The Black Commentator - The White Man Who Didn’t Know February Is Black History Month

Brian Couzens, a professed white man admits that he didn’t know February was Black History Month.

Yes, you read right. In 2007, there are still non-Blacks who do not know that February is Black History Month.

The admission came courtesy of Hartford’s daily paper the Courant which featured an interview regarding Couzens’ reasons for booking the highly controversial white drag queen that performs in blackface and mimics negative stereotypes of Blacks.

Charles Knipp, a.k.a. Shirley Q. Liquor is still booked to perform in Hartford, Connecticut on February 23 at popular gay nightclub Chez EST.

Couzens, the club’s manager said that while he wasn’t aware of Black History Month, in retrospect, he probably wouldn’t have booked Knipp’s act for February had he known, but the show would still go on.

All I want to know is what rock was this person living under to not know February is Black History Month?

But more seriously, Couzens’ comments directly speak to the divide between Blacks and whites and lends credence to the notion that one can live in one's own world while the rest of the world passes by.

While Couzens may not be a blatant racist, he is guilty of unconscious racism.

Unconscious racism as one federal judge put it “can be found in the latent psyches of white Americans that were inundated for centuries with myths and fallacies of their superiority over the black race," and that a form of "benign neglect" has replaced overt and intentional discrimination.

Case in point, it is impossible for non-Blacks to say what is or is not racially offensive to Black people. This is the reason why people like Couzens don’t see anything wrong with a white man performing in blackface. In addition, even though Couzens may have the best of intentions, he, like other non-Blacks, is unable to distinguish or recognize their own racist behavior. Plainly put, his people weren’t brought over here as slaves and then dehumanized to the point of mass confusion and self-hatred, ours were.

From the outright blatant racial attacks on Blacks in Los Angeles by some local gangs, to the MLK weekend college parties where white students dressed up as Aunt Jemima and gang members, to the controversial blackface minstrel show booked in popular white gay night clubs, Couzens’ comments should serve as a reminder to all Blacks that we have not come that far.

And like with anything ugly, society would rather push racial issues under the carpet and hope and pray that they will go away, but they won’t. Hurricane Katrina reminded us all of that.

We cannot get to the point where we are unable or unwilling to call out racism when it happens. Political correctness only gets you so far and at times does more of a disservice to Blacks than anything else.

There are times when you just have to call it like it is and hope that you are not the only one willing to do so.

Brian Couzens may not be a blatant racist, but he does suffer from unconscious racism, which is probably a direct result of his white privilege. A privilege that allowed him to go though life for 32 years living in his own white world, never having to engage with anyone outside of his circle. And it’s because of this privilege that it’s impossible for people like Couzens to understand how racially offensive a blackface minstrel show is and allows them to go through life never knowing that Blacks have a history month and that month is February.

Black people, we have a lot of work to do.

BC Columnist Jasmyne Cannick, 29, is a social commentator, nationally syndicated journalist and activist who was chosen as one of ESSENCE Magazine's 25 Women Shaping the World. She is a member of the National Association of Black Journalists and writes a popular daily blog at jasmynecannick.com and myspace.com/jasmynecannick. She resides in Los Angeles. Click here to contact Ms. Cannick.