HISTORY + RACE

Black History Month Isn't Just About Celebrating Firsts. Let's Broaden the Conversation

In our ritualistic adornment of firsts, we fail to provide context

Photo by Brands&People on Unsplash

I don't know who needs to hear this, but Black History Month is not all about Black "firsts." We could tell you all about Hiram Revels, who became the first Black senator, Carol Moseley Braun, the first Black woman senator, or Barack Obama, who became America's first Black President—but only hearing the stories of firsts often diminishes the struggle it took to get to that point and unintentionally belittles the accomplishments of those who come after. In 1967, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said, "I can't limit my concern to this particular situation where a negro comes and says I'm the first negro. I'm tired of the first negro. I want some seconds and thirds, and fourths."

Encouraging students to pick their favorite Black "first" and write a short paper about them may be the wrong way to educate the public about Black History. None of these accomplishments happened in a vacuum. In celebrating Black firsts so religiously, have we failed to teach Black History? I'm afraid so because the idea that Black people have to battle the eight-legged Kraken of White Supremacy and arise victorious to be acknowledged undermines…