Black History Month acts as a gauge of the current political climate, so in what ways can we modernize it?
We are in Black History Month in the Britain, and it feels like it’s time for a re-evaluation. Throughout its history, an event that began as a festivity and recollection of the past, cultural identity and bonds between international African diaspora communities, has adopted a corporate feel, broadening to incorporate events where individuals of African heritage are paid to speak with Caucasian groups about hidden biases and “allyship”. The anti-racism rallies of the last decade sparked an increase in the enterprise of showcasing anti-racist commitment. However, that period has concluded. The surge has peaked, producing a diluted aftermath of what promoting consciousness is for.
The Background of Black History Month
Initially celebrated in the America and its northern neighbor, Black History Month was conceived in 1962 as a week dedicated to Negro history by African American historian Carter G. Woodson with a week of celebration and reflection in the middle of February. Black History Month grew out of this movement and was officially launched in 1970. Today it is observed not only in the North America in the second month, but also in October in the United Kingdom, Deutschland, Éire and the the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
The month has evolved since those days, giving reduced attention to the accounts of transatlantic enslavement and fights for racial justice, and greater focus on influential individuals of color in government, the arts, and social movements, and extensively acknowledging the impact Black people have made to influence the nation. It is in educational institutions where Black History Month is most regularly observed, with discussions and heritage festivities. But the way the month is observed is a reflection of the contemporary political context. How it evolves is a good lesson in how appropriation leads to weakening: the reshaping of Black History Month has impeded the purpose of it, which is to address systemic and institutional racism.
A Troubling Time
Little demonstrates how critical it is to reconsider Black History Month more than the particular moment in which it falls this year. In the UK, a revitalized conservative movement in the form of the Reform party is ahead in surveys. In the warmer months we witnessed the largest far-right rally in the UK's past. a prominent political figure, the African descendant in charge of the Conservative party, is a strong critic of the racial justice movement, and we are in a situation where a legislator feels emboldened to state that the absence of Caucasian individuals in certain urban areas is a cause for alarm. Simultaneously, far-right parties are surging in Europe as a whole.
In the America, a significant offensive against DEI and affirmative action has been taken, frequently with success, to the supreme judicial bodies of the state. A campaign to scrub African American heritage and narrative from the records is under way. One of Donald Trump's first executive orders aimed at the museum of African American legacy, and the prestigious establishment, alleging that they of a organized and extensive campaign to rewrite our Nation’s history” by representing the nation “as naturally discriminatory”.
In this context, the month illustrates how minimally it can be effective if it is restricted to either routine organizational acknowledgments, or depoliticized festivities of former accomplishments, rather than addressing the situation of the present. It also shows how its limited duration means that it is detached from the wider consistent effort that is needed. Denise Miller, a prof at University of Greenwich, articulated it most accurately when she voiced worries about the short-term symbolic gestures of the observance. “The problem with embracing a superficial method”, she wrote, “is that it typically leads to that Black History Month becomes a brief show rather than a agent of progress.”
Rethinking, But Not Jettisoning
Establishing how to alter, change and broaden initiatives for equal rights and acknowledgment in such periods of dismay and anxiety is a treacherous thing. There is a inclination to just do away with events including Black History Month altogether, assuming they are no longer suitable, or are relics of an period that has not worked.
However, regardless of the situation, Black History Month, and in fact the complete comprehensive structure and tradition of campaigns for equality – local anti-racism groups, inclusion and equity efforts, and certainly, even commercial engagements – represent an foundation that a significant effort has gone into. It is there not just to decay as the political landscape shifts (and in fact, declines), but to be a dynamic entity.
So what would a new dynamic Black History Month appear as? Firstly, it would be more than a single focused period: something that is distributed throughout the annual calendar (as various establishments are already beginning to do), sections of its curriculum (particularly around prominent figures of color) integrated into school curriculums. It would also be a era that does not avoid politics, and provides room for citizens, particularly the younger generation, to share their anxieties and narratives. What value has simple recognition of the bygone era when it fails to address the current situation of ultra-nationalist gatherings in the street? Establishments who observe it should not be pacified with the passive language of implicit prejudice and sensitivity to minor insults, but challenged by the dangers that impact society if opposition to discrimination is not treated with importance. In short, Black History Month should be made current, urgent, and responsive. It could be that an complete renaming is required – Black History is Now Month.
