If we have Black History Month why don't we have White History Month?

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Some people really should grow up. There are still negative attitudes toward black people even if we don't notice them. White people have never been institutionally discriminated against in the UK or the US, but all these big crybabies have to pretend that it's difficult being white.

White people are currently being discriminated against look at the bbc for 1 example.

Only non-White applicants that seems pretty discriminatory

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 121

Ladymusiclover

There's no need because white history is already celebrated all year round.

Reply 122

username1148663

Original post by Ladymusiclover

There's no need because white history is already celebrated all year round.

History is history.

It's shouldn't be about colour only what is relevant and interesting

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Reply 123

omfgalib

Original post by physicsphysics91

Something I do not really understand, why is there so much shame to be white?

Because coons think they are worse off than every one else and want to be special.

Reply 124

Hirondelle127

Original post by TercioOfParma

While I think it would be stupid to say there hasn't been issues with race in America, I doubt that the race issues will be forgotten regardless. Don't forget, a massive civil war was fought over this as well as decades of race riots and murders. It would be like British people forgetting the ECW and the Commonwealth years.

So the blacks, according to what is taught in American classrooms, didn't play any role whatsoever in the building of Jamestown, the war of independence (where the rebels offered them freedom for fighting), or the civil war(a war fought primarily due to states rights to enable slavery), and the whole civil rights movement and struggle against Jim Crow? I find it difficult to believe that America could whitewash such significant developments.

I don't know whether race issues will be 'forgotten' in America - I'm hoping it'll get to the point whereby there are no longer race issues. I doubt this'll be the case in our lifetimes though.

I'm not saying that black people are completely written out of American classroom history - simply that they're not mentioned as much as they probably should be. Of course they become extremely prominent in the civil rights movement. To be perfectly honest, I think the Native American side of history has been the most ignored when looking at the US, but so far we have a more prominent 'black history month', which you can see as part of the more recent Civil Rights movement, and that's probably a good thing.

Reply 125

Hirondelle127

Original post by tanyapotter

The number of white European slaves is only a fraction of the trade that brought 10 million to 12 million black African slaves to the Americas over a 400-year period, and in no way comparable to the slavery faced by non-white people. Why do you want to feel oppressed so badly?

No - it's not. Just looking at the existence of serfs (if you really want an example of this, take a look at Russian history) who were essentially slaves and the whole mess that was the feudal system in general, you'll see that slavery has existed in great quantities throughout many predominantly 'white' nations. Especially in Europe. No need to go back to the Roman empire, this has been around for longer than one would think.

No one wants to 'feel oppressed' - but it is worth reminding people that oppression is not unique to a time or a group of people in history. At this point in time there are more slaves in the world than there ever were - the figures ranging from 20 million to 40 million. We need to talk about them too.

That in no way invalidates the struggle that black people endured when they were shipped off to the Americas. The serf system was primarily a class issue, I suppose the best way to see it would be as an extreme amalgamation of the current Indian caste system issues and old-fashioned slavery. However the slavery we encountered in the past 400 odd years with regards to African Americans is different. It relied greatly on displacing people (encountered during the Roman Empire too, but never as on mass as this) and eventually became a race issue as eugenics set in. That is why it is so terrifying and we need to focus on it - though the displacement of people has obviously stopped, and the slavery has stopped too, the racism that came from it has not stopped.

All in all - slavery exists everywhere. It's more present today, and it definitely existed in Europe - beyond the Roman Empire. The reason why we need to focus on what African Americans went through is not so much because their slave status set them apart - as all nations and peoples have been enslaved at some point or another - but it's because the slavery they encountered turned into an inherently racist concept. This means that whilst serfs were eventually emancipated and we now forget who was a serf/slave and who was not, for black people in the US the racism persisted beyond the actual slavery - which is why we need to address these issues.

Reply 126

Hirondelle127

Original post by jeremy1988

Thanks! That's interesting... strange that they never talk about those Empires and Kingdoms during Black History Month.

For that matter, they should probably be covered in World History more often.

