Black History Month is a reflection of the current political climate, so what steps can we take to refresh it?
This is Black History Month in the Britain, and it appears it’s time for a rethink. As time has passed, an event that began as a festivity and recollection of history, culture and the connections between Black populations worldwide, has taken on a corporate feel, expanding to include gatherings where individuals of African heritage are paid to address white audiences about “unconscious bias” and active solidarity. The 2020s Black Lives Matter protests generated a rise in the enterprise of demonstrating racial awareness. However, that period has concluded. The wave has reached its height, leaving a sort of hollowed out legacy of what promoting consciousness is for.
The Origins of Black History Month
Originally observed in the US and Canada, Black History Month was conceived in 1962 as “Negro History Week” by historian of African descent Carter G. Woodson with multiple days of celebration and reflection in the second week of February. Black History Month grew out of this campaign and was publicly established in 1970. Now it is celebrated not only in the US and Canada in winter, but also in autumn in the UK, the Federal Republic of Germany, Ireland and the Netherlands.
The observance has evolved since that time, placing less emphasis on the narratives of colonial slavery and struggles for equality, and increasingly on influential individuals of color in government, the arts, and social movements, and extensively acknowledging the input Black people have made to shape the country. It is in learning environments where Black History Month is most frequently marked, with talks and cultural events. But the method the observance is celebrated is a indication of the current political situation. How it progresses is a valuable example in how co-option leads to erosion: the transformation of Black History Month has impeded the objective of it, which is to confront embedded and established prejudice.
A Troubling Time
Hardly anything shows how critical it is to reevaluate Black History Month as much as the current time in which it occurs this year. In the United Kingdom, a revitalized conservative movement in the shape of the Reform political group is leading the polls. In the recent season we observed the biggest extreme right demonstration in the UK's past. the Conservative leader, the person of color at the helm of the right-wing political group, is a strong critic of anti-racism activism, and we are in a position where a legislator feels empowered to declare that the absence of Caucasian individuals in specific city neighborhoods is a reason for concern. At the same time, extreme conservative groups are growing in the EU as a entirety.
In the US, a significant offensive against diversity initiatives and positive discrimination has been taken, frequently with success, to the highest courts of the state. A campaign to erase Black history and narrative from the records is in progress. One of Donald Trump's first executive orders targeted the institution dedicated to Black heritage, and the renowned cultural organization, claiming they of a “concerted and widespread effort to alter the country's historical narrative” by depicting the United States “as inherently racist”.
In this context, the month illustrates how minimally it can be effective if it is confined to either obligatory business commemorations, or stripped of political content commemorations of former accomplishments, rather than addressing the realities of the present. It also shows how its short period means that it is disconnected from the wider consistent effort that is necessary. Denise Miller, a educator at a learning establishment, put it best when she raised concerns about the temporary “tokenism” of the month. “The issue with adopting a symbolic stance”, she wrote, “is that it frequently results in that Black History Month evolves into a transient display rather than a agent of progress.”
Reconsidering, Not Discarding
Establishing how to alter, change and broaden efforts for equal rights and acknowledgment in such periods of dismay and anxiety is a treacherous thing. There is a urge to just eliminate events including Black History Month altogether, thinking they are inadequate for current needs, or are relics of an time that has failed to deliver.
However, regardless of the situation, Black History Month, and in fact the entire extended network and legacy of racial movements – local anti-racism groups, diversity equity and inclusion initiatives, and certainly, even commercial engagements – represent an infrastructure that a significant effort has been invested in. It is there not just to decay as the politics moves on (and in fact, deteriorates), but to be a vital organism.
So what would a fresh vibrant Black History Month seem? To begin with, it would be extended beyond a brief observance: something that is distributed through the year (as various establishments are already beginning to do), elements of its material (particularly around historic Black characters) included in educational programs. It would also be a period that does not evade politics, and allows opportunity for individuals, particularly youth, to air their fears and experiences. What value has mere awareness of the bygone era when it doesn’t reckon with the contemporary truth of ultra-nationalist gatherings in the urban areas? Institutions who celebrate it should not be comforted with the neutral terminology of “unconscious bias” and awareness of “microaggressions”, but confronted with the risks that face all if fight against prejudice is not taken seriously. Briefly stated, Black History Month should be made current, urgent, and adaptive. Perhaps an total re-identification is necessary – Black History is Now Month.
