All the Buzz

It seems to me that if a group in this country isn’t getting a fair shake from the government or from the majority population, the solution is to devote a month to their concerns, achievements or whatever. So far, the principal recipients of this ludicrous policy are African Americans and women. Yes, we black women get it twice, and in consecutive months, no less. Now, I’m enough of a ham to enjoy being celebrated, but I confess that I’m more comfortable with being acclaimed when I’ve done nothing to earn the celebration. By the same measure, my ire is excited when I am celebrated because someone has done something to me and is too cowardly to confess it, to apologize and to make restitution. We all know that Black History Month and Women’s’ month are compensations for this country’s official inequality. I’ve spent a lot of time trying to figure out why no one has established a MONTH for Native Americans.

Some other ethnic groups are clamoring to get in on this month business, and I won’t name them, because my friends are precious to me, and I don’t want to lose any of them. And we had better watch it, because if we are not careful, we may lose the impact that our special month now has on this nation of television viewers. Imagine a whole month of watching black faces in faded black and white pictures, even a few lynchings on television! Think of all the African Americans who are proud of their month. Not that the month isn’t necessary; it is! But that’s because neither public nor private schools adequately represent within the proper context African American contributors to this society. What’s the point in mentioning George Washington Carver’s work revolutionizing southern agriculture in February when it is soon forgotten? Why not teach it when the contributions of chemists to agricultural science is being studied in the regular school curriculum at a time when it will have meaning?

Remember when disadvantaged African American students benefited from affirmative action? People with sense knew it was a modest attempt to compensate for discrimination (including segregated schools, poor and inadequate books and so on), but wouldn’t you know that whites sued in courts declaring that affirmative was unfair. In my state, Koreans (many of whose parents and grand parents receive welfare, SSI, EIC and other assistance, although they have not worked in this country. Some years back, they also received food stamps) and other immigrant groups also considered themselves eligible for affirmative action and fought for it. Were they discriminated against here for over 350 years? Huh? I am not arguing for or against affirmative action, only stating the facts. The Supreme Court watered it down to the extent that it no longer seems to be a sore in the eyes of the “angry white males.” And it also is no longer effective. I wonder what John F. Kennedy, who coined the phrase, affirmative action, would think of the Supreme Court’s response to this example of bigotry in this country.

Back to the matter of MONTHS. Women. Now we’re truly a minority. There are more females than males in this country as there are in all developed countries—barring immigration patterns skewed by gender, but we need a national “month” so people will know what we’re doing and the progress we’re making. I think it must be some kind of joke. In 2006, twenty Fortune Five Hundred companies were headed by women. You see, the rich guys like these very young women, and when the fellows pass on… But that is another matter. We women are not dragging our feet; so, let us continue to celebrate ourselves. The Ivy League universities are mainly headed by women. Women are president of Harvard, Radcliff, Brown University, University of Pennsylvania, and Princeton. Duke University, Ohio State University, the University of Michigan and a number of others have women presidents. Brown University president Ruth Simmons is an African American. For centuries, the good old boys have been patting themselves on the back and lauding themselves for every little thing, both good and questionable. They gave us a month, so let’s use it. But let us remind the powers that be that African Americans and women want justice and equality 365 days every year and not just one month of the year.

Gwynne Forster

Author of Getting Some of Her Own