GUESS COLUMNIST: Twelve months of recognition

But I would also like to comment on the issue of Black History Month. February is the only time when institutions feel obligated to recognize -- or make some attempt at recognizing -- the great things that black people have done. We have all learned about Dr. King and his dream. We may have learned about Harriet Tubman andESojourner Truth as well as many other great mothers.ESomewhere along the lineEyou may have learned aboutEW.E.B.EDuBois orEBooker T. Washington and felt that youEhad a solid understanding of black history. IEmust say that I am not satisfied with this. As a descendent of the people on whose backs this country was built, I am not allowed to be satisfied with this. I feel personally responsible for keeping the truth of my history alive by telling the stories over and over.EBlack history is not only what is written in the textbooks and taught duringEFebruary. It isEa rich history deeply rooted in oral tradition. Listening to stories told by our grandparents is more valuable than any school textbooks could ever be. Because we often rely solely on what we have been taught,Eit is no wonder that many of us do not know that the first female millionaire was a black woman, or that it was a black man who invented the process of manufacturing paper.EMany of usEdo not know that a black man created theEspark plug and that others created the fire extinguisher, the gas mask, the fountain pen, the traffic light and the refrigerator. We take for granted the contributions that black people have made to our society and our everyday life.EWe should not have to wait until February to acknowledge everything that black people have done for this country. Have we ever been formally thanked for creating the foundation of this country and for laboring on its land for centuries, against our will?EHas anyone taken the time to apologize for everythingEour ancestors were put through so that America could be what it is today? Yes, we have been thanked.ESociety has thanked us by way of disparate treatment in education, employment and housing. We are thanked when we get pulled over on highways for Driving While Black. What better way to thank someone than to frisk him on the side of the road because his tail light is out? People continually second-guess our intelligence, they second-guess our mere presence at such institutions as Penn and, worst of all, they fear us. I have been at Penn almost two years now and before that I was in a prestigious boarding school. One thing IEhave learned is that the amount of educationEyou have does not matter at all because when you walk down the street, there will still beEpeople who will clutch their bags a little tighter or feel for their wallets after you accidentally bump into them, even if you are wearing a Penn sweatshirt. Mr. Lowinger is correct inEsaying that no one will ever understand the struggles of black people in this country. No matter how anti-racism you are, how pro-affirmativeEaction and pro-diversityEyouEare, you will never understand what it is like to be repeatedly denied, doubted, misunderstood, suspected, accused, underestimated and rejected simply because you are a black person.ENor will you ever understand what it means to beEa member of a race of people who -- despite everything to which it has been continually subjected -- has remained strong and has persevered. I can only ask that you take the time to think when you move through your day-to-day actions. When you see a black man on campus and you feel yourself getting anxious, stop and think, "Has this man ever done anything to me?" When you open the doors to your classes, remember that it was one of us who created the doorknob. Take the time to give credit where credit is due, andEtry to acknowledge the historical and present contributions that black peopleEmake and have made to society. February is not the only month that you reap the benefits of our contributions, so don't limit appreciation to this one month.

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