Black History Month overlooks reality of present

Shackles for slave children are seen on display at the New-York Historical Society Feb. 1, 2012, in New York City to coincide with Black History Month. / Getty Images

Last week marked the beginning of Black History Month. This year, we have twenty-nine days during which we will celebrate the many contributions of African-Americans to our nation's history. This is a month when we make heroes of people who overcame real, systemic and often legal oppression. We lift up, in President Obama's official proclamation, "a story of resilience and perseverance" to inspire and educate the public about a part of this nation's history that wasn't told a generation ago.

But in all of the celebration of a selective highlight reel of history, too often we overlook the reality of our present and how far we have yet to go to realize a better future where we all have enough to thrive -- not just survive.

In his last book, "Where Do We Go From Here," Martin Luther King Jr. wrote, "A society that has done something special against the Negro for hundreds of years must now do something special for him." I don't think Black History Month is what he had in mind.

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He was probably taking a cold, hard look at our nation's history and thinking of the terrible oppression and injustice that black people endured -- first under slavery, and then under legally sanctioned segregation in the South and informal segregation everywhere else. The sad fact is that the vast majority of our nation's history (from the Declaration of Independence right up until the legislative victories of the civil rights movement) constitutes that "something special against the Negro" that King mentioned. That long history of discrimination has a direct impact on the black community today.

The recent, smaller share of our history, that's about breaking down legal barriers to opportunity and extending civil rights, starts with the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965. And the progress made in the last four decades has been limited by the fact that over the same period of time major economic changes have concentrated wealth in the hands of a few and out of reach of most black people.

According to the State of Working America, in the forty-year period that preceded the civil rights reforms of the mid-1960s, the bottom 90 percent of Americans shared 73 percent of the income growth in the United States. Black Americans, who were suffering severe legal discrimination and a marginal economic existence, shared in barely any of these gains. But for the generation that came after the reforms of the sixties -- once blacks at least had legal protections -- the economic situation was the reverse, with the top 10 percent of Americans getting 76 percent of the income growth.

In short, timing matters. It's an unlucky accident for African-Americans that the range of government policies and programs that created the middle class largely excluded them. For instance, the GI Bill that provided returning World War II veterans with money for college, businesses and home mortgages didn't work for the many black veterans who were discriminated against by colleges and banks. The rungs on the ladder that are supposed to lift people out of poverty were broken for blacks in the first half of the 1900s. Then, after the reforms of the 1960s, once the beneficiaries of economic development and anti-poverty efforts were known to be black, support -- both in terms of public opinion and government funding -- for those programs declined.

This economic history deserves much more focus during Black History Month, especially given how dire the present situation is for the black community: More than a quarter of blacks are living under the poverty line, and the bursting of the housing bubble has decimated what little wealth blacks had gained. Given the economic realities and the corrosive racism of today's politics -- as when Newt Gingrich referred to the first black president as the "food stamp president" -- it's not enough to just lift up a handful of black celebrities and movement heroes whose activism and radical imaginations have been watered down anyway. Instead, Black History Month should be a time when we recommit to advancing real solutions to black poverty and speaking truthfully about the economic history that led to the racial inequality we see today.

Sean Thomas-Breitfeld is the senior field trainer and campaign researcher at the Center for Community Change. Prior to this role, he worked in CCC's communications and policy departments where he coordinated online and grassroots advocacy efforts and lobbied on a range of issues, including immigration reform, transportation equity and anti-poverty programs. Before joining the center, Sean worked as a policy analyst at the National Council of La Raza where he focused on employment and income security issues. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.

[margetthachare]

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[kesac4650]

There will never be equality among any group that thinks it has to wait for some "special" blessing to be bestowed by society.

[Dreadnut]

Beating the black empowerment drum is over. This isn't the 1970's anymore. There was a time and place for hand-wringing and guilt mongering, but it's long past. Especially now, when the face of African-Americanism is President Obama and Oprah.

[rocketjl]

You have a point. Comments were interesting, but I did not read all of them. Was there a comment about thanking all the white people that their lives so the slaves would be free? I think it is cool that Lincoln and the union ended slavery.

