Use Black History Month to prepare
February 5, 2008
Editorial Board
The Issue:SDSU is a predominantly white campus with very little exposure to other cultures.
The Stance:Events like African-American Step Show are a chance to expand your horizons.
A mere 44 years ago, segregation was still a perfectly legal part of life in the United States. Equal rights were just a dream that some of the movement’s leaders would never see come true.
Today, the world is a different place. While racism is still a hot topic, some of the most prominent members of our society are a rainbow of hues. Oprah Winfrey has a vast amount of influence with a talk show, magazine and philanthropy. Condoleezza Rice and Colin Powell have both served as Secretary of State. Now, an African American has a very good chance at becoming the next President of the United States.
Most of the students at SDSU were born and raised in the Midwest and have very little experience with people of other races. Other than the stereotypical black rapper or the video-game loving genius Asian or the drunken Native American we see on television, we have no idea what other cultures are actually like.
February is Black History Month, and while it only encompasses one race, there are several ways to expand your own horizons. On Feb. 9, the Black Student Alliance will host its fifth annual Step Show at 7 p.m. in Doner Auditorium. If you can’t make the performance, you can still experience the black culture. Read books and poetry written by black authors like Maya Angelou, Langston Hughes or Toni Morrison. Listen to black musicians like Myles Davis, Ella Fitzgerald, Jimi Hendrix or Kanye West. Watch movies like A Raisin in the Sun or The Color Purple that show the struggles with race African Americans face.
It’s not our fault that we don’t live in a diverse area; it just means that we have to work a little harder to experience the world around us. The opportunities to grow as a human being do exist in our area, but we have to seek them out. If we are really expected to go anywhere from here, we have to be ready to go there.
