, and Native American history would all be taught alongside White history.
What many people don’t seem to realize is that Black history is still their history. Why is it that Black people are forced to learn White history throughout school, but White people throw a fit when it comes to one month of learning the history of someone else? Like I said, White history is a default. Why do I have to consider a White person’s history part of mine, when they don’t consider my history a part of theirs?
So there you have it. We don’t have a White history month because every month is White history month, and we have a Black history month because you don’t consider our history important enough to be included all the time. It’s your fault we don’t have a White history month. So please stop asking us why your history isn’t enough, and why we still seek to learn about our people.
Every culture has assumed some other culture, or all other cultures, are inferior. Every culture is xenophobic. It’s just convenient to blame white people for everything because the most successful cultures happened to be European.
White people aren’t all one entity, just as black people aren’t all one entity. There is plenty of hatred between groups that other ethnicities consider to both be white. There are plenty of world history classes that address many different cultures. But ultimately, whether you like it or not, the Western world’s history is the most relevant to the world because it set the tone for global culture, for good and ill. Enjoy your technology—it was perfected by Asians, but originated by “dead white males”.
someone take this cuz i can’t.
