ht racist. In the image, a chimpanzee lay dead in the grass. Blood streams from the two bullet holes in the primate's chest. Police shooters, gun in hand, look at the slain beast and state; "They'll have to find someone else to write the next stimulus bill." While some would wish to say the toon is but an innocent commentary, readers cannot negate an historic association. Anglos have long referred to Black brethren as apes. An African-American, even a President, the author of the financial package, is not exempt from scorn.
Perhaps, in a cynical way, this is the proof those who prefer we not observe Black History Month seek. In America, all men are created equal. Any American might receive praise or punishment. Surely, a defiant The New York Post Editor, Col Allen would concur.
Upon receipt of reprimands for the pictorial essay, newspaper executive Allen issued a statement in defense of the stimulus/chimp cartoon. He said the caricature was but a parody of current events. An actual chimp shot down in Connecticut was coupled with acts of Congress, or at least that is what thePost hoped people would believe.
However, many Americans remember their history. In the year 2000, long after the adoption of Black History Month, Doctor Marcus Neiman, Chairman Emeritus of Creation Anthropology at Landover Baptist University, published what was characterized as "his important findings."
In an article entitled "It Took A True Christian To Find The Missing Link," the esteemed scholar stated; "God created human beings separate from primates. There are different kinds of hominids, just like there are different kinds of mustard. There are small primates called chimpanzees. They are the cute little fellows who live in trees, like the one in that movie our greatest President, Ronald Reagan, starred in -- "Bedtime for Bonzo." . . . There are large primates that live on the jungle floor and scare missionaries, who, being Christians, are armed against them. They are called gorillas. There are even primates that play basketball, rob liquor stores, organize marches and make some attempt at imitating human speech. They are called Negroes. Regrettably, if there is such a thing a "natural selection," most of them have selected to be naturally lazy. They are living examples of the Lord's unfinished business because these more primitive hominids are still evolving."
Granted, those who think there is no need to teach Black History might argue there are infinite illustrations that counter a single comic strip or an eccentric scientist. The little Black lad of yore lives no more in modern American history.
African-Americans have arrived. Barack Obama is our President, elected by the people, Black and white. Michelle Obama, America's First Lady, an African-American scholar in her own right, by her very presence teaches Black History literally and figuratively.
Oprah Winfrey is among the wealthiest women in the world. The entertainer's entrepreneurial story is a "phenomenon, a modern-day Horatio Alger, up from roots in poorest America." Tiger Woods is highly successful. Perhaps, these accomplished individuals demonstrate "race no longer defines us,"or as Eric Holder so aptly stated, what "now passes as meaningful interaction . . . in reality accomplishes very little." Surely, we are separate and unequal when we pretend that our past does not still define us, or that there is no reason to discuss the differences that continue to divide us.
Rather than rant or rage, Black History month is no longer relevant, as a nation we might realize as our Attorney General offered, "This nation has still not come to grips with its racial past." (What) will be, at first, a process that is both awkward and painful," will reap rewards.
What we may learn when we honor Black History, will be "potentially great," As Eric Holder espoused on the same day the controversial Delonas cartoon appeared. The subject of segregation need not divide us. When we acknowledge a problem, we can begin to solve it.
Those who think there is no need to actively honor African-American history mig