It seems funny to me, and probably to some who know me, that I've waited until the last day of the month to write anything about Black History Month. It's certainly not because there hasn't been anything to talk about, that's for sure. It's strange, but in the year of Barack Obama as the new president of the country, it seems that there have been so many others issues that have superseded presentations and discussions about this month that I haven't been as engaged as I have in previous years. It's also the first year in, well, at least five years, that I didn't get an invitation from the Mayor's office to join them at their annual Black History Month celebration; I wonder if they had it.

Of course this prompts the question I've seen posed elsewhere as to whether Black History Month is still relevant in today's world. After all, we have a black president; we've had blacks win the top Academy Awards; we've had multiple black Miss America's; there are multiple black CEOs of Fortune 500 companies; the world's top golfer is black; the head of the Republican National Party is black,... In some people's minds, blacks are succeeding in areas where they haven't succeeded, or been included, before. And, if that's the case, then what's the problem?

Here's the problem. For every one new success story there's something bad that seems to happen. Black unemployment in this country is 12.6%; we're still looking at 25% of black males under the age of 25 being incarcerated, and, of course, as long as they're in prison they don't count towards unemployment statistics. It's still harder to even get an interview, let alone a job, when you submit a resume with a non-traditional name.

We've had two stories in the last couple of months where a white police officer has shot a black kid for no reason other than the kid was black. In one case, the police officer said the kid tried to commit suicide by shooting himself with a rifle in the side of the head while he was sitting in his car; try to picture that one. In the other, the kid was in his own driveway, with his parents in their pajamas.

We had the new black attorney general of our country, William Holder, come out with his statement that America is full of cowards when it comes to talking about race in this country, and on the same day a NY Post cartoonist and editor thought it was a good idea to release an image of a monkey being shot, referencing President Obama as the monkey, and didn't understand why America thought that was racist. We have a mayor of a city in California resigning because this mayor forwarded a cartoon to a group of people through email, including some black counselors, with watermelons all over the White House lawn, and this person says he didn't know it was racist.

In other words, there are some people who seem to have forgotten that history is still strong, even if it's turning more into an oral history of a people, and they seem not to have kept up with their lessons, which continues to lead them into these acts of intolerance and stupidity. Without black history, there will be more "opportunities" and negative actions that will be taken because people who aren't the "affected" won't know that what they're doing might be perceived differently by those who aren't like them.

America is a melting pot, but it's not a puree. Each person brings something different into the mixture, but when all is said and done we can always distinguish the different items that are in the stew. Each one has its own sense of history and power and wants to be recognized, even if the "beef" gets the name recognition. Every culture wants to preserve their heritage in some way, even if some of "us" have had that heritage emasculated by some really bad acts of their ancestors, as was evidenced once again this past week when a white senator came out with word that he had just discovered that his family had black relatives, due to one of his ancestors having consistent relations with his black "mistress"; is that what they've gone to calling them in 2009?

All of us, as Americans, are important to the success of this country. Some who have greatly contributed to the success of this country haven't gotten their due because of their race. If Black History Month's one role is to keep those memories alive, while trying to educate new people every year about the importance of some of these people, then it needs to continue to exist.

And I hope I get my invitation next year.