USATODAY.com - Freeman criticizes black history month

Friday, December 16, 2005

Freeman criticizes black history month

Morgan Freeman has taken a "Bill Cosby-esque" stand on Black History Month which is sure to anger fellow African-Americans but which is actually just plain old common sense that anyone not blinded by their racism can see.

Black History Month is moronic. As Freeman sensibly states, "I don't want a black history month. Black history is American history." And what he says is true. The journey of the American blacks - the good, the bad, and the ugly - is a part of American history and singling out a single race when that isn't done for any other race is just breeding resentment with other races - including other minorities - and encouraging members of that race to see themselves as separate from the rest of society.

The way to get rid of racism in America is to stop all programs that show racial preferences and to stop qualifying people as hyphenated Americans such African-American, Italian-American, and so on. My theory for a long time has been that if you refer to yourself as a hyphenated American then you should only be entitled to half the rights of anyone who simply calls themselves an American. After all, if you're only half-American why should you get a full say in how it's run? You want a full vote, then declare yourself full American: it really is that simple...

Either you're an American or you're not. Dividing people into groups by race for any reason has never led to anything good in this country, and especially in this day and age where mixed races are so common it's increasingly meaningless.

Before you get started that blacks should be entitled to a month because of slavery remember that Africans were kidnapping and selling each other into slavery long before Europeans ever arrived on their shores. What Europeans and Americans did was commit the moral crime of participating in their already existing trade. It's a practice that still continues in parts of that continent to this very day. What Americans did was abolish it over 140 years ago.

If you're going to have a "Black History Month" then that's what should be featured front and center...Better yet, let's just follow Morgan Freeman's advice and get rid of it all together and celebrate being Americans.