"Even at the point where I was going to pullthings, I thought maybe it's a disservice to gothrough that," she says, noting that there werelikely several school assignments on Black HistoryMonth.

The Role of Schools

Usha Narayana, a junior at Concord-CarlisleRegional High School, says her school is notholding any special events for Black HistoryMonth.

She faults the students, as well as the school,for not properly celebrating the month.

"The school should try, but we should try tomake the students do more--they should understandhow important it is for us to understanddifferences," she says.

To that end, Narayana says she helped toorganize an assembly on civil rights andcelebration of cultures, where students woreethnic dress and speakers debated civil rights.

However, Narayana says, the audience "didn'tcare."

"[The students] will realize that you'redifferent--they'll accept that--but it doesn't getthrough, there's no action," says Narayana, who isof Indian descent.

Despite Narayana's experience, most residentsare confident that the schools are exposingstudents to Black History Month.

"I think in the schools they're getting a lotof awareness," Smith says.

Within the school, Narayana says, students ofdifferent races are well-integrated--"they arefriends and everything," she says, "but if you goto the cafeteria, there are differentcliques--it's an integrated school, but peoplearen't taking advantage of it."

Concord's Black History

In the Concord Library lies a volume on thetown's black history to 1860, published by theConcord Public Schools.

"There has been little information available tochildren to help them know about these Blacks forwhom local places are named," wrote the book'sauthors in the introduction.

The book describes prominent black figures inConcord's history, including ex-slaves,Revolutionary War soldiers and notable localfamilies.

But to the dismay of some Concord residents,few are familiar with these stories