Observance Of Black History Week By Carter G Woodson

The Negro Digs Up His Past by Arthur Schomburg is an article he wrote in 1925, in which he complaint that somehow through the years African American history has been questioned and denied as many claim that Africans have no history at all. He uses this paper to illustrate the importance of recording the collective accomplishments of African Americans and that we must at all costs save any evidence, so that things like this do not happen again in the future. He wants to make sure to leave no place for doubts that African Americans have a history and is irrefutable in the eyes of skeptics and the world. According to Schomburg, “Though it is orthodox to think of America as the one country where it is unnecessary to have a past, what is luxury for the nation as a whole becomes a prime social necessity for the Negro(Schomburg 231).” He emphasizes that blacks have to dig deep into their own history in order to hold their own against the current oppression. He wants to set the record straight and restore the history that was omitted, the history that was denied to them, a history that has somehow been stolen from them forever.

During the 19th and 20th century African Americans faced Discrimination in the United States. Three African Americans took roles of leadership and began trying to uplift the lives of blacks in society. Those who took control of this movement were Booker T. Washington, Marcus Garvey and W.E.B Dubois. These activists wanted the same result and implemented different techniques to follow their similar hopes for blacks in America. Each of these leaders has allowed America to develop in extensive ways for several years and those yet to come. Alternate pathways were taken by each leader to resolve the overall issue of racism. These issues include things such as not having the right to vote,own property and prevent lynchings. This paper will argue that had Garvey's theory of the new negro and Dubois’ ideas of education been implemented, racism in America would have been reduced because the allocation of education would allow for their to become a new negro. The application of Marcus Garvey's theory including thoughts of W.E.B Dubois’ on racism would have brought white power to an end.

The article “The Negro Digs Up His Past’’ by Arthur schomburg on 1925, elaborates more on the struggles of slavery as well as how history tend to be in great need of restoration through mindfully exploring on the past. The article, however started with an interesting sentence which caught my attention, especially when the writer says ‘’The American Negro must remark his past in order to make his future’’ (670). This statement according the writer, explains how slavery took away the great deal freedom from people of African descendant, through emancipation and also increase in diversity. The writer (Arthur Schomburg) however, asserts that “the negro has been throughout the centuries of controversy an active collaborator, and often a pioneer, in the struggle for his own freedom and advancement” (670).

In 1879 Thousands of African Americans migrate out of south to escape oppression. There was a better way life and opportunities in the industrialized North and in the West. African American weren’t taught to read so their job opportunities were limited. White people believed teaching blacks to read would hold blacks back. They were forced to be home makers (maids for white people) or

The life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination… the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself in exile in his own land (qtd. in W.T.L. 235).

Carter G. Woodson is known as the father of Black History. He is also the second African American to ever earn his Ph.D. On February 7th, 1926 Woodson organized Negro History Week which led to the recognition of African American achievements over the entire month of February every year which is known as Black History Month. Woodson believed that African Americans may have lacked the motivation to learn because they weren’t learning about their own heritage and culture. He worked towards equality and to make African Americans thought of as more than just a race. Without Woodson’s accomplishments the achievements of the African American race may still be ignored and overlooked today.

[1] Vincent Harding, “Vincent Harding on the Differences Between Negro History and Black History, 1971,” ed. Thomas C. Hot and Elsa Barkley Brown (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2008)

In today’s society, many have come to believe what they have been instructed over the years, whether it is fiction of facts. Living in a world, where only certain race can be seen as superior to others. Schomburg was a pioneer beyond his times. In the article “The Negro Digs up His Past”. The beginning of this essay revealed a powerful statement, “The American Negro must remake his past in order to make his future” (Arthur Schomburg). It is very clear, Schomburg realized the importance of being knowledgeable on your true history. “History must restore what slavery took away, for it is the social damage of slavery that the present generations must repair and offset”. Therefore, I acquiesce with such statement, it is up to the present generation to fight, and to aspire on restoring what was taken away. As we acquired more intelligence, today’s generation must continue on indoctrinating one another on our true history. However, let’s not forget, slavery was not the onset of the Negro history; when in fact, slavery interrupted the Negro history. Meanwhile, long ago, before slavery, Africans ruled the world, built nations, mastering in architectural ideas, philosophies, etc. Nonetheless, it is crucial for the Negro to dig up his past, for from it; today’s Africans shall conceive their true potential, and their ancestor’s greatest achievements. Just as Schomburg found his motivation after being told “Negroes has no history. On the other hand, he then stated “The Negro thinking

