Eli, you make great points. However, some things need to be eliminated gradually and by the "acceptable" people. The woke left is looking for a reason to riot, and eliminating Black History Month might have pushed them over the edge.
I understand your fears. But do we want to hold ourselves hostage because the woke left behaves badly and we better cater to them so they don't act up? They're grown-ups, and should be treated as such. Anyway, it seems to me that they're already standing on the "edge" by trying to subvert every potentially restorative thing Trump is trying to do.
On the other hand, it's hard to predict or even understand a lot of what Trump does. Is his doubling down on Black History Month an act of virtue signaling, or a sincere attempt to say "thank you" to the black Americans who voted for him?
Or maybe Trump took this gratuitous step in an attempt to demonstrate to the country-at-large that he's not a racist, even though he isn't a racist and the people who voted for him already know that. But is Trump a people pleaser? Doesn't seem so.
The difference between Eli and Trump is that Eli is consistent in his beliefs, never waivers from his principles and knows why he believes what he does. Eli is much more sophisticated and nuanced in his understanding of racial issues than Trump, who is not well known for taking nuanced positions in general.
I don't want to disparage Trump too much. In fact, I was relieved that he won the White House rather than his sorrowfully unqualified opponent. He also has some very good advisors now. He's learned a lot from his first term and I'm cautiously optimistic that he can do the country some good. I hope he reads this post, absorbs its wisdom, and takes it to heart.
I often don't understand why Trump does some of the things he does, but I like most of what he does. We need to pick our battles. I'm just not sure this is a battle we need right now. Maybe next year, Trump can cancel Black History Month and all other months that celebrate innate characteristics or behavioral choices.
We've always looked at race as a political issue instead of a moral and ethical one. That's the mistake. I don't think the Left would have rioted. Everybody knows its a fraud, even them.
Yes, that is the mistake. Your father's quote from "Michael Brown" stays with me: "we humans always use race as a means to power...it's never an end, it's always a means...and it has no place in human affairs except as a corruption."
But do they really know that identity politics is a fraud? They seem so committed to it. I'm cynical, but I admire your optimism.
The purpose of Black History Month is to hold up the achievements of black people so that they can be seen by all. This is an appropriate thing to do, because those achievements have been submerged, intentionally and by ignorant blindness, by the more general history that was normally taught in our schools, for a long time.
I am white, nearly 80 years old, and have roots in both the Deep South and the “cool blue North”, to use Jesse Winchester’s words. I lived in segregation in Alabama during in the 50s. I now live in largely integrated Chicago. I attended segregated schools which taught Confederate history. My children and grandchildren attended integrated schools which taught American history. We have made amazing progress, however slowly, in my lifetime.
It is not for white Americans to decide when to stop elevating our black history. In legal terms, we don’t have standing. You do, and your post is a step in that direction. But I think it will take a black president to eliminate BHM, and in any event, I don’t think the time for that is now.
As for name-checking Sowell, Thomas, &c, if Trump did not name them, who will? Certainly not the Democratic leadership. Otherwise, they would remain submerged, while blacks who fit the leftist narrative would continue to be elevated.
The purpose of Black History Month is to hold up the achievements of black people so that they can be seen by all. This is an appropriate thing to do, because those achievements have been submerged, intentionally and by ignorant blindness, by the more general history that was normally taught in our schools, for a long time.
I am white, nearly 80 years old, and have roots in both the Deep South and the “cool blue North”, to use Jesse Winchester’s words. I lived in segregation in Alabama during in the 50s. I now live in somewhat integrated Chicago. I attended segregated schools which taught Confederate history. My children and grandchildren attended integrated schools which taught American history. We have made amazing progress, however slowly, in my lifetime.
It is not for white Americans to decide when to stop elevating our black history. In legal terms, we don’t have standing. You do, and your post is a step in that direction. But I think it will take a black president to eliminate BHM, and in any event, I don’t think the time for that is now.
As for name-checking Sowell, Thomas, &c, if Trump did not name them, who will? Certainly not the Democratic leadership. Otherwise, they would remain submerged, while blacks who fit the leftist narrative would continue to be elevated.
Black history is American history someone said and I agree.Thomas Sowell is a national treasure and needs to be singled out and celebrated for being a great American.Period
Eli - this is brilliant and a necessary corrective for our new President Trump. This inferiority complex IS complex as you point out. The oppressor’s inferiority trap is not a tender one. Does this signal that Trump has become an oppressor? Or simply misguided and cowardly? If we are rightly eliminating DEI, why celebrate Black History? Eli - this point has to be made. Your brilliance and courage are inspiring.
