It’s Black History Month — a time for recognition of achievements and struggles and a time for hope when our country is no longer split by racial lines.

There are roots that go back to the 1920s, when Carter G. Woodson, the son of former slaves, earned his doctorate from Harvard. He knew then that history books in that day virtually ignored black Americans. But Woodson forged ahead working to change the situation.

He founded the Journal of Negro History in 1926 and launched Negro History Week during the second week of February.

He chose that week to honor the birthdays of two men who deeply affected racial relations in America — President Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass.

Black History Month also honors the great civil rights movement leaders of the mid-20th century. There’s Rosa Parks, who chose to make a stand by not giving up her seat on a bus. And when it comes to the civil rights movement, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. articulated the dream of a nation where everyone has equal opportunities.

African-American athletes and celebrities are most easily honored and remembered, but please remember this month is about so many more people and events.

It’s about businessmen and women, inventors, attorneys, moms, dads, aunts and uncles and the countless others who are important and respected members in every community.

And Black History Month is about accepting the past as past, but noting that despite obstacles, the black population of the nation achieved, overcame and persevered.

 

Steubenville Herald-Star