Okay, a few things.
- A racist is someone who feels people are inferior because of their skin color, not someone who recognizes the fact that race still plays a role in our society. I point to a recent University of Chicago study that showed that applicants for jobs who had obviously Black names were far less likely to be called in for an interview. If I recognize that there are ingrained prejudices that make it harder on someone because of race, and push for steps to be taken to combat that, I'm not a racist. A racist would be someone who took a look at a person and judged them to be inferior. Someone who didn't want to associate with someone on the basis of race alone.
- Black History month was created in acknowledgement that the entire year is White History month. Standard curriculum in grade schools has long taught European history, but not taught any African history. If you look through a grade school book, you would also be hard pressed to find more than two Black people other than Martin Luther King mentioned by name. Black people are only mentioned beyond that as being slaves. A child who only learned history through the books in class would conclude that Black people did not do anything noteworthy other than be slaves, and then become free. The intent of Black History Month is to correct a deficiency and show that there were plenty of important and noteworthy Black people throughout history. It was originally established as just one week to occur in the week that included Abraham Lincoln's and Frederick Douglass' birthday, but was expanded in 1976 as part of our Bicentennial. It's not an attempt to say "Black people are better", but more of an attempt to say "Black people are also relevant to history".
- The Miss Black America pageant came into being for one reason, and one reason only. BLACK PEOPLE WERE NOT ALLOWED INTO THE MISS AMERICA PAGEANT in 1968 when it was formed. Even when Blacks were eventually allowed in, there was no real chance to win. What the competition had decided as a standard for beauty wasn't what a Black woman looked like. Is Miss Black America still needed today? I don't know. There's an argument either way. How representative of the entire population is Miss America today?
What people seem to forget so easily is that it wasn't very long ago when Blacks were not allowed into the mainstream, often by law. They were relegated to the backs of busses, unable to purchase property in white neighborhoods, not given any representation in the media except as a derogatory character, not allowed to enter front doors. The various things that sprang up with the word "Black" in the title were absolutely necessary to address what was happening. The stratification of Black people and Black culture to the rim of society. Black achievement, Black artists, Black history, Black culture, was being ignored by the mainstream dominant culture and there was no alternative but to set up "Black" events to contrast the "White" ones or else lose all positive self identity. Just because they didn't call it Miss "White" America doesn't mean that's not what it was. As the majority and the dominant culture, the word "White" was often implied. The problem with a "White" event is that there can be no argument that it sprang up because they were not represented in the official event. The only reason for a "White" event is to exclude other races because of race.
- Those who claim that there has been or is only one America are being naive or lacking in racial experience. When did race cease to matter? After the Civil Rights Law in 1964? Once the law was passed, did the minds of the people who made that law necessary suddenly change? If not, when did it change. When did everything become equal, and race cease to exist? It is obviously a gradual and slow process towards race ceasing to matter. The Emancipation Proclamation was in 1863, yet it wasn't until 1964, 100 years later, that there was enough progress to say "you can't officially treat me worse because of my race". One has only to take a look at these teens with their white-only prom to know that the feelings behind racism have not been eradicated because even new generations are being indoctrinated.
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