Dear Editor,

Even though Black History Month is one of the most depressing months of the year, and is certainly not a month I look forward to, I must say I am relieved that there is not a white history month. For, were there one, not only would I be depressed, I would be crushed.

Black History Month is supposed to be a month to celebrate black pride and achievement. However, every year all we are told to take pride in are entertainers of all sorts — athletes, supposed historians with strange interpretations of history, and musicians. The few blacks who don’t fall into this category are usually some poor black souls who were supposed to have been oppressed, or some scientist who managed to achieved his feat on account of being cultured in the West.

Were there a white history month, whites could point to many feats that would make me feel less than human, indeed. Celebrations for a white history month would include the first artificial moon, the first man in space, supersonic aircraft, artificial intelligence technologies of all sorts, and high-speed communication systems. Indeed, the list of white technological achievements is endless. I would struggle as a black man to find much to match those.

A white history month would point to powerful empires, some encircling the planet, the likes of which I, as a black man, could not boast about. White history month celebrations would point to great feats of engineering, from the undersea tunnel that connects Britain and France to that “bridge in the clouds” in France. I, as a black man, would be hard-pressed to find many or even a few such feats.

Not to mention that a white history month would point to the many advanced and prosperous societies that they have created. Come to think of it, I am struggling to think of a single black one.

You know, I do wish that white people will continue to not see the need for a white history month and thus make me even more depressed. Thank goodness my depression is short, on account of us using the shortest month to celebrate mediocrity.

Michael A Dingwall

michael_a_dingwall@hotmail.com