Black History month is 28 days, but as a person and not a politician, U.S. Rep. James E. Clyburn , D-S.C. thinks there should be a month to set aside to celebrate the accomplishments of one race over another.
Instead, Clyburn feels that all Americans that make a positive impact on the world around them, regardless of race, should be celebrated and learned about throughout the year.
At a Feb. 10 Black History Month program at the Williamsburg County Magnet School for the Arts, Clyburn postulated the idea that Black History Month should be supplanted by a year long celebration of all Americans.
“I really believe that South Carolina and other states need to really, incorporate in all of our text books, all the contributions made by all Americans,” Clyburn said. “I don’t understand why people are so intimidated by that. It doesn’t take away from you or anything that I may do.”
As the guest speaker at the event, Clyburn spoke about the need to encourage children to be the difference makers the world needs. He specifically pointed to people such as Jonas Salk, who developed the first safe and effective polio vaccine, and Lake City native Ronald McNair as people the children he was speaking to could eventually become.
Clyburn said in order to push students to greater goals in life, they must be given the proper image to live up to.
“People tend to feel that they can be successful when they can identify with successful people,” he said. “If you want to say to a black child that you can overcome your circumstances and be successful, then say, ‘Because Ron McNair did it.’ That’s the type of thing you have to do if you want people to really strive to be successful.”
The program was not all about Clyburn, though, as children from throughout the school demonstrated some of the artistic skills they have been learning in the magnet school’s classrooms.
Students took the stage with the persona of some of Motown’s most famous acts as the some of the school’s younger students acted the part of Dianna Ross and The Supremes along with The Temptations.
The school’s students provided Clyburn and the audience with a bit of entertainment, but a healthy dose of perspective as well as the congressmen was asked by some of the students how he got to where he is and how they can become a congressman.
“So many of them see me in the news and I try to take time and help them understand that it all started out at Liberty St. Elementary School over in Sumter,” he said. “I try to get them to understand why it’s important to read, study and stay out of trouble.”
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