Only one month a year recognizes black history in the United States. With over 30 million people who are African-American in the United States, why do we isolate only one month for their history?

From first grade through high school, I feel that the American education system has neglected the history of people of color. From the first settlers in Jamestown to the Iraq War, African-Americans have been through all of our history, and at most, they get a paragraph at the end of the chapter. Because of the very limited supply of knowledge that our schooling teaches us about people of color throughout American history, people are often shocked to find out that blacks have worked on important projects.

The neglecting of specific parts of our history is ultimately hurting our nation as a whole. The children of America deserve to know about their complete history, not just the facts that the historians deem acceptable. Due to the lack of teaching about black history, many who want to learn about it have to search for it on their own.

Almost every student knows about Martin Luther King, Jr. or Rosa Parks, but when a WHS class of 27 students was asked what the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) was, only 10 people knew. I believe that the students’ inability to identify famous, important figures and organizations that have made a long standing impact of our nation should be addressed. The NAACP is an institution still fighting for equal rights for colored people, so why is it acceptable so many students don’t even know the name of such a prominent organization that is working to help over one-tenth of our population.

The solution to America’s problem isn’t an easy, quick solve. It will take years and years of progress and education for the United States’ population to become as familiar with the important, prominent organizations and people that have been ignored for so long. Black History Month is a good start to that solution, but if we want to become true, educated citizens we need to acknowledge the entire history of our nation every part of the year.