Cepeda: Heritage months share vital lessons; you can bet on it
By Esther Cepeda
Published: February 21, 2018, 6:01am
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Let’s face it: If it weren’t for celebratory months like Women’s History (March), Asian-Pacific American Heritage (May) and Hispanic Heritage (September/October), America’s school children would rarely hear about little-known people who changed life in the United States.
Too bad these heritage months are often treated with hard-core tone deafness.
I’ve been teaching in public schools since 2004 and I’ve seen some epic fails: Hispanic Heritage Months mostly consisting of tacos on the lunch menu, Asian “celebrations” with only a reference to Chinese New Year, never-addressed Women’s History and, of course, one-note Black History Months.
Though he is more than deserving of the singular honor, there is black history well beyond Martin Luther King Jr. The best heritage celebrations go deep into the annals to highlight forgotten heroes who have something to say about how life plays out today.
For instance, my school recently got a mini-lecture on the legendary career of Isaac Murphy, an African-American who was the first jockey to win the Kentucky Derby three times. He first won in 1884 — the same year he triumphed in the inaugural (and eventually prestigious) American Derby race in Chicago.
Murphy’s mother did laundry for the owner of a horse stable near their home in Lexington, Ky., and “Ike,” who was born into slavery, soon learned to ride.
The list of Murphy’s racing accomplishments is lengthy, but his back-to-back Kentucky Derby wins in 1890 and 1891 stand out. His record for three wins at Churchill Downs went unbroken for 57 years. This was exciting for me to learn.
History remains relevant
Someone recently asked me in all earnestness why we “need” Black History Month, and I can think of no better example than that of Ike Murphy.
I love horses. I follow horse racing. Every spring I turn my sights to all three jewels of the Triple Crown, hoping for the next American Pharoah. And I’ve studied and written about the impact of Latino immigrant handlers, trainers and jockeys on the modern-day sport of kings. Yet before this past week, I had never heard of Murphy.
I did some research, and it turns out that in addition to being the first jockey to be elected to the National Museum of Racing’s Hall of Fame in 1955, he was hailed for his good character because he famously refused to let a champion horse lose the 1879 Kenner Stakes, even though he had been enticed with bribes.
Black jockeys were the norm during Murphy’s heyday, according to Katherine Mooney, the author of “Race Horse Men: How Slavery and Freedom Were Made at the Racetrack.”
“In the 19th century — when horse racing was America’s most popular sport — former slaves populated the ranks of jockeys and trainers,” Mooney wrote in an article on The Conversation, a website of academic and research news. “And black men won more than half of the first 25 runnings of the Kentucky Derby.”
Mooney explained that these wins caused trouble.
“Black men continued to ride successfully through the 1890s, but their role in the sport was tenuous at best. A Chicago sportswriter grumbled that when he went to the track and saw black fans cheering black riders, he was uncomfortably reminded that black men could vote.”
It didn’t take too long for white jockeys to demand (and get) the opportunities to ride the best horses and then to segregate black jockeys into their own, less renowned competitions.
Since then, black jockeys have been rare. Kevin Krigger of the U.S. Virgin Islands was the last black Kentucky Derby rider, in 2013, and he would have been the first black winner since 1902.
This is history at its best: as relevant today as ever.
If there was ever any doubt that we need heritage months to elevate important people and stories, put it to rest. And open yourself up to the possibility of learning something you never even imagined you’d appreciate knowing.
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