[kesac4650]

No one gets equality in the mainstream of any society by self excluding themselves.

[snewsom2997]

The slaves are dead, and the slave owners are dead. Gt over it. Africans were sold to White people by Africans, Slave trade existed in Africa before America and it exists in Africa now. What do African Americans want, 40 acres and a mule, a check, what, and will it make any difference? IF White people are holding Black people down, how come people like Colin Powell, Condelezza Rice, George Washington Carver, Ralph Bunch, and Even Herman Cain, how exactly were these people able to go from the children and grand children of slaves to be leaders in their fields?

[lgccac]

The mere fact that there is a "Black History Month" promotes segregation.

[snewsom2997]

As long as the government divides the people, the people will be divided.

[cestbr]

Sean, well done. You write with the wisdom of the ages.
I'm so proud.

[Henri_Rochard]

Black kids could start pulling up their pants and wearing their hats straight. Those two simple acts would narrow the black-white divide.

[Henri_Rochard]

I understand the fashion statement, but it makes 'em look like *******.

[jibwill]

rap music about drugs violence and women isnt the only type of hip hop. do we say if white kids get caught driving drunk with aerosmith in the tape deck it was the music fault? music dont lure people to prison lack of opportunity and culture identity cause people to do things good or bad to survive. why did black men and social groups they started get attacked by the fbi and the police during the civil rights movement when they were just trying to feed and teach kids about there cultural identity and the importance of an education?(reversing the trends of slavery). one black person or a few dont speak and think for all of them. these people designated as leaders in the black community didnt earn that or even deserve to be called a leader. (you and your family lead!) but a disenfranchised people are to be easily exploited in the current system. do a few rock songs and country music songs represent a people because a few listen to them? rock and roll and country music isnt exactly church music. black people have to be so status quo in order to be viewed correctly by other americans. never could black people now take a stand on political injustices like blacks did in the 60s, they would be painted as radicals damn near terrorist by the modern day status quo media even other blacks who are comfortable were they think they made it to. racism is a system and fabric of american culture that many americans that are alive now and in decision making positions, are still influenced by to this very day white or black. mothers fathers kids uncles and aunts held up signs and screamed racial slurs at blacks as they marched in the segregated south those images are still alive today in those people minds. black boys denied cub scouts because of skin color etc. you can give people tools but without any self worth or identity those same tools could become destructive to them, if not put the proper use. COMPASSION is a lost thing in current state of human affairs.

[jibwill]

to tomgwynn it is easy for you to take a simplistic look at the problems of the black community by blaming our problems on a few rappers and entertainers. it is also easy for you to say black get over it the past is the past heard that simplistic answer many times as well. but its ok to constantly celebrate the past in every other aspect of american culture but blacks and there history aw get over it. that is very sad maybe you need to dig deep and look at the root of this problem which is SLAVERY and 400 years of a systematic attack on africans who were paid nothing while making billions and building the infrastructure in america and europe. maybe you dont know that there were plantations dedicated only for breeding. maybe you dont know the family was divided when they touched shore. maybe you dont know language and cultural identity were taken away. maybe you dont know that many slaves just thought the system was a way of life. maybe you dont care!! all these destructive ploys used in a system of slavery has great affects on black people presently. not to mention after slavery there was black codes jim crowe and segregation nationwide. did russian americans and irish americans suffer such a brutal attack on there people and culture? did there family get divided? did they come over on slaveships packed in like animals. we as americans can have perspective and understanding of every other culture accept black culture as a matter of fact nothing black is acceptable in a western society. more blacks died during slavery than those who died in the holocaust. blacks were thought of as less than human when the constitution was written. lynch mobs bombings rape terrorism were all part of black history in america. have you heard of post traumatic slave syndrome? if you set a bunch of wild dogs lose in a domestic setting they will raise havoc since they were never trained. black people were told your free now without any system of rehabilitation from the deadly system of slavery. you got to raise a baby not let it fend for itself. its takes compassion as human to want reverse a system created to keep black people at the bottom and not say because a few of them make it why you not making it.