Black History Month is a time to celebrate and to give recognition to all the African- American leaders, creators, and public figures that have achieved greatness and worked hard for our rights.

Recently, the topic of banning Black History Month came up in the midst of controversy surrounding the all-white nominations in most categories for the Oscars this year, and actress Stacy Dash from the 1995 comedy film “Clueless” stated that we shouldn’t celebrate it because we don’t have a month to celebrate white history.

“We have to make up our minds,” said Dash, according to nbcchicago.com. “Either we want to have segregation or integration. And if we don’t want segregation, then we need to get rid of channels like BET and the BET awards and the Image Awards where you’re only awarded if you’re black.”

Now, I understand that segregation was a big problem in this country and it still is. However, we can’t force integration or stop black people from broadcasting BET and the award shows.

As a person of multiple ethnicities, her statement aggravated me because of my perception of the fact that she wants to get rid of these award shows that only award black people, but it’s okay to keep the Academy Awards that have been dominated by all white people receiving nominations? It seems like she doesn’t care too much about Black people.

If Black History Month were to be banned, it would be disappointing and disrespectful. It’s good to show some recognition of the history of African- Americans because they deserve it; it’s important to understand the hardships and efforts they made to change the society we live in today.

Although Black history month pays respect to the leaders and activists of the black community, I will even say that if our society is going to keep Black History Month and continue celebrating in the future, we should be educated on the entire history of African American people. We only know about the successes of black people in America, but we should know about their successes from before they came here.

Even some African-Americans have grown bored of how Black History Month is celebrated in the U.S. because King and Parks repeatedly receive the most exposure, according to ibtimes.com.

We should not be limited to just learning about Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights Movement, we should know about the history of other black people who made major contributions to society.

For example, Gabby Douglas was the first African-American woman in Olympic history to become the individual all-around champion. She won gold medals in individual, all- around, and team competitions. Viola Davis was the first African-American woman to win an Emmy Award for “Best Actress in a TV Drama”. These people may not be leaders who fought for our rights but they are inspiring people who are important to Black History in this day and age. They were the first of their kind to win the awards they received.

Black History Month is an important time to celebrate black people in general. The thought of banning it because we don’t have a white history month is ridiculous, and I think Dash is just causing a stir of arguments among everyone. If we keep the Oscars, then we keep Black History Month.