Morgan Freeman is upset.
June 30, 2009
It has always seemed to me that black history month was a way to celebrate (or at least acknowledge) the achievements of an under-appreciated group. But after listening to Morgan Freeman and how he so vehemently opposes even the idea of a black history month, I begin to wonder if this is maybe a more harmful designation than it was intended (thank goodness we have people like him to challenge these things publicly by the way, even if he almost gave Mike Wallace a heart attack). It seems to me that his read on the label is that it is something of a cultural prison. I mean, when he asks “which month is white history month” it becomes clear that “white history” is assumed to be relevant, legitimate, etc. But blacks, because they are in some way “inferior” require legitimation by whites (and kinda everybody else) and thus the authentication of black history – we have to make black history “official.” And the way we have chosen to do it is to give the topic a single month in the spotlight so we can all reflect on the achievements of blacks throughout history – which clearly EVERYONE does – and so that all the children in schools around the country can learn about what blacks have labored through, and what they have accomplished. But doesn’t this really underscore the “otherness” of blacks? I mean, we’re saying – hey, these people are trying really hard to be relevant here, so we whites are going to help them by giving them a month of “glory” and then after that it’s business as usual. And I think for Morgan – and he is a very optimistic man by the way – that’s really the issue here. He wants (and I think most of us would LOVE for this to happen *hopeless optimism*) for black history to be ”assumed” in the same way that it is for whites. And we can make this same argument for any other marginalized culture, but doesn’t the fact remain that these cultures ARE marginalized, and probably will be for at least the foreseeable future? I’ve been meaning to get around to Gramsci…. Any thoughts?