Thank you Eli for sharing your keen insight. I am feeling a little humbled because I did think that Trump was wise to do this. But that was a political thought -- I want him to succeed. Great things were said, but I found many of the remarks to be demeaning. I think I got caught up in the excitement of the attendees though and I celebrated with them from my living room.
One thing I dislike about Black History Month (or any identity month, for that matter) is the figures of the identity group they knee-jerk present to kids. Typically, a classroom's Black History Month bulletin board will feature only sports figures, entertainers and various political agitators. I have never seen them include a black scientist, a black CEO, a prosperous black entrepreneur (of which there were many even during Jim Crow), a black astronaut, or almost anyone with accomplishments that advanced society. If they want black kids to think they can grow up to be or do anything, they should show it to them, but they don't. They do the same thing with Women's Herstory Month — what is Billie Jean King still doing on those bulletin boards?
I'm with Charlie Kirk, who happens to be from my hometown. Black History Month has always felt like a performance that reinforces segregation. The race obsession, especially over the past several years, needs to be brought to a head if we're going to ever find unity as a country.
However, Trump's dismantling of the DEI enterprise of the past several years, as you know, makes him "racist" (he was accused, in a fit of hysteria witnessed on Facebook) of "demonizing" people by cutting DEI. They still lob the epithet 'racist' as if it means something. So Trump leaves Black History month in place, and gives a deserving nod to Thomas Sowell. Perhaps in a meeting, it was decided that the most important month to jettison is PRIDE MONTH, and leave Black History.
Even more useful, stop the 'black voters,' 'white voters' mantra. Just phase out all of that racial talk altogether, which would give 'black history' month a whole new meaning -- a month of remembrance of a time when 'black this' 'black that' was something people actually said, once upon a time.
“The American people have always been anxious to know what they shall do with us.” Douglass observed. When they ask, “What shall we do with the negro?” he said, “I have had but one answer from the beginning”:
Do nothing with us! Your doing with us has already played the mischief with us. Do nothing with us! If the apples will not remain on the tree of their own strength . . . let them fall! I am not for tying or fastening them on the tree in any way, except by nature’s plan, and if they will not stay there, let them fall. And if the Negro cannot stand on his own legs, let him fall also. All I ask is, give him a chance to stand on his own legs! Let him alone! If you see him on his way to school, let him alone—don’t disturb him! If you see him going to the dinner table at a hotel, let him go! If you see him going to the ballot-box, let him alone—don’t disturb him! If you see him going into a work-shop, just let him alone—your interference is doing him a positive injury.
I have great respect for you, Eli and I love your Substack. But I must disagree with you on this take. It is not time yet to end Black History Month. Nor is America at a point yet where we should do so. As someone who earned a history degree in college, I know first how much work remains to be done to spread education on black history. There is definitely greater knowledge of black history among the general public in America than there was say 50 or 60 years ago. But there are still vast swaths of the public who don't know a whole lot about the history of African Americans or other minorities in this country. Great black historical figures like Madam C.J. Walker, Bessie Coleman, Bayard Rustin, Patricia Bath, Benjamin Banneker, Garrett Morgan, Granville Woods, Daisy Bates, Marshal Bass Reeves, Mae Jamison, Ralph Bunche, William H. Carney, Charles Follis, George Curruthers, and Adam Clayton Powell are mostly unknown to your average American. So are important episodes in black and minority history. How many Americans know what the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 is? How many Americans would you venture to guess are aware of the long and fascinating history of black-Native relations and black slavery in Indian country? How many of you folks here in the comments section have heard of the 1943 Zoot Suit Riots, the Hawaiian Rennaissance of the 1960s or the 1973 Wounded Knee standoff between the Oglala Sioux and AIM and the FBI and the U.S. Marshals? These are very important episodes in American history that have been all but forgotten. This is why we still need Black History Month, and other observances highlight the history of minority groups like Latinos, Asians, Native Americans, Hawaiians, and women, Jews, LGBTQ+ people, and disabled folks as well. The knowledge of black and minority history out there among your average American is still lacking somewhat. Not to mention there are still many schools in this nation that do not teach their students about the contributions of blacks and other people of color to this great country. For example, a few years ago a school in Texas was caught teaching its students that slavery was voluntary. In the state of Oklahoma, a school board eliminated an AP U.S. History course because it wasn't patriotic enough. School boards in this country have banned by pulling from the curriculum, books like Toni Morrison's the Blue Eye, Amanda Gorman's The Hill We Climb and a book that discusses Japanese American Internment Camps called "When the Emperor Was Divine" by Julie Otsuka. I think we here in the Man of Steele audience, are blinded by our biases, that's not just the left who does censorship. The right does it too and it is often around discussion of racism or minority history. However, I would agree with you Mr. Steele that Donald Trump and his administration mentioning Thomas Sowell was wonderful, it did unintentionally come off as Thomas Sowell was "our black." I don't think Mr. Trump intended that, but it definitely comes across as such. It is also the case that Trump and his team need to be more careful and do a better job regulating what they tweet out as sometimes memes, posts or statements they put out can be taken and interpretated in ways not intended by them by racists, xenophobes, white supremacists and white nationalists. Both liberals and conservatives can be exploitative of and condescending towards black Americans and use them as props. An excellent piece Mr. Steele, but I must mostly disagree with it.
