Black History Month is a symbol of the victories of the past and a reminder of how much more we can achieve in the future.
Now that I live in a county where I'm part of the 3% minority, I feel the responsibility to make sure my children know about the achievements of Blacks in this country and how much they sacrificed so that we could have the liberties we enjoy today.
The scary thing about this great victory for minorities is that it hasn't been that long. The Civil Rights Act has been passed for only 46 years. Before then I would have to drink from different water fountains and use the Colored bathroom.
Many people around me don't get the importance of Black History and just want us to move on and forget about the past. I can agree that they haven't directly put me in chains and dragged me to a different continent then treated me worse than a farm animal.
The danger of 'moving on' is forgetting the great sacrifice made by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Harriet Tubman and Rosa Parks to name a few. I also heard that you are doomed to repeat mistakes from your past unless you have history to remind you.
I thank God for having civil freedom although racism is alive and well in 2010. The KKK still functions in our county (I took a photo with them, another story for another day) but at the same time, there are many progressive citizens living here.
My hope is that we shall overcome by the word of our testimony.
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