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In an op-ed for the Boston Herald, Matthew Koss, an associate professor of physics at the College of the Holy Cross, examines the impact that Black History Month has had on our nation and its youth. The piece recounts the experiences of his sister, who went with their father nearly 50 years ago to march with Dr. King and currently teaches special education.
Koss writes about her classroom, where two boys were reading alphabet flashcards. When they reached the letter “M,” the corresponding picture showed a dark-skinned man wearing a suit. The boy said the letter and then blurted out “president.”
Koss explains how this moment—a young white boy looking at pictures of dark-skinned men in suits and thinking “president,”—exemplifies changes in our country’s outlook on race. “Wherever we need to go,” Koss writes, “surely we’ve already come a long way, and I am fairly certain that my father would think that we owe part of what we have learned to Black History Month.”
Read the Boston Herald article.
This ‘Holy Cross in the News’ item by Thomas Van Grinsven ’11
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