Now one could suggest that blacks weren't doing anything in between reconstruction and the birth of King, but I beg to differ. In many cases, people have to go to college to learn some of the bits and pieces that have been left out and take specialized history courses. Some never learn the full extent of our American heritage. Charlemagne did not come to rule Europe in a day. History can not be condensed into a month.
History is far too vast a subject, too in-depth to be trivialized to a mere month.
If our country discussed the second world war only on Veteran's day, we could never do justice to an event that changed the course of our society. The backs of African-Americans helped to contribute to the making of this society. Though it's obvious that I feel a month is not enough time to celebrate this history, I'm glad that the time is set aside. It is a shock that there is a month at all, since history is always written by the winners.