I agree with you, I am glad that Hanna put herself out there and discussed her thoughts on this issue. Through respectful and productive dialogue, we can all learn valuable lessons from each other.

I wouldn’t label Hanna simply as a racist, I would point out that her high levels of privilege blind her from some of the struggles that students of color in our nations institutions of higher education experience. Her argument of not having a month devoted to one race above others is not justified fully in my opinion. We have 4th of July, Presidents Day, Labor Day, etc etc and not to mention that our school systems are ethnocentric in teaching our students bias knowledge. Look at whats going on in Arizona where they are trying to do away with ethnic studies in the k-12 school system. What the schools teach students, the entire school year, is American bias knowledge, and yes, we get a month for Latinos and a month (February, the shortest month of the year might I add) for Blacks/African Americans.

Realistically Speaking:

I feel ya on your post. This is the kind of dialogue we need to engage in. This way we can work towards working on a post-racial society, which in my opinion we are still far from it.

Kyle:

I have to side with Kyle on this one as he was not resorting to just calling Hanna a racist but holding accountable the New U for not being critical on a serious topic as is the post-racial topic. Kyle’s letter was a form of activism, resistance, protest, and challenge towards the New U and he gets accused of calling Hanna a racist. Lets remember what racism is, a tool that was constructed to create a hierarchy system at the expense of othering all those that are not white. Like I said earlier, Hanna needs to take a minute to reflect on her own bias, privilege, and upbringing and ask herself how those factors have heavily influenced her opinion piece. I say this out of love for all, not in any disrespectful way to anyone.

Thank you to all who have contributed to this dialogue. Peace and love to all.

Rudy

The purpose of Black History Month is to recognize the contributions, accomplishments, and beauty of a race that has been historically and systematically taken advantage of, disenfranchised, mocked, and belittled; that despite hundreds of years of legalized mistreatment and classification in America’s constitution as less than human, Black Americans were able to overcome (to a point) those obstacles. However Black History Month is not mandatory. If you choose not to celebrate it, you don’t have to. Why you wouldn’t want to recognize a group of people who have made such significant contributions to your standard of living and American citizenship is beyond me.

Additionally, Hanna’s argument for “everyone to just be American” is similar to “colorblindness”- but treating everyone exactly the same is not fair, or equal, or great. Equality means that everyone is given the same access to the resources and tools necessary to achieve success and maintain a quality standard of living. I recognize that many White Americans have not had access to the necessary resources for success, but I would also argue that historically, they have and presently they do in much larger numbers- especially in proportion to their population in America.

The colorblindess/”everyone needs to just be American” argument negates history and reality. I want people to understand what being Black means and respond accordingly- not deny hundreds of years of being at a disadvantage since America has loosely enforced civil rights, Oprah is a billionaire, and Barack is President. The successes of Black Americans are not so universal or commonplace that it’s now necessary to count the outliers as the majority. I beg that anyone who thinks otherwise to take at least one AfAm course. Just the one.

I fail to see how her article is racist. She acknowledges that racism still exists to a certain extent. “I agree with Kelley in that there are many issues since slavery still extant in the African-American community, but I do not agree that in today’s world it should all be attributed to the “white man.”” She is merely questioning the cause that many attribute the existence of racism. I think it’s more racist for so many people to so hastily call her a racist, when the substance of her article is about how she believes there simply should not be one month devoted to glorifying one race above the others.

She also states “I think much of the problem today in the way of racial relations, is with America’s obsession with political correctness. Perhaps these issues are not being addressed because no one feels comfortable enough to say that they are not necessarily the fault of the “white man,” but are also partially the result of personal responsibility — or in this case, a lack thereof. As it is, you probably think I am a racist for delving into this issue to begin with.” You are proving her point – why bother voicing any opinion that may go against the belief that minorities are still oppressed by the white man when the blacklash will be like Hanna is experiencing now? I applaud her for having the guts to even submit an article that goes against the norm (even though there are those of us that agree with her).

“I wish we could all just be Americans.” Hanna is not calling for the expulsion of everyone who is not a “white man,” she is voicing an opinion on how she feels about having a month that celebrates one particular race. If you don’t agree with that, fine, but don’t label her as a racist because you don’t like what she has to say. That is the problem – anyone who says anything that isn’t absolutely dripping with pro-minority sentiments is automatically labeled as racist.