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Here are six reasons why the study of Black history is important:

1. Recognizing African American contributions to American and world history. 

African Americans have made countless significant contributions to the history of art, literature, politics, music, science, medicine, technology, agriculture, business, education, and sports. Formal efforts to celebrate Black achievements began with historian Carter G. Woodson, who inaugurated Negro History Week in February of 1926 to coincide with the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. The celebration of Negro History Week later expanded into Black History Month during the 1970s. Most importantly, the Black Freedom Movement (as many scholars prefer to call it) has challenged and expanded the idea of what it means to be a citizen from the American Revolution to the 21st century. Numerous human rights activists around the world, from South Africa to Northern Ireland to Hong Kong, have also been inspired and influenced by African American protest movements.

2. Confronting racism and discrimination.

Learning about the efforts of Black legislators in South Carolina to build public schools after the Civil War, the struggles of Black veterans returning home after fighting against fascism in World War II, or how the federal government resegregated cities through urban renewal programs even as schools were officially desegregated, helps us understand and confront systemic racism and discrimination. We learn from Black history that racism is much more complicated than a water fountain marked “Whites Only.”

3. Inspiring generations of activists. 

African American history is filled with stories of bravery, determination, and complexity from the transatlantic slave trade to the present. Such stories have inspired both Black and non-Black activists to challenge the status quo and demand change, whether it was the abolition of slavery, the desegregation of lunch counters, or an end to systemic racism in education, law enforcement, social welfare agencies, and the disproportionate impact of environmental pollution.

4. Understanding more fully the mosaic of American and world history. 

When I taught about the Civil Rights Movement during a U.S. history survey course in graduate school, a student mentioned it in their evaluation and wrote, “I thought we were learning about U.S. history. If I wanted to take a Black history class, I would have.” I had failed to teach the student how African American history is woven throughout American and world history. Understanding that history forces students to broaden their comprehension of historical trends and events, social and cultural movements, and even scientific and medical developments.

5. Promoting critical thinking. 

Regardless of a student’s interest or major, the study of African American history encourages the development of critical thinking. The segregation wall at Morgan provides an excellent example. The wall was not unique; it was part of a long history in Baltimore City and in other American cities of erecting physical and social barriers to limit Black freedom and movement. Over time, the barrier became an accepted part of the neighborhood’s geography. How many other physical markers and social practices of racial apartheid do we walk by every day unknowingly or uncritically accept as the way life has always been?

6. Encouraging better citizenship. 

Finally, African American history is important because it encourages better citizenship. It emphasizes the ties that bind together individuals, communities, and generations. It illuminates the struggles to redefine and expand constitutional and human rights, both for Black and non-Black people. Throughout American history, students can draw a line connecting antislavery activists, feminism, Indigenous American resistance, civil rights activism, the labor movement, peace activism, and environmental justice.