Women's History Month

Unlike Bardiac, my email box has been bombarded of late with events and reminders that March is National Women's History Month. Since I was on hiatus during Black History Month, I'm going to take this opportunity to celebrate Black women's history.

As Deborah Gray White's opening chapter indicates in Too Heavy a Load, there are frequently moments in history where Black women have been "Divided Against Themselves." When it comes to reading history, sometimes I still feel like All the Women are White, All the Blacks Men, despite commentaries that indicate "the push" for multiculturalism has somehow diluted our history and our education system. *Slight digression approaching* Last time I cracked open a child's social studies book (which was this summer), I did not find it so rampant with people of color that:

That nasty little problem [students not being well versed in American history] has its roots in a nasty little attitude of contempt toward history as written by and about white males. The spirit of equal outcomes that has dumbed down education also has distorted the teaching of American history. Too much George, not enough Martha. (Columnist Kathleen Parker)

As someone who teaches presidential communication, I definitely do not have a contempt for history written by and about white males (otherwise my job would really suck), but there must be a recognition that history is not uniform and linear--it is about a myriad of relationships. Believe or not but the choices presidents make have an impact on real people--not all of whom are White or male. The impact of important cultural documents like the Constitution and the Declaration and the values they represent are in many ways only fully understood when they have been contested and challenged as they were during the modern Civil Rights Movement. It is perhaps more accurate (and productive) to note how the emphasis on testing over learning and math & science over social studies, has limited the historical knowledge of the next generation.

*Back to the subject.*

It remains a challenge to find a safe and welcoming place to discuss Black women's history 1) without stepping on sensitive spots in Black male/female relationships or 2) reifying the borders between Black women and White women that are constantly being broken down and reconstructed or 3) somehow isolating or pulling Black women out of the powerful coalitions that can be made amongst all women of color. Still it is the feeling of often feeling divided and torn that motivates me to continue pushing for discussions of Black women's history that will allow me to celebrate my sistahs.