February 20th, 2023

2/20/2023

Reflections on Black History Month

February is Black History Month and this year's theme, as selected by Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH), is "Black Resistance."
LaGarrett King, an associate professor of social studies education at the University at Buffalo, commented about the theme to NPR. "With resistance there is an implied understanding of oppression, and it seems to be a segment of the population who do not want to admit those historical facts. Yet, resistance helps us understand the power that Black people have in terms of their historical realities, which counters the concept of victimhood that many say drives Black History education."
The ASALH notes:
"African Americans have resisted historic and ongoing oppression, in all forms, especially the racial terrorism of lynching, racial pogroms, and police killings since our arrival upon these shores. These efforts have been to advocate for a dignified self-determined life in a just democratic society in the United States and beyond the United States political jurisdiction.[...]
As societal and political forces escalate to limit access to and exercise of the ballot, eliminate the teaching of Black history, and work to push us back into the 1890s, we can only rely on our capacity to resist. The enactment of HR 40, the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, the Breathe Act, and the closure of the racial wealth gap is not the end. They too will require us to mobilize our resources, human and material, and fight for 'freedom, justice, and equality'; 'self-determination', and/or 'social transformation'.”
In communities and states across the country, including here in Oregon, the political right isn't just trying to erase Black History, they are. For example, in Florida, an Advanced Placement African American Studies course has been banned, in Alabama, the State Board of Education has limited how educators talk about race, in Oregon, School Boards have banned symbols relating to Black Lives Matter and have fired educators and school administrators who support equity work [Albany] [Newberg], and books touching on the topics of race and racial justice continue to top the list of most-banned books according to the American Library Association.
We all have work to do in understanding how racism permeates our institutions, and to change or dismantle

Jonathan Harris with his painting titled ‘Critical race theory’ Source: Twitter, User Ottilia Anna MaSibanda @MaS1banda

Photo Credit: Jeffrey Greenberg/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

systems that perpetuate it. Part of that work includes holding our elected officials accountable, and by electing and supporting leaders, especially those running for School Boards, who understand that diversity is a strength. We are stronger as a community when we can acknowledge, honor, learn from and respect the contributions and lived experiences of one another, inclusive of race.
— Jerred Taylor, Linn County Democrats Chair

Black History Month events

Linn-Benton NAACP

The mission of the Linn Benton NAACP Branch in Oregon is the same as the national organization. The mission of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is to ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all persons and to eliminate race-based discrimination.

Join the Linn Benton NAACP