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THE BLUE BANNER
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The Blue Banner’s View
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Black history should he blended throughout curriculum
In 1925, son of a former slave, Carter G. Woodson,
proposed and established Black History Month to
commemorate and celebrate Americans of African
descent. Woodson, an African-American journalist
and author, founded the Association for the Study of
African American Life and History.
On Feb. 12,1926, the first Black History Month
celebration occurred.
Now public schools and universities across the
United States hold events, lectures and programs to
educate students about a part of history that, without
February, students may never learn of in the first
place. Students should not be at fault for their lack of
knowledge. The school’s curriculum and those who
put the curriculum together are at fault.
By not integrating black history in the school
curriculum when you have an increasingly
multicultural America, students may think this month
is the only month that black history and culture are
important.
At UNC Asheville, the campus remains
predominately white. According to university
statistics, African-American students made up 2.7
percent of the student body last year. Only 13.8
percent of UNCA’s almost 4,000 students claim a
race other than white. The three races with the lowest
percentages consist of Hispanics at about 4 percent,
African-Americans at 2 percent and American Indians
at roughly 0.3 percent.
When Woodson first proposed Black History
Month, he saw the month as an opportunity for those
who did not know much about black history to have
an opportunity to learn more about it. But outside of
Upcoming History Months:
March - Women's History Month
May - Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month
Febmary, can most students remember Brown v.
Board of Education or Plessy v. Ferguson^
Could a student tell a teacher about the importance
of the relationship between Frederick Douglass and
Abraham Lincoln was?
Can you encompass all black history, celebrations,
tragedies and triumphs by only having black history
in one month? Or is school curriculum stuck in a time
where minorities are only relevant during specific
months of the year?
According to the U.S. Census Bureau in 2011,
blacks, either alone or mixed with one or more races,
made up 43.9 million of the population out of 315.3
million. The projected black population for July 1,
2060, stands at 77.4 million out of 420.3 million.
Meaning by 2060, blacks will make up 18.4 percent of
the nation’s total population.
African-Americans 25 years and older with a high
school diploma or higher make up 82.5 percent of
their population. Those 25 years and older who hold
a bachelor’s degree or higher make up 18.4 percent of
their population. Only 1.6 million African-Americans
25 and older hold an advanced degree. However,
3.1 million African-Americans enrolled in college in
2011, a 74 percent increase since 2001.
There are some names students rarely hear about
unless taught about black history month. These
names should be taught throughout the year. Some of
those who pioneered the education path for African-
Americans consist of: Kelly Miller, the country’s first
African-American graduate student in mathematics;
Fanny Jackson Coppin, the country’s first African-
American principal and Dorothy Lavinia Brown, who
became the first African-American female surgeon in
the South in 1954.
These are rarely names a student can recall from
learning about black history month.
For many, black history remains only understood if
one is taking a specific course or majoring within a
certain department. In order to make black history
tangible outside of Just one month, the focus must
become blended with topics and discussions that
encompass more than Just the black race.
Every month should focus on a blend of all
minority history with school curriculum to give a
broad approach.
The Blue Batitier Editorial Board
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