Black History Month: Does It Fuel Racism?
Recently, Larry Watson saw proof in one of the college classes he teaches that Black History Month was needed more than ever. “I asked the students in my class whether they knew who their Senate representative was,” said Watson, who teaches music and sociology at three colleges in Boston. “No one knew. And when I asked who was Sen. Edward Kennedy — the most activist senator in our country — the only thing most of my students could say was that he was fat and that he was drunk. I hate to think what would have happened if I’d asked who was Shirley Chisholm.
Recently, Larry Watson saw proof in one of the college classes he teaches that Black History Month was needed more than ever. “I asked the students in my class whether they knew who their Senate representative was,” said Watson, who teaches music and sociology at three colleges in Boston. “No one knew. And when I asked who was Sen. Edward Kennedy — the most activist senator in our country — the only thing most of my students could say was that he was fat and that he was drunk. I hate to think what would have happened if I’d asked who was Shirley Chisholm.” For the record, in 1968, Chisholm became the first black woman elected to Congress. In 1972, she ran for president, receiving 151 of the delegates’ votes at the Democratic National Convention. And Kennedy has represented Massachusetts in the Senate since 1962. “Our schools do not teach the importance of politics to history,” Watson continued. “Black History Month is needed now more than ever and needs to be taught all year around.”
