I had to look up Carter Woodson (”creator” of Black History Month). That said - he had some good things to say.
“History shows that it does not matter who is in power or what revolutionary forces take over the government, those who have not learned to do for themselves and have to depend solely on others never obtain any more rights or privileges in the end than they had in the beginning.”
Woodson explained the idea behind the celebration. “It is not so much a Negro History Week as it is a History Week,” he wrote, according to the ASALH. “We should emphasize not Negro History, but the Negro in History. What we need is not a history of selected races or nations, but the history of the world void of national bias, race hatred and religious prejudice.”
Thanks 21twelve. I immersed myself in black history, and I missed this one. He does sound like he made an important contribution. W.E.B DeBois should be removed from the collection. He did far more to HARM progress for the Negro race.