The school system in the country districts of the South is a disgrace and in few towns and cities are Negro schools what ought to be...and...when we call for education we mean real education,” he effectively made his audience view the logic in his claim about racial equality with a specific emphasis on the education of adults and more specifically children (DuBois 2). Mr. DuBois, being the well-educated man that he was, understood that by presenting his claim of educational importance in a logically and sound way, his audience would be exponentially more likely to agree with his view and act on his cause, which is exactly what transpired after his speech. In Mr. Washington’s attempt to persuade his audience in favor of educating the African American population, he chose to appeal to his perverse audience 's sense of desire and ambition. He stated that by “casting down [their] bucket among many people, helping and encouraging them as [they] are doing on these grounds, and to education of head, hand, and heart, [they] will find that [African Americans] will buy [their] surplus land, make blossom the waste of places in [their] fields, and run [their] factories” (Washington 2). In stating his claim the way he did, he hoped that his audience, which was comprised primarily of white, land-owning southerners, would realize the possible economic benefits that would result from educating the black population, and that their innate desire for material wealth would drive them to

The dominant white male of the story speaks the following statement, "Now I like the colored people, and sympathize with all this reasonable aspirations; but you and I both know, John, that in this country the Negro must remain subordinate and can never expect to be equal of white men" (373). This is a fundamental sentiment that white people in the American society during that time held on to. In this essay W.E.B DuBois shows how this black man, John, was treated in his hometown after returning home with a college education. Both blacks and whites reject his new views. However, to whites the black John represents a devaluing of the college education. If a black person can have a college degree, then having a college degree must not have value. After this reaction from society John started to think, "John Jones, you're a natural born fool" (369). This behavior from society kept the average black person stagnant, and unmotivated.

The lack of education was an issue regarding black people because of their race. In Florida the Jim Crow Laws state, “The schools for white children and the schools for negro children shall be conducted separately” (“Jim Crow Laws-Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site”). Due to the separation of the black and white school much of the money sent towards the school went to the white only school. This shows that the state did not want interracial schools and refers back to the thought “separate but equal” but not really equal. Although the thought was “separate but equal”, it doesn’t exactly mean people will follow that thought. In Concord, North Carolina, a black woman named Mary McLeod Bethune wanted to spread education for other black children. McLeod opened a school with any money she had and borrowed, for an all black girl institute in Daytona Beach. When other people discovered what she did, the Ku Klux Klan threatened to burn down the school, but never followed through. In 1929, the all girls’ school merged with an all men’s school (“The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow”). “It is our pledge to make a lasting contribution to all that is finest and best in America, to cherish and enrich her heritage of freedom

“The Negro, too, for his part, has idols of the tribe to smash. If on the one hand the white man has erred in making the Negro appear to be that which would excuse or extenuate his treatment of him, the Negro, in turn, has too often unnecessarily excused himself because of the way he has been treated. The

The “new” negro no longer embodied “old” characteristics that defined a black man. Society had always taught a black man how to act; however, now he was adapting to the world. Locke declared that ‘the Old Negro’ had long become more of a myth than a man” (Locke, 1). A furthered and detailed definition of an “Old Negro” was that he “was a creature of moral debating historical controversy” (Locke, 1). The four

When he actually did his own assignments, my subject was disturbed by how little African American history was taught, how much the African culture was ignored. “We spent half a semster on World War I and never talked about the black military units! I learned about the black efforts through my parents!”

Racial discrimination, political, social and economic inequality during the late 19th century and early 20th century led various leaders within the black community to rise up and address the appalling circumstances that African Americans were forced to endure. Among these leaders were Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois whom possessed analogous desires as it pertained to the advancement and upliftment of the black race. While both individuals were fighting for the same cause and purpose they embraced contrary ideologies and approaches to African American struggle. In Booker T. Washington’s book “Up from Slavery” African Americans were encouraged to be passive and focus on vocational education whereas in W.E.B. DuBois book “The Souls of Black Folk”, African Americans were encouraged to fight for their merited rights and focus on academic education. However, although Washington was convinced that his ideologies would sincerely uplift the black race, they actually proved to be detrimental, leaving DuBois ideology to be the most reasonable and appropriate solution for the advancement of the black race.