28 days. That is how long African American culture is celebrated. It has been over 90 years since this country began to honor Black History Month, but many of their contributions are still being ignored today. Historians tend to acknowledge that this great nation was built by Europeans, rather than embracing the fact that it wasn’t built alone. Without African Americans, this country wouldn’t be where it is today. It is undeserving to celebrate in just 28 days the many achievements of African Americans that helped mold the U.S. into what it is. Black history is limitless, and there are too many parts of this history that are disregarded.

During Black History Month, we acknowledge and show appreciation for African Americans and their vigorous accomplishments in the U.S. However, we still fall short by only showing recognition of the well-known African Americans who did things for us, while in fact there are numerous ones that we take for granted. For instance, without Alice Parker, the heating furnace wouldn’t have been invented, and it would leave people without gas heating furnaces during the winter months. If George T. Sampson didn’t create the dryer, many of us wouldn’t be able to dry our clothes. Too many Americans learn the Martin Luther King and Civil Rights Movement parts of black history, but it runs much deeper than that. There are many hidden figures of black history who go unnoticed. For example, the recent movie “Hidden Figures,” about the famous Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughn and Mary Jackson, highlights three African American women who were the first to work at NASA as mathematicians and engineers. Although they were the ones who were portrayed in the movie, there were many other African American women who paved the way for other black women and now go unrecognized.

Black History and the history of other natives should be expressed just as much as European history in the education system and shouldn’t be erased by historians. According to The Huffington Post, “In every history book, every month, and every day, Eurocentric history is mainly celebrated as part of American History.” When people are not educated in the history of African Americans, they are invalidating the many accomplishments that African Americans have made over the years.

The U.S. wouldn’t be what it is now without the history and struggles of African Americans and the many other people of color. We should validate black history as such, and not do it a disservice by only learning about it within the span of 28 days. That isn’t enough time.