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Black History Month began as “Negro History Week” in February 1926. Black people’s contributions were routinely ignored or distorted rather than treated as United States history.  Here is a little Black History in America:

1.  Colonization and slavery – (1492-1763) Enslaved Africans are brought to colonies, and slavery becomes a labor system.

2.   The Revolution - (1764-1789) The Constitution protects slavery, and many enslaved people remain property under the law.

3.   Abolition - (1790-1860) Abolitionist movements of slavery are organized, but anti-laws and violence against the African decent intensifies.

4.   Civil War - (1861-1865) A four-year conflict between the United States (the Union) and 11 Southern states that seceded from the Confederated States of America; Driven primarily by disagreement over slavery and states’ rights resulting in over 620,000 deaths.

5.    Reconstruction - (1865-1877) Post Civil War focused on reintegrating Southern states and redefining the legal status of 4 million freed African Americans.

*13th Amendment ratified December 6, 1864, Abolishes slavery.

*14th Amendment ratified July 9, 1868, National citizenship and equal protection.

*15th Amendment ratified February 3, 1868, Prohibits racial discrimination in voting rights.

6.    Jim Crow - (1877-1945) Southern states restrict voting and enforce segregation; the use of lynching as a social control.

* The Great Migration-millions move to Northern/Western cities.

7.    Civil Rights - (1945-1968) The Civil Rights movement causes federal enforcement of desegregation.

8.     Inequality debates - (1968-2008) Debates over Colorblindness, Affirmative action, and Law & Order becomes the central theme.

9.     Symbolic Milestones & Recycled inequality - (2008-2026).

Milestones: First Black President

Recycled inequality: DEI backlash, curriculum fights, question on how slavery and racism should be taught in schools.

Therefore, we can clearly see, Black History has been the foundation of America’s economic, political, cultural, and legal development. African American history is embedded in the structural evolution of American society within its major systems.

You will never fully understand the America’s story without first understanding the Black African American historical story.

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