I was recently talking to a white friend about Black History Month and how he was listening to Morgan Freeman talk about how a month dedicated to a certain ethnic group’s history wasn’t needed, and in fact, only served to divide people further. I respectfully disagreed and said that it was important for Americans to know their history. I argued that much of the discussion surrounding American history is limited to the white experience; thus, a month dedicated to a specific ethnicity is important, since their experiences are often overlooked. Black history is American history, Latino history is American history, etc etc.
Despite my arguments, I realized that, beyond the broad strokes, I didn’t know much about the history of minorities in America. I found that particularly shameful considering I am part of an ethnic minority.
So here’s my question to the DK community — Do you have any suggestions for books on the histories of various ethnic groups in the United States?
