Black History Month is needed:
• When the attitudes towards the lives of 300 black children killed by gun violence in Chicago in the past three year are treated differently from 20 first graders killed in Newtown, Connecticut;
• When the conservative leaders of our country try to deny many blacks the right to vote through unnecessary voter ID laws and unnecessary IDs;
• When the prison system is overflowing with more black males than any other race or ethnicity.
• When many young black males have a direct pipeline from the school house to the jail house;
• When blacks who have completed their prison terms and paid their debt to society are disenfranchised from voting;
• When the black unemployment rate is almost twice that of the country's average;
• When the sub-prime mortgage industry targeted blacks causing a disproportionate number of blacks to lose their homes through foreclosure;
• When affirmative action is still needed to ensure a level playing field for blacks;
• When Trayvon Martin, an African American teenager, is shot and killed while returning home because of suspicious activity based on the color of his skin;
Until we perfect our union, rid it of racism, and Dr. King's dream of a beloved community becomes a reality, we will continue to need Black History Month. I only wish we could go far beyond Black History Month and cure what ails us as a society.