Black history month seems to be a mainly US-centric thing though and I think the history mentioned in it relates more to forgotten black history in the US (so African American contributions to US history beyond simply the civil rights movement). The above would be classed more as African history, not so much African American.

That said, it would be nice to cover more about African history in World History - since most of the African history I've been taught in school seems to relate to colonial history, and there really is so much more to it.

Reply 127

Hirondelle127

Original post by IronicalMan

LOL, you will be German, they will all be foreign anyway. German is a dying language. German isn't a widely used language, and is also difficult, waste of time. Xenophobe....hmmm you should go to Cologne, travel alone at night, you will enjoy it!

German is spoken by around 229 million people in the world, 101 million natively. It's around the 10th most spoken language in the world. Sure, it's maybe not as widely spoken as say, Bengali, but if you're looking at its importance in the world of science and its contribution to European music, learning German makes a lot of sense.

Unless you have had the discipline to learn another language fluently, I suggest you keep quiet.

Reply 128

Gora The Xplorer

Original post by chosenone93

You must really not know how black people have suffered to be jealous of a poxy month.

So why don't we have a Jewish history month, or a Chinese history month, or a Celtic history month or a Muslim history month? :rofl:

Reply 129

username1148663

Original post by Gora The Xplorer

So why don't we have a Jewish history month, or a Chinese history month, or a Celtic history month or a Muslim history month? :rofl:

I agree they are singling themselves out as different and that is the sort of mindset that keeps this sort of crap going

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Reply 130

Gora The Xplorer

Original post by paul514

I agree they are singling themselves out as different and that is the sort of mindset that keeps this sort of crap going

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The reason we have less Black history taught in UK schools is because the UK is traditionally White. It's not racism, most people don't really care about their whiteness to begin with.

Reply 131

hoping4thebest

Original post by physicsphysics91

Something I do not really understand, why is there so much shame to be white?

Because no ones started one I think. Why don't you make a whm then OP

Reply 132

mojojojo101

Original post by Gora The Xplorer

So why don't we have a Jewish history month, or a Chinese history month, or a Celtic history month or a Muslim history month? :rofl:

Or, better a yet, a history syllabus that isn't obsessed solely with the history of a very small section of Western Europe...

Original post by Gora The Xplorer

The reason we have less Black history taught in UK schools is because the UK is traditionally White. It's not racism, most people don't really care about their whiteness to begin with.

History is surely about using multiple sources and viewpoints to gain a consensus on what happened and the lessons we can learn from that.

Why then is history education, at least up to A level, only interested in telling one story.

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 133

Gora The Xplorer

Original post by mojojojo101

Or, better a yet, a history syllabus that isn't obsessed solely with the history of a very small section of Western Europe...

Well this is Britain, what did you expect?

Reply 134

mojojojo101

Original post by Gora The Xplorer

Well this is Britain, what did you expect?

That a good, rounded education would be more valuable than petty nationalism.

Hey, I can dream...

Reply 135

Gora The Xplorer

Original post by mojojojo101

That a good, rounded education would be more valuable than petty nationalism.

Hey, I can dream...

You learn history because it's relevant to the historical and cultural circumstances in this country allowing you to live as a British citizen. If I moved to Saudi Arabia, I would do my damndest to ensure I understand their culture, their history and their way of life.

Reply 136

SMEGGGY

Original post by physicsphysics91

Something I do not really understand, why is there so much shame to be white?

Because all it will consist of his crusades, colonisations, brutal opressions, invasions, looting of artefacts that sit in the British museums, slavery and the stolen jewels in the crown of HRH Elizabeths. Not what the whites of the world want to highlight AGAIN. US history is no better.

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Reply 137

JC.

The kind of people that want silly things like this are the same kind of people who perpetuate racism.

Reply 138

Gora The Xplorer

Original post by SMEGGGY

You mean building modern civilisation :u:

Reply 139

Whomp

What I don't understand is why it's a whole month? A whole month every year? We'd spend more time commiserating the sad history of all people ethnically diverse but merely one day to celebrate the birth of God on earth come to save man from their sins etc. I understand a memorial day or even possibly a week but a whole month? We don't even devote that much time to other history.