I guess I took the mention of Thomas Sowell differently than you did, because far from being "our good Negro", he revolutionized my thinking on economics and a lot of social and cultural issues. He could have done this no matter what race he was (is), but I found over the years that I have to bring up his race from time to time because of people's ridiculous attempts to discredit him. The first time this happened was when I lent a friend a book by him that had no photo of him on the cover, and when she was done, she told me he was obviously "a privileged white racist". Other times I meet someone who really needs a proper economic and sociological education and I know they'll take it more easily from a black person, so I recommend Sowell's books and videos. This is also because these particular people are blacks just beginning to realize they can do things in the world they'd never heard of before (such as investing their savings for the future), and recommending Sowell's works along with other media make them realize the path they're embarking on isn't just a white thing.
Eli, you make great points. However, some things need to be eliminated gradually and by the "acceptable" people. The woke left is looking for a reason to riot, and eliminating Black History Month might have pushed them over the edge.
I understand your fears. But do we want to hold ourselves hostage because the woke left behaves badly and we better cater to them so they don't act up? They're grown-ups, and should be treated as such. Anyway, it seems to me that they're already standing on the "edge" by trying to subvert every potentially restorative thing Trump is trying to do.
On the other hand, it's hard to predict or even understand a lot of what Trump does. Is his doubling down on Black History Month an act of virtue signaling, or a sincere attempt to say "thank you" to the black Americans who voted for him?
Or maybe Trump took this gratuitous step in an attempt to demonstrate to the country-at-large that he's not a racist, even though he isn't a racist and the people who voted for him already know that. But is Trump a people pleaser? Doesn't seem so.
The difference between Eli and Trump is that Eli is consistent in his beliefs, never waivers from his principles and knows why he believes what he does. Eli is much more sophisticated and nuanced in his understanding of racial issues than Trump, who is not well known for taking nuanced positions in general.
I don't want to disparage Trump too much. In fact, I was relieved that he won the White House rather than his sorrowfully unqualified opponent. He also has some very good advisors now. He's learned a lot from his first term and I'm cautiously optimistic that he can do the country some good. I hope he reads this post, absorbs its wisdom, and takes it to heart.
I often don't understand why Trump does some of the things he does, but I like most of what he does. We need to pick our battles. I'm just not sure this is a battle we need right now. Maybe next year, Trump can cancel Black History Month and all other months that celebrate innate characteristics or behavioral choices.
We've always looked at race as a political issue instead of a moral and ethical one. That's the mistake. I don't think the Left would have rioted. Everybody knows its a fraud, even them.
Yes, that is the mistake. Your father's quote from "Michael Brown" stays with me: "we humans always use race as a means to power...it's never an end, it's always a means...and it has no place in human affairs except as a corruption."
But do they really know that identity politics is a fraud? They seem so committed to it. I'm cynical, but I admire your optimism.
If for no other reason, there needs to be a public heralding of Thomas Sowell and Walter Williams because their work is so profound and enlightening.
Most of the public have no idea that the men even exist(ed).
The purpose of Black History Month is to hold up the achievements of black people so that they can be seen by all. This is an appropriate thing to do, because those achievements have been submerged, intentionally and by ignorant blindness, by the more general history that was normally taught in our schools, for a long time.
I am white, nearly 80 years old, and have roots in both the Deep South and the “cool blue North”, to use Jesse Winchester’s words. I lived in segregation in Alabama during in the 50s. I now live in largely integrated Chicago. I attended segregated schools which taught Confederate history. My children and grandchildren attended integrated schools which taught American history. We have made amazing progress, however slowly, in my lifetime.
