Black History Month serves as a mirror of the current political climate, so how do we revamp it?
We are in Black History Month in the United Kingdom, and it seems it’s time for a reassessment. Throughout its history, an event that started out as a commemorative event of heritage, traditions and links between international African diaspora communities, has taken on a corporate feel, expanding to include gatherings where individuals of African heritage are paid to speak with Caucasian groups about implicit prejudice and supportive partnership. The demonstrations for racial justice in the 2020s generated a rise in the industry of displaying cultural sensitivity. Yet, that phase is now over. The tide has crested, leaving a sort of hollowed out legacy of what increasing understanding is for.
The Origins of Black History Month
First commemorated in the United States and Canada, Black History Month was established in 1962 as “Negro History Week” by African American historian Carter G. Woodson with a week of celebration and reflection in the second week of February. Black History Month grew out of this campaign and was officially launched in 1970. Now it is celebrated not only in the United States and Canada in the second month, but also in the tenth month in the Britain, Deutschland, the Republic of Ireland and the Netherlands.
The observance has transformed since its inception, placing less emphasis on the accounts of the slave trade across the Atlantic and struggles for equality, and more on influential individuals of color in government, the arts, and social movements, and extensively acknowledging the impact Black people have made to shape the country. It is in learning environments where Black History Month is most regularly observed, with discussions and heritage festivities. But the method the month is observed is a indication of the contemporary political context. How it evolves is a valuable example in how assimilation leads to dismantling: the restructuring of Black History Month has stymied the point of it, which is to confront systemic and institutional racism.
A Disconcerting Period
Little demonstrates how crucial it is to reevaluate Black History Month as much as the current time in which it falls this year. In the Britain, a revitalized conservative movement in the guise of the Reform political group is leading the polls. In the recent season we saw the most significant ultra-conservative gathering in the history of Britain. the Conservative leader, the African descendant in charge of the right-wing political group, is a strong critic of anti-racism activism, and we are in a situation where a elected representative feels empowered to say that the absence of Caucasian individuals in specific city neighborhoods is a source of worry. At the same time, far-right parties are growing in the EU as a complete entity.
In the America, a massive attack against diversity initiatives and positive discrimination has been carried, often successfully, to the highest courts of the state. A effort to erase the history of people of color and experience from the archives is under way. One of the political figure's first executive orders focused on the National Museum of African American History and Culture, and the Smithsonian Institution, alleging that they of a coordinated and broad attempt to alter the country's historical narrative” by depicting the United States “as naturally discriminatory”.
In this context, the celebration symbolises how insufficiently it can be influential if it is confined to either obligatory business commemorations, or politically neutered commemorations of former accomplishments, rather than challenging the conditions of the present. It also demonstrates how its short period means that it is detached from the wider consistent effort that is needed. A university professor, a educator at an educational institution, put it best when she expressed apprehension about the temporary “tokenism” of the month. “The difficulty with taking a tokenistic approach”, she wrote, “is that it often means that Black History Month turns into a transient display rather than a agent of progress.”
Reevaluating, Not Abandoning
Figuring out how to alter, change and broaden initiatives for fair treatment and appreciation in such times of discouragement and concern is a treacherous thing. There is a temptation to just discontinue things like Black History Month altogether, believing they are inadequate for current needs, or are remnants of an period that has failed to deliver.
But despite everything, Black History Month, and in fact the entire extended network and heritage of campaigns for equality – community-based BLM initiatives, diversity equity and inclusion initiatives, and yes, even those talks to businesses – constitute an framework that a considerable labor has been dedicated to. It is there not merely to decline as the politics moves on (and in fact, deteriorates), but to be a living breathing thing.
So what would a contemporary active Black History Month look like? Firstly, it would be not just one concentrated month: something that is distributed throughout the annual calendar (as some institutions are already beginning to do), parts of its content (particularly around historic Black characters) incorporated into educational programs. It would also be a period that does not avoid politics, and provides room for citizens, particularly young people, to express their concerns and stories. What value has simple recognition of the history when it ignores the present reality of far-right rallies in the public spaces? Organizations who celebrate it should not be comforted with the passive language of implicit prejudice and alertness to subtle slights, but faced with the threats that impact society if opposition to discrimination is not approached earnestly. To summarize, Black History Month should be made up-to-date, pressing, and reactive. It could be that an total re-identification is required – Contemporary Black History Month.
