Do we really need Black History Month?

Now that Black History Month has come to a close, I wanted to ask something I've been wanting to ask for many, many years. Is Black History Month outdated?
I understand, as an African-American, we need to remember our heritage. I do just that, but it doesn't begin February 1 and end on March 1.
Our history, just like other cultures, is rich with moments of celebration and tragedy. We need to remember the men and women who died before ever reaching the United States on slave ships nearly four centuries ago. We need to remember those who died so we can eat at any restaurant we choose, sit anywhere we want on a bus or train, and choose any career we wish.
We need to remember inventors like Garrett Morgan who gave us gas masks and stoplights (well, maybe not the stoplight), and visionaries like Martin Luther King, Jr., who dreamed of an America in which people are judged "not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."
The events in our history - good and bad - have culminated in what will probably be the front cover of history books for the next couple of decades, Barack Obama's election to the highest office in the land. When we as African-Americans see our president, we should be remembering our history and not taking it for granted.
So I ask myself once again, "Do we really need one month to celebrate our history?" Personally, no. We should be remembering and celebrating our heritage every day because it isn't just Black history.
It is American history!

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