But there is still a lot of black history that is emerging from the suppression of the past. I’m seeing it in classical music in particular, and in literature (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0D1PJKBLT/ref=kinw_myk_ro_title)
It is not for white Americans to decide when to stop elevating our black history. In legal terms, we don’t have standing. You do, and your post is a step in that direction. But I think it will take a black president to eliminate BHM, and in any event, I don’t think the time for that is now.
As for name-checking Sowell, Thomas, &c, if Trump did not name them, who will? Certainly not the Democratic leadership. Otherwise, they would remain submerged, while blacks who fit the leftist narrative would continue to be elevated.
The purpose of Black History Month is to hold up the achievements of black people so that they can be seen by all. This is an appropriate thing to do, because those achievements have been submerged, intentionally and by ignorant blindness, by the more general history that was normally taught in our schools, for a long time.
I am white, nearly 80 years old, and have roots in both the Deep South and the “cool blue North”, to use Jesse Winchester’s words. I lived in segregation in Alabama during in the 50s. I now live in somewhat integrated Chicago. I attended segregated schools which taught Confederate history. My children and grandchildren attended integrated schools which taught American history. We have made amazing progress, however slowly, in my lifetime.
But there is still a lot of black history that is emerging from the suppression of the past. I’m seeing it in classical music in particular, and in literature (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0D1PJKBLT/ref=kinw_myk_ro_title)
It is not for white Americans to decide when to stop elevating our black history. In legal terms, we don’t have standing. You do, and your post is a step in that direction. But I think it will take a black president to eliminate BHM, and in any event, I don’t think the time for that is now.
As for name-checking Sowell, Thomas, &c, if Trump did not name them, who will? Certainly not the Democratic leadership. Otherwise, they would remain submerged, while blacks who fit the leftist narrative would continue to be elevated.
Yup. You are totally right. Spot on. Time to get this right going forward. Thank you.
Black history is American history someone said and I agree.Thomas Sowell is a national treasure and needs to be singled out and celebrated for being a great American.Period
I agree. Thomas Sowell’s name and work should be elevated as much as possible.
At his advances age we have to enjoy him for as long as we can.
Eli - this is brilliant and a necessary corrective for our new President Trump. This inferiority complex IS complex as you point out. The oppressor’s inferiority trap is not a tender one. Does this signal that Trump has become an oppressor? Or simply misguided and cowardly? If we are rightly eliminating DEI, why celebrate Black History? Eli - this point has to be made. Your brilliance and courage are inspiring.
Guess I didn’t look at it from your perspective. I see your point.
Guess I am grateful that these people are being honored.
And I am glad to hear “black” instead of African-American.
100%! Great insights, Eli...thank you!
Thank you Eli for sharing your keen insight. I am feeling a little humbled because I did think that Trump was wise to do this. But that was a political thought -- I want him to succeed. Great things were said, but I found many of the remarks to be demeaning. I think I got caught up in the excitement of the attendees though and I celebrated with them from my living room.
Very well said Eli. I never thought of it in the way you just put it. Keep up the good work my friend.
One thing I dislike about Black History Month (or any identity month, for that matter) is the figures of the identity group they knee-jerk present to kids. Typically, a classroom's Black History Month bulletin board will feature only sports figures, entertainers and various political agitators. I have never seen them include a black scientist, a black CEO, a prosperous black entrepreneur (of which there were many even during Jim Crow), a black astronaut, or almost anyone with accomplishments that advanced society. If they want black kids to think they can grow up to be or do anything, they should show it to them, but they don't. They do the same thing with Women's Herstory Month — what is Billie Jean King still doing on those bulletin boards?
I'm with Charlie Kirk, who happens to be from my hometown. Black History Month has always felt like a performance that reinforces segregation. The race obsession, especially over the past several years, needs to be brought to a head if we're going to ever find unity as a country.
However, Trump's dismantling of the DEI enterprise of the past several years, as you know, makes him "racist" (he was accused, in a fit of hysteria witnessed on Facebook) of "demonizing" people by cutting DEI. They still lob the epithet 'racist' as if it means something. So Trump leaves Black History month in place, and gives a deserving nod to Thomas Sowell. Perhaps in a meeting, it was decided that the most important month to jettison is PRIDE MONTH, and leave Black History.
Even more useful, stop the 'black voters,' 'white voters' mantra. Just phase out all of that racial talk altogether, which would give 'black history' month a whole new meaning -- a month of remembrance of a time when 'black this' 'black that' was something people actually said, once upon a time.
