Well, end of discussion. The editors got back to me to say they never, never, never, ever publish an article because its Black History Month or Hispanic Heritage Month. I guess that explains why we've never, ever, never, ever read a Chron article about either month. So next time you see an article about BHM or HHM, it's just you being delusional. Go see a shrink. Because the Chron never, ever, never, ever (at least in the last 15 years)....
Glad I brought my brown boots to work today.
I think you may be missing the point (one that Vox Principalis and I both made earlier). The CHE prints NEWS, meaning breaking stories in which things have been done, will be done, or are involving change or conflict.
The Months by themselves don't do any of that.
You need a news peg, and maybe a little study of how journalism works.
The Fiona
Plus, the distorted initial explanation of the term "p.c." [A term which now means everything and nothing, like "sustainable" or "fair and balanced] doesn't help. And, as members of the groups of which we are supposed to be aware have noted, promoting "awareness" of any group can be good, or it can be patronizing and marginalizing. This article from America's Finest News Source(tm) explains the concept:
http://www.theonion.com/content/node/27933Perhaps the OP's local tee vee station has video of a pow wow? Or some traditional dancing--perhaps of some Cherokee people wearing Sioux head dresses and saying "my people called it maize?" Because, in many cases, this is the sort of patronizing nonsense we get from the news media during these awareness months. The lesson: be careful what you wish for. Of course, the CHE is not going to reduce itself to the inanity of local newspuppets. But if there were something newsworthy--a report on educational achievement of native Americans, or the state of native-serving schools or something--then that might be newsworthy, might be a useful tie in with the "awareness" month, and might be informative. Better this than some sort of placeholder story akin to the requirement that we have one random member of a racial minority on a hiring committee to "represent" all racial and ethnic minorities, even in departments that have no minority members, and really are trying to be more diverse. Which is equally as dispiriting as the sort of tokenism that characterizes "[fill in the blank] awareness month" in most popular accounts.
I will say, though, that my kids' grade school does have really good activities for Black History Month. They sustain the lessons year-round, after the hoopla has died down on tee vee, and it can be positive. In most cases, though, I don't see it.
