As you walked through the halls this February, you may have noticed trophy cases filled with historical artifacts, students wearing Black Lives Matter attire, and streamers in black, yellow, green, and red, all to celebrate Black History Month. However, as February draws to an end, you might pick up on some subtle changes. On the evening news, features on black businesses, black inventors, and other mentions of black success slowly fade from public discourse. In school, decorations are taken down, students stop wearing their BLM T-shirts, and Black history is once again only a side note in both lessons and conversations. It will be 11 months before you’ll hear Black history and culture being mentioned frequently again. During that time, PHS tends to only think about “standard” American history — in other words, white history.

At the core of this phenomenon lies the assumption that the history of Black Americans is somehow separable from the history of the United States. Every year, during February, many teachers opt to take a few classes to teach Black history, which at first seems to be a good thing. It’s PHS’s responsibility to celebrate different cultures and heritages. Yet, all too often, the actions taken during the month of February, some performative, some meaningful, are used as a convenient excuse to forget about Black history for the rest of the year. For those who haven’t experienced the consequences of ignorance firsthand, the importance of Black history can be hard to comprehend. This leads to rhetoric like “we’ve done enough.” Yet, in the face of shortcomings in our Black history education and festivities, that statement becomes clearly false.

Instead of sidelining Black history to the shortest month of the year, we should be constantly committing to diversifying our school curriculum, especially by requiring teaching a side of history that often goes forgotten. One example is the 1921 Black Wall Street massacre in Tulsa, Oklahoma: an act of racially-motivated violence that burned down 35 square blocks of a Black neighborhood. It’s possible that you have not even heard of this event before in school. If you have, it’s unlikely that you’ve been taught its true scale and tragedy. In the official report by the Oklahoma Bureau of Vital Statistics, 39 people were confirmed dead. But, historians estimate there were anywhere from 80 to 300 dead, and close to 800 people were admitted to hospitals. It is estimated that 6,000 more Black Americans were held hostage by the rioters. Too often, monumental and tragic events in Black history are brushed over or inaccurately portrayed in our classes. Discussions about these topics need to be held to a higher standard. Black history deserves a more prominent place in all of our classes, especially in the required two years of US history at PHS.

Indeed, our student body has already come up with various demands. Under Superintendent Dr. Carol Keley’s leadership, students attended the 2021 National Youth Liberation Symposium. Here, students increased activism to address Princeton High School students’ demands like greater racial literacy, more diverse staff members, and having minorities better incorporated in the curriculum. These demands must apply not just to Black History Month, but to all months that celebrate cultures and heritages, such as Hispanic Heritage Month, Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, and Pride Month. Princeton High School must acknowledge the voices of students and fulfill their demands. Acceptance can’t be achieved using occasional performances and attire changes. We must go further, incorporating the ideals of inclusivity and remembrance into our classes and everyday lives.