Cultural Exploration Should Not Be Limited, Blacks Say : Heritage: Some suggest that the large number of functions held in February could be spread throughout the year, to give people a chance to attend them all.

As Black History Month draws to a close, Eunice Rusch is slightly frustrated. Not because of the lack of events scheduled during the past month, but because of the overwhelming number of activities that she didn’t get to participate in.

With more than 100 events jammed into the month, the Anaheim bakery owner said these activities should be spread out over the whole year. If people want to attend these functions now, “we have to split ourselves up,” she said.

Rusch, co-owner of Claus’ Bakery, said the number of activities and programs drops considerably after Feb. 28. “I would like to see more activities” all year.

Randy and Joyce Jordan of Mission Viejo, publishers of the Black Orange, a black monthly newspaper, agree.

“There is so much to uncover,” he said, adding that such cultural exploration should not be limited to only four weeks.

“People use February to say what needs to be said and do what needs to be done,” said Stephen Finley, an organizer with CAUSE (Christians for African-American Unity & Self-Expression). “That needs to be done 12 months out of the year.”

“The Black Orange is trying to prompt people to be curious,” Randy Jordan said. “As you find out more about black history, you find out more about yourself,” he said. The Jordans hope their March issue will continue to educate people about the history and achievements of blacks.

Also, more artistic and theatrical events need to be introduced to the county, Joyce Jordan said, cautioning that there’s no point to having such events if they are too expensive. “If you’re going to bring them in, make it affordable,” she said.

But they insist the core for such teachings lie with the family. “You can’t depend on it coming from the school,” Joyce Jordan said.

Blacks must also be made aware of their obligations to the business community, according to Finley.

“We need programs to meet specific needs,” Finley said. He believes mentor programs should be created with businesses to create opportunities for blacks. “Affirmative action is not going to solve the problem.”

Finley urges blacks to invest in black-owned establishments, but said there is a double-standard applied to blacks.

Economically, this type of nationalistic pride and devotion to one’s culture is present in communities like Little Saigon, East Los Angeles and the Fairfax district, Finley said. He said it is no different than what the black community should be striving for, “but when blacks teach that, we’re (viewed as) militant.”

It is that kind of business practice that has resulted in Rusch’s expanded clientele. Despite advertising in community newspapers, Rusch said it wasn’t until she linked up with the Black Orange and local churches that advertising began to pay dividends.

“I’ve seen a lot of changes,” she said. When Rusch and her husband, Claus, bought the shop in 1989, she recalls there were no black plastic couples for the tops of her wedding cakes. “We have to make it a little darker around here,” she remembers saying at the time.