History/Heritage Months

Ever since its colonial period, the United States has been a nation comprised of many distinct [Page 1091]ethnic, religious, and cultural groups. Although the enslavement of Africans and the subjugation of American Indians tainted the original optimism and commitment to freedoms enshrined in the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution, the United States has long boasted a reputation as a nation of immigrants, while its governing document ensured Americans the right to religious liberty. Approximately 450,000 enslaved Africans were brought to the United States, and more than 60 million immigrants have entered the nation from around the globe over the course of the nation's history, making the United States one of the world's most ethnically and culturally pluralistic societies.

The first 175 years of the nation's history were marked by a strong ideology toward assimilation, whereby immigrant and ethnic minority groups moving to U.S. shores faced intense public pressure to shed their respective cultural identities and heritages as quickly as possible in order to adopt those of the larger Anglo-Saxon society. Sometimes termed “Anglo-conformity” by sociologists, this assimilation-based paradigm began to shift following the success of the civil rights movement during the 1960s and early 1970s. By the mid-1970s, the United States began to embrace its multiethnic roots and pluralistic nature much more readily. This gave rise to multiculturalism, a social philosophy that views pluralism positively as a source of enrichment and strength. Under multiculturalism, individuals are encouraged to take pride in both their common identity as Americans while also retaining a sense of identification and pride in their distinct, respective ethnic heritage(s).

The shift toward a multicultural American society has produced efforts to raise awareness of the important historical and contemporary contributions that various immigrant, ethnic, and religious groups have made to the nation, such as the accomplishments that distinct groups have made to the U.S. military; the American political process; American literature and popular culture; and to the U.S. economy, education, and science/technology. The drive to raise public awareness of the accomplishments and contributions of ethnic minority groups has led to the implementation of various ethnic studies courses as part of the general education curriculum at many colleges and universities across the nation, along with the designation of several ethnic history and heritage months in commemoration of America's pluralistic nature. Major history/heritage months include Black History Month, Hispanic Heritage Month, Native American Heritage Month, Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month, and Jewish American Heritage Month.

These designations have been established by the federal government and are annually reissued via presidential proclamation, with strong encouragement of states and local municipalities to pay homage to the respective heritages during the corresponding time of the year. History/heritage months are celebrated in various manners, including teachers giving lessons to students on ethnic history and literature, the highlighting of specific works of art in museums and books in libraries, or the airing of movies and documentaries chronicling an ethnic heritage on television.