[View the story "Beyond a Black History Month" on Storify ]Beyond a Black History Month In the US, African-American history comes but once a year. Storified by The Stream · Mon, Feb 04 2013 11:08:39
Black History Month is a time of the year that focuses on the achievements of African Americans and their role in the making of American history.
Notable figures like Martin Luther King Jr. are recognized every year for their contributions to the civil rights movement.
MLK "I Have a Dream": High School Studentscollegegirlfiles
Rosa Parks, a civil rights activist who was arrested after refusing to give up her seat for a white man, is also one of the month's most celebrated figures.
Tribute to Rosa Parks for Black History Monththecausecc
But not everyone in the black community agrees with the idea of having one month devoted to the celebration of African American heritage.
Freeman On Black HistoryCBS News
In the video below, American blogger Akilah Hughes shares her personal thoughts and experiences with Black History Month.
Why I Hate Black History Monthsmoothiefreak
Despite achievements in civil rights and racial equality, some African Americans still express pessimism over the future of race relations, as a recent poll by
Gallup demonstrates. In 2011, the percentage of people of all races who believed race relations will continue to be a problem in the US was 46%.
Title- Will Race Relations Always be a Problem?AJstream
The same Gallup poll found that African-Americans were more pessimistic than white people on the future of race relations as is shown by the two graphs below.
Will Race Relations be always a problem? (Blacks) GallupAJstream
Will Race Relations between whites and blacks always a problem? GallupAJstream
Many African-Americans still face many disadvantages such as poverty, unemployment, and racial profiling.
The chart below from the
Pew Charitable Trusts shows that African Americans are more likely to start at the bottom of economic distributions:
lack of social mobility. Pew CenterAJstream
Statistics from the US Census Bureau 2011 show that African American families have a higher percentage of poverty.
Black Poverty RatesAJstream
As this
chart from ThinkProgress shows, unemployment rates have always been higher for African-Americans than the rates for whites.
African American Unemployment- Think ProgressAJstream
Racism Still Exists , a citizen-lead, anonymous project devoted to "illuminating some of the ways in which racism operates in this country", provides info-graphics about ongoing racism towards ethnic minorities in the US.
RISE- Stop Being BlackAJstream
The info-graphic below shows that African-American students have higher suspension rates at schools.
RISE- Not Separate but UnequalAJstream
Netizens are sharing their views on the Black History Month, using the hashtag #myblackhistory:
We should embrace & celebrate other ppl's #Greatness 365 days of the year, not only during the month of Feb. #MyBlackHistory is everyday.RICHchicks
My dad went to segregated schools, started shining shoes at 10. Died as a VP at major corp & saw all his kids had a good ed. #myblackhistoryKimberly Adams
Happy Black History Month! (AKA the time when white people think they are really clever for asking why there is no White History Month).Nader
You'd think white people would be happy that there isn't a month to remind people of their history of colonialism, slavery and genocide.Nader
to be honest, I find black history month insulting .Spidey .
Happy Black History Month, maybe we can all accept that lightskin & darkskin is the same race? Just for the month, please? Lolthe goddaughter.
Black History Month, the only time some black people care about our illustrious history.Rudy Jenkins-Jones
This black history month, learn about the people you don't know a lot about. Go deeper than 'I have a dream.''NELLā¤.
Happy Black History month to all my black followers. For all the stuff you're ancestors experienced in this country, you deserve recognitionJack DeVault
