Black History Month

I stand corrected. I did not know this.

 

If we (Netherlands) have one its hidden on some obscure infochannel

 

You celebrate white history 11 months a year?

 

Ummm no, but white history is the history that’s taught all 12 months of the year. Why does this offend you so much?

 

Look at the date this thread started and 6 is still worrying about Obama. Still acting like people are out to get white people. Getting upset over February says a lot about you. Maybe go out and acomplish something yourself like a good con and don't expect people to give you hand outs because you are white. But he seems to have lot of time to post. Is he self employed or does he have a job that allows this? Or maybe it's that he is in fact unemployed.

 

“Oh good, March 1st is here. Now we can go back to celebrating white history for 11 more months!”

-said no person ever.

Lol who says I’m offended? I started this thread on a positive note.

That’s a pretty bold statement considering MLK day falls on a January just saying.

 

Are you deliberately missing her point or what

American history is European history. That is primarily what is taught in school. History majors may delve deeper into other parts of the world but for the most part, European history is what is taught from elementary school through college. And American history, which is the history of how America was colonized by Europeans

So you have this whole population of people who cant trace their Geneology the way European descendants can, what with being descended from slaves and all, who dont ever get a chance to study the history of Africa in school, and whose people get very few shout outs in your average American history textbook.

And they cant even have a month to focus on the achievements of people who came from the same part of the world as they did without people bitching about it

Or can I have a show of hands for anyone who has ever taken an African history class?

 

I'm doing my part. Warching Rocky III Apollo and Clubber Lang are black..

 

But the white man wins.

 

I completely agree with what Morgan Freeman is saying.

 

The Man Made His Point.......And He Made It Well......



Cheers Glen.

 

I get what you're saying, really. But American history is not European history.

 

Yes, he's just having fun with us. Not sure how people can take him so serious and literally all the time. Example:

His positive note is obviously in reality a sarcastic one.

 

Rally? He seemed like a total dick.

 

The layman makes the assumption that blue eyes pale skin come from living in cold areas, because thats were most scandanavian looking people live now, or exposure to the sun, even though higher up in the mountains the sun is fiercer.

10 to 2000 years ago we were shifting from hunter gatherers to herders, fishmermen.

Just as much about diet as well, all of a sudden 10000 years ago blue eyed people started popping up, it happenend too fast to be explain by genetics.

Western Russia, China, Canada, there were people living there just as long, just as cold, they didnt all turn white

If it was just about climate every civilization closer to the equator 10000 years ago would be darker than anyone else.

Native Mexicans would be darker than Sudanese, all Nepalese would be white

 

The skin color seems to be related to the presence of melanin, a pigmentation which protects people from the sun's UV rays.
Human Skin Color Variation | The Smithsonian Institution's Human Origins Program
Human skin color - Wikipedia
Inuits live in very cold climates, why do they have dark skin? » Scienceline
Penn State anthropologists Jablonski and Chaplin , writing Science 92000) found a correlation between the skin color in people residing in an area for more than 500 years and their exposure to ultraviolet light, and developed an equation for determining the pigments in a population based on sun exposure and length of time spent living in an area. Darker skin color tends to be more prevalent closer to the equator. On the other hand, people farther from the equator need less, and need protection from Vitamin D deficiency. Of course, that's not the whole story. People with access to dietary sources of vitamin D, in coastal areas rich in seafood, for example, can be darker, and people at high altitudes, like the Nepalese, are particularly in need of protection. Also, with the advent of clothing, humans developed other ways to protect themselves from UV.The Inuits of the Arctic have dark skin because their diet is rich in vitamin D from seafood.

Less is known about eye color. Brown or black eyes = high melanin content, for good UV protection). Reduced melanin levels were enabled when we migrated from the tropics. There is also a theoretical link to sexual selection. Frost: Why Do Europeans Have So Many Hair and Eye Colors?
The recent discovery in England raises questions, but until we know more about it, we need to suspend judgment. I imagine anthropologists will be inquiring about his diet (sources of vtiamin D alternative to sunlight). And they'd want to know where he and his ancestors originally came from and how long they were living in the area. Apparently, analysis of Cheddar Man's suggest a very early migration by his ancestors from Africa to the Middle East, explaining the darkness. They then headed west into Europe, and crossed the land bridge connecting Britain to continental Europe at the time. First modern Britons had 'dark to black' skin, Cheddar Man DNA analysis reveals
The gene for blue eyes might have come from interbreeding with locals or with people encountered along the way. The population eventually became whiter as it adapted to the colder climate and lack of UV radiation.

 

I found this article the other day. Apparently the oldest skeleton in England, deemed "cheddar man" because he was discovered where cheddar cheese was invented (or something like that), had dark skin and blue eyes.

I can't find it now but one of the researchers points out how racial categories are truly social constructs, using cheddar man's DNA as an example. Dark skin in England 10,000 years ago. I guess he could have flown in on a pterodactyl or something!

DNA suggests 10,000-year-old Brit had dark skin, blue eyes

EDIT: Found it! The researcher said

First modern Britons had 'dark to black' skin, Cheddar Man DNA analysis reveals < --- link to excerpt

 

No more than I would refer to Neil Armstrong as "the first white man on the moon". The children I have with Jane, my wife, have been educated primarily in Georgia. Nobody in this state studies "white history" in the public schools and certainly not for 11 months.

For the last 15 years the curriculum has not been based on race at all and history assignments highlight Americans of all colors. Only in February is race brought in as a factor. Personally, I think it's remarkable that black Americans have managed to turn this into policy being such a small percentage of the population. It's a sure indicator that the rest of the Americans are a good deal more accepting and tolerant than they are portrayed.

The only "gripe" that I might have with BHM is that they always seem to trot out the usual players and events. One of our children had to write a report on Harriet Tubman 3 years in a row across 2 different schools. At least there is some emphasis on Frederick Douglass and Carter Woodson. But you almost never hear about Bessie Coleman, Hattie McDaniel or Ronald McNair. I also think it's a shame that "Uncle Tom" has been turned into a term of derision. I can only figure that a whole shitload of people never bothered to finish the book. Or they'd know he was a hero. What about Cassie?