The Month

Trey Smith

When Barack Obama won the 2008 presidential election, a lot of people suggested that we were entering a post-racial era. How could racism against blacks continue with a black man now in the White House?

Racism hasn't gone anywhere -- except, maybe, more underground -- and I would submit that the month of February proves my point. Here in the US, February is recognized as Black History Month. If we truly lived in a post-racial society, there would be no need to make this annual special effort to recognize the history of those with dark skin.

By establishing this special focus period, it relieves a lot of white folks of guilt. We're not bigots, they say. We read about about George Washington Carver today. I think we deserve a pat on the back!

Once February has come and gone, most of White America -- including most corporations -- merrily returns to whitewashing history. They will keep it up until the next February rolls around and then go through the whole charade of genuine interest all over again.

Mind you, in this less-than-perfect world, I certainly support the notion of making a special effort to recognize the contributions made by blacks to the history of this country and the world around us. For too many of my fellow citizens, it's better that they learn of these contributions during February as opposed to not learning about them at all!

But I recognize that, as long as we must designate a specific time period to learn about and commemorate the contributions made by our black brothers and sisters (or any other minority group), then this is a sure sign that racism continues unabated. Put a different way, when the day comes that these special focus periods are unneeded, we can then say that we indeed have reached a post-racial era.