Black History

Erin J. Aubry appears to have covered all the bases in “Canceling History in the Name of Racial Harmony” (Opinion, April 4), regarding the Inglewood High principal’s myopic decision to cut Black History Month and Cinco de Mayo.

The expendability of the monthlong event first begs the question of its function within the collective American consciousness. Efforts to commercialize the celebration aimed at blacks’ “achievements, but also . . . their pain” speak to the shared legacy all Americans have with blacks. African Americans’ contributions to their nation are ubiquitous and unquestionable. February affords all an annual rite of passage for personal and national examination: to reflect into a black mirror and ask, “How far have we really come?”

KENNETH BOWMAN

San Bernardino