“The American people have always been anxious to know what they shall do with us.” Douglass observed. When they ask, “What shall we do with the negro?” he said, “I have had but one answer from the beginning”:
Do nothing with us! Your doing with us has already played the mischief with us. Do nothing with us! If the apples will not remain on the tree of their own strength . . . let them fall! I am not for tying or fastening them on the tree in any way, except by nature’s plan, and if they will not stay there, let them fall. And if the Negro cannot stand on his own legs, let him fall also. All I ask is, give him a chance to stand on his own legs! Let him alone! If you see him on his way to school, let him alone—don’t disturb him! If you see him going to the dinner table at a hotel, let him go! If you see him going to the ballot-box, let him alone—don’t disturb him! If you see him going into a work-shop, just let him alone—your interference is doing him a positive injury.
(“Self-Made Men”—Frederick Douglass)
I have great respect for you, Eli and I love your Substack. But I must disagree with you on this take. It is not time yet to end Black History Month. Nor is America at a point yet where we should do so. As someone who earned a history degree in college, I know first how much work remains to be done to spread education on black history. There is definitely greater knowledge of black history among the general public in America than there was say 50 or 60 years ago. But there are still vast swaths of the public who don't know a whole lot about the history of African Americans or other minorities in this country. Great black historical figures like Madam C.J. Walker, Bessie Coleman, Bayard Rustin, Patricia Bath, Benjamin Banneker, Garrett Morgan, Granville Woods, Daisy Bates, Marshal Bass Reeves, Mae Jamison, Ralph Bunche, William H. Carney, Charles Follis, George Curruthers, and Adam Clayton Powell are mostly unknown to your average American. So are important episodes in black and minority history. How many Americans know what the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 is? How many Americans would you venture to guess are aware of the long and fascinating history of black-Native relations and black slavery in Indian country? How many of you folks here in the comments section have heard of the 1943 Zoot Suit Riots, the Hawaiian Rennaissance of the 1960s or the 1973 Wounded Knee standoff between the Oglala Sioux and AIM and the FBI and the U.S. Marshals? These are very important episodes in American history that have been all but forgotten. This is why we still need Black History Month, and other observances highlight the history of minority groups like Latinos, Asians, Native Americans, Hawaiians, and women, Jews, LGBTQ+ people, and disabled folks as well. The knowledge of black and minority history out there among your average American is still lacking somewhat. Not to mention there are still many schools in this nation that do not teach their students about the contributions of blacks and other people of color to this great country. For example, a few years ago a school in Texas was caught teaching its students that slavery was voluntary. In the state of Oklahoma, a school board eliminated an AP U.S. History course because it wasn't patriotic enough. School boards in this country have banned by pulling from the curriculum, books like Toni Morrison's the Blue Eye, Amanda Gorman's The Hill We Climb and a book that discusses Japanese American Internment Camps called "When the Emperor Was Divine" by Julie Otsuka. I think we here in the Man of Steele audience, are blinded by our biases, that's not just the left who does censorship. The right does it too and it is often around discussion of racism or minority history. However, I would agree with you Mr. Steele that Donald Trump and his administration mentioning Thomas Sowell was wonderful, it did unintentionally come off as Thomas Sowell was "our black." I don't think Mr. Trump intended that, but it definitely comes across as such. It is also the case that Trump and his team need to be more careful and do a better job regulating what they tweet out as sometimes memes, posts or statements they put out can be taken and interpretated in ways not intended by them by racists, xenophobes, white supremacists and white nationalists. Both liberals and conservatives can be exploitative of and condescending towards black Americans and use them as props. An excellent piece Mr. Steele, but I must mostly disagree with it.
Oh, look at you, the ultimate confused mutt!
I guess I took the mention of Thomas Sowell differently than you did, because far from being "our good Negro", he revolutionized my thinking on economics and a lot of social and cultural issues. He could have done this no matter what race he was (is), but I found over the years that I have to bring up his race from time to time because of people's ridiculous attempts to discredit him. The first time this happened was when I lent a friend a book by him that had no photo of him on the cover, and when she was done, she told me he was obviously "a privileged white racist". Other times I meet someone who really needs a proper economic and sociological education and I know they'll take it more easily from a black person, so I recommend Sowell's books and videos. This is also because these particular people are blacks just beginning to realize they can do things in the world they'd never heard of before (such as investing their savings for the future), and recommending Sowell's works along with other media make them realize the path they're embarking on isn't just a white thing.
Great piece of work, thought provoking and honest. Thank you.