As we strive for greater equality, Black History Month provides a national opportunity to educate Americans on how the contributions of black people have shaped our country as we know it today. It is a time to highlight the intellect, ingenuity, feats, and firsts that define the eminence of Black History.
When I ponder Black History from the lens of an educator, names such as Thurgood Marshall and Oliver Brown come to mind. The image of six-year-old Ruby Bridges floods my mind’s eye. My thoughts harken to Marian Wright Edelman and her lifelong work for children’s rights as feverishly as they do to the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr and his enduring fight for civil rights. I think of the thousands of nameless, faceless heroes who took their very lives in their hands to teach black boys and girls to read and write.
The work of these education stalwarts cannot be disconnected from the education inequality that continues to exist in America. According to information provided by Equal Opportunity Schools, students of color and low-income students are consistently and systematically under-enrolled in the most academically intense high school courses. The vast majority of Advance Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) programs (99 percent of those in diverse high schools) do not yet provide equal access. More than three-quarters of a million students in U.S. high schools are qualified for but are missing from AP and IB classes. These students are disproportionately students of color and/or low-income students.
So even as Black History Month ushers in an opportunity to celebrate the courage, achievements, and milestones of African Americans, we cannot lose sight of the challenges still before us – not for a month, not for a day. We must shift our understanding of Black History from just 28 days a year to Black History 365. In doing so, we should support the efforts of modern-day education heroes and sheroes working every day to close the gap. In doing so, we are reminded that discrimination and bigotry are not limited to a single race. Instead, we must be committed to come together resiliently as Americans, regardless of our race or ethnicity, united against the common experiences of systemic racism.
“Ours is not the struggle of one day, one week, or one year. Ours is not the struggle of one judicial appointment or presidential term. Ours is the struggle of a lifetime, or maybe even many lifetimes, and each one of us in every generation must do our part.” – John Lewis