Black History Month acts as a gauge of the prevailing political atmosphere, so what steps can we take to refresh it?
This is Black History Month in the UK, and it seems it’s time for a reassessment. Over the years, an observance that was initiated as a festivity and recollection of the past, cultural identity and bonds between global Black communities, has developed a commercial tone, growing to encompass events where Black people are remunerated to speak with white audiences about “unconscious bias” and “allyship”. The anti-racism rallies of the last decade created a surge in the enterprise of demonstrating racial awareness. But even that moment has passed. The wave has crested, producing a diluted aftermath of what raising awareness is for.
The Background of Black History Month
Initially celebrated in the US and Canada, Black History Month was created in 1962 as “Negro History Week” by historian of African descent Carter G. Woodson with multiple days of celebration and reflection in the February's second week. Black History Month evolved from this campaign and was officially launched in 1970. Today it is observed not only in the US and Canada in February, but also in October in the United Kingdom, Deutschland, Ireland and the Netherlands.
The period has developed since that time, placing less emphasis on the narratives of colonial slavery and civil rights battles, and increasingly on notable African descendants in politics, culture, and activism, and extensively acknowledging the impact Black people have made to influence the nation. It is in schools where Black History Month is most frequently marked, with discussions and heritage festivities. But the method the celebration is celebrated is a reflection of the contemporary political context. How it progresses is a good lesson in how assimilation leads to dismantling: the reshaping of Black History Month has stymied the objective of it, which is to tackle systemic and institutional racism.
A Jarring Moment
Few things illustrate how critical it is to reevaluate Black History Month as much as the current time in which it falls this year. In the Britain, a reemerging right-wing in the shape of the Reform party is top in opinion ratings. In the summer we observed the most significant ultra-conservative gathering in the history of Britain. Kemi Badenoch, the African descendant in charge of the Conservative party, is a strong critic of Black Lives Matter, and we are in a position where a elected representative gains confidence to say that “not seeing any white faces” in specific city neighborhoods is a cause for alarm. At the same time, far-right parties are growing in the European continent as a whole.
In the America, a significant offensive against inclusion programs and preferential policies has been carried, frequently with success, to the highest courts of the nation. A effort to remove the history of people of color and narrative from the historical documents is under way. One of Donald Trump's initial presidential directives targeted the National Museum of African American History and Culture, and the Smithsonian Institution, accusing them of a “concerted and widespread effort to rewrite our Nation’s history” by portraying America “as fundamentally prejudiced”.
Against this backdrop, the month represents how little it can be effective if it is confined to either dutiful corporate observances, or stripped of political content commemorations of former accomplishments, rather than addressing the conditions of the present. It also reveals how its short period means that it is detached from the broader ongoing work that is required. A university professor, a professor at University of Greenwich, articulated it most accurately when she voiced worries about the short-term symbolic gestures of the celebration. “The difficulty with embracing a superficial method”, she wrote, “is that it often means that Black History Month evolves into a transient display rather than a agent of progress.”
Reevaluating, Not Abandoning
Establishing how to adapt, revise and extend efforts for racial equality and recognition in such moments of dejection and worry is a treacherous thing. There is a temptation to just do away with observances such as Black History Month altogether, assuming they are simply not fit for purpose, or are vestiges of an time that has been ineffective.
However, regardless of the situation, Black History Month, and in fact the entire extended network and heritage of campaigns for equality – local anti-racism groups, inclusion and equity efforts, and yes, even those talks to businesses – constitute an infrastructure that a lot of work has gone into. 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 new dynamic Black History Month look like? Well, first, it would be extended beyond a brief observance: something that is dispersed throughout the annual calendar (as some institutions are already beginning to do), parts of its content (particularly around historic Black characters) incorporated into school curriculums. It would also be a period that does not evade politics, and leaves space for citizens, particularly youth, to express their concerns and stories. What value has mere awareness of the past when it ignores the current situation of extreme conservative demonstrations in the street? Establishments who celebrate it should not be pacified with the neutral terminology of implicit prejudice and alertness to subtle slights, but confronted with the risks that impact society if opposition to discrimination is not approached earnestly. In short, Black History Month should be made contemporary, pressing, and adaptive. Perhaps an entire name rebrand is required – Contemporary Black History Month.
