As we all know, February, the shortest month of the year, is Black History Month. However, even though we’ve all known this for the majority of our lives, every year, people still feel the need to ask why “White History Month” doesn’t exist. Allow me to break it down for those of you that have the same question.
Black History Month was created with the intent to annually celebrate and observe important people and events in Black history. Black History Month goes deeper than Martin Luther King, Jr., Rosa Parks, Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman and George Washington Carver. Black History is when Greensboro, N.C. college students began their first sit-in at a segregated Woolworth’s lunch counter on Feb. 1, 1960. Black History is when inventor, Edmond Berger, patented the spark plug on Feb. 2, 1839. Black History is when Jack Johnson became the first Black heavyweight champion on Feb. 3, 1908. Black History is when inventor, Willis Johnson, patented the egg beater on Feb. 5, 1884. Black History is when Oprah Winfrey became the first Black woman to host a nationally syndicated talk show on Feb. 8, 1986. Black History is when the NAACP was founded in New York City on Feb. 12, 1909. Black History Month was put into place to recognize important accomplishments and achievements in Black history that you will never learn in school.
White history is the four faces we’ve all seen on Mt. Rushmore in South Dakota. White history is the White man you have on every single form of American currency you have in your wallet right now. White history is the fact that we celebrate Christopher Columbus for his “discovery of the new world,” but don’t celebrate Emmett Chappelle, an African-American scientist and researcher, for his discovery of a particular combination of chemicals that caused all living organisms to emit light. White history is the fact that you could ask anyone in America who abolished slavery, but no one would know that the leader of the Abolitionist Movement was, in fact, a Black man.
We need Black History Month to educate people that are not aware of the contributions made by Black people. We need Black History Month to continue empowering our young boys and girls because they are special, too. We need Black History Month because we deserve for our Black legacy to matter just as much as White history does.  So, to answer your question, as you can see, we don’t have a “White History Month” because White history is celebrated every second of every year. White history is all around you and if you haven’t realized that yet, then you aren’t paying attention.