Robin Carnahan: “Every February, our Nation pauses to recognize the tremendous contributions of African-Americans to the history of our…”

“Every February, our Nation pauses to recognize the tremendous contributions of African-Americans to the history of our Nation. In 1926, Dr. Carter G. Woodson established Negro History Week because he saw that most of the contributions African-Americans had made to American culture and industry were being ignored by historians. We have come a long way since 1926. More and more of our history books acknowledge the contributions of African-Americans. Our schools have made it part of their curriculum, libraries and museums create exhibits, and our celebration of African-American history has been expanded to an entire month. But we still have a long way to go. We need African-American History Month because many people don't know about African-American heroes like Crispus Attucks, who led the Boston uprising in 1770 and became the first casualty of the American Revolution. Equally forgotten are African-American inventors like Garrett Morgan, who developed the traffic light and gas mask. These Americans have added to the richness and greatness of our country. It is appropriate that as we stand in our Nation's Capitol, a structure which was built by the back-breaking labor of both free and slave African-Americans, we talk about the contributions African-Americans have made to this country's history and to its future.”