Standing on the Shoulders of Giants
February is Black History Month and I wanted to take the opportunity to share some very little known history and some of my thoughts on the importance this month plays in American history. Most associate this month with stories of racism, slavery, and to spotlight the achievements of many influential African Americans. I’m here to tell you, there is a lot more to the history and the creation of this monthly observance. Its origins date back to events that began in 1915, exactly 50 years after slavery was abolished. Its dedication was created to honor the triumphs and struggles of African Americans throughout the history of the United States. The birthdays of African American social reformer and abolitionist Frederick Douglass and American President Abraham Lincoln are more commonly associated with the lineage of Black history, but the actual origins trace back to a name not commonly known by American citizens.
Its roots trace back to 1915 in Chicago, Illinois where Carter G. Woodson traveled from Washington D.C. to participate in a national celebration of the 50th anniversary of the abolishment of slavery. Thousands of African Americans traveled from all over the United States to see exhibits that celebrated the progress made since slavery was abolished. Mr. Woodson joined other exhibitionists with a Black history display that filled the Coliseum where the 1912 Republican Convention was held and had approximately six to twelve thousand more people waiting outside its doors. His work with the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (also known as ASNLH) was instrumental in the creation of Negro History Week in 1926.
Mr. Woodson selected February due to its ties to tradition and reform. Negro History Week was selected during this time frame to honor two Americans that played a prominent role in shaping equality for African Americans. Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln’s birthdays are on the 12th and 14th of February. More importantly, tradition played the largest role as the Black community has celebrated Lincoln’s birthday since his assassination and has celebrated Douglass’ birthday since the late 1890s. He purposely built Negro History Week around days that traditionally commemorated Black history. This was designed to extend the study of others that played a role in Black history and not to create a new tradition. Coincidentally enough, 50 years after the creation of Negro History Week, President Gerald Ford officially recognized Black History Month during the country’s bicentennial in 1976.
Now that we have a little background on the topic, you might be asking yourself, why should Black History Month be important to all of us? Racial equality ensures that people from all walks of life can compete fairly for the same opportunities. If it weren’t for the plight of African Americans, many ethnicities would not have had the opportunities to experience life as we know it today. If it wasn’t for the foundation set by Harriet Tubman, Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr., and Muhammad Ali, to name a few, we wouldn’t understand that these giants were never “slaves” but were rather enslaved. American society could never comprehend the courage and bravery of those that started to emancipate themselves long before Abraham Lincoln “set them free.” Most of these giants embodied resilience even while they were bound in chains both literally and metaphorically.
I truly feel that one of the largest problems in American society is that people do not understand the difference between sympathy and empathy. Sympathy is defined as feelings of pity and sorrow for someone else’s misfortune and empathy is defined as the ability to share the feelings of another. More easily put, sympathy is acknowledging that someone is going through something difficult and empathy is knowing exactly what someone is going through because you’ve experienced the same thing yourself. Empathy also has a greater depth to its meaning because it has three components: cognitive, emotional, and compassionate.
On more than one occasion in my adult life, I've had to make this correction when listening to others talk about Black History Month or discussing the Black Lives Matter movement. As an ethnicity other than African American, it is impossible to understand their struggles. That has not stopped me from hearing others say that they “know how that feels” or “they can relate” to the situation. Bottom line up front, a White person will never understand the struggles and perseverance of African Americans. If we continue to demonstrate improper emotional intelligence when we celebrate Black History Month, we will continue a cycle of misunderstanding and set ourselves back even further than we were before. Other ethnicities may never be able to empathize with the struggles of African Americans but we can certainly sympathize with them and offer a listening ear to gain a better understanding of what it is like to stand on the shoulders of giants. We are forever in debt to the men and women who suffered to bring equality and permanently change the fabric of American history.
-Joey