Coleman starts by making clear the image that is being painted about “black” people:
To be black in America is to be seen, above all, as a victim. Regardless of the unique mix of privileges and disadvantages that have characterized your life, “anti-racism” will label you a victim of oppression.
He goes on to argue that the point of this month is to look at success, rather than get mired in historical oppression:
Against this trend stands Black History Month, the only history-related, race-conscious tradition in America that focuses not on what the country has done to black people, but on what black people have done for the country.
He finishes with a hope that society can move beyond the harms afflicted, and toward a better state in which everybody can contribute.
… the image of the black American as a victim was always intended to be a short-term strategy to secure our rights. It was never meant to become a permanent identity. There is no dignity in being America’s eternal guilt mascot. There is dignity, however, in achievement and success—in becoming, as Woodson put it, a great factor in civilization. To that end, I submit that we should keep Black History Month the way it is.