Black History Month is a reflection of the prevailing political atmosphere, so how do we revamp it?
It's Black History Month in the United Kingdom, and it feels like it’s time for a reassessment. As time has passed, an event that began as a festivity and recollection of the past, cultural identity and bonds between international African diaspora communities, has developed a commercial tone, growing to encompass functions where Black people are compensated to talk to white audiences about “unconscious bias” and “allyship”. The 2020s Black Lives Matter protests created a surge in the industry of demonstrating racial awareness. Yet, that phase is now over. The surge has reached its height, resulting in a somewhat empty inheritance of what raising awareness is for.
The History of Black History Celebration
Originally observed 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 remembrance and recognition in the second week of February. Black History Month developed from this initiative and was officially launched in 1970. Currently it is marked not only in the United States and Canada in the second month, but also in autumn in the United Kingdom, Deutschland, Éire and the the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
The observance has developed since those days, placing less emphasis on the histories of transatlantic enslavement and struggles for equality, and increasingly on prominent Black figures in government, the arts, and social movements, and extensively acknowledging the input Black people have made to influence the nation. It is in schools where Black History Month is most commonly celebrated, with lectures and artistic activities. But the way the observance is celebrated is a indication of the current political situation. How it evolves is a instructive case in how assimilation leads to erosion: the transformation of Black History Month has stymied the purpose of it, which is to confront systemic and institutional racism.
A Jarring Moment
Few things illustrate how critical it is to reevaluate Black History Month as much as the particular moment in which it falls this year. In the UK, a revitalized conservative movement in the shape of the Reform organization is top in opinion ratings. In the warmer months we observed the biggest extreme right demonstration in the history of Britain. a prominent political figure, the person of color at the helm of the Conservative party, is a firm opponent of the racial justice movement, and we are in a place where a member of parliament gains confidence to say that the absence of Caucasian individuals in specific city neighborhoods is a source of worry. Meanwhile, far-right parties are growing in Europe as a entirety.
In the United States, a significant offensive against diversity initiatives and positive discrimination has been brought, repeatedly with positive outcomes, to the top legal institutions of the state. A effort to remove African American heritage and narrative from the historical documents is in progress. One of the former president's initial presidential directives focused on the museum of African American legacy, and the prestigious establishment, claiming they of a organized and extensive campaign to change the national past” by depicting the United States “as naturally discriminatory”.
Given these circumstances, the observance represents how insufficiently it can be impactful if it is limited to either dutiful corporate observances, or stripped of political content festivities of contributions in the past, rather than confronting the situation of the current era. It also reveals how its limited duration means that it is detached from the more extensive continuous action that is necessary. A university professor, a professor at University of Greenwich, put it best when she voiced worries about the short-term symbolic gestures of the month. “The problem with taking a tokenistic approach”, she wrote, “is that it typically leads to that Black History Month becomes a transient display rather than a agent of progress.”
Rethinking, But Not Jettisoning
Figuring out how to adjust, modify and expand actions for equal rights and acknowledgment in such times of discouragement and concern is a difficult task. There is a temptation to just discontinue observances such as Black History Month entirely, assuming they are no longer suitable, or are remnants of an era that has been ineffective.
However, regardless of the situation, Black History Month, and in fact the whole broad system and tradition of racial movements – community-based BLM initiatives, diversity equity and inclusion initiatives, and certainly, even commercial engagements – form an infrastructure that a significant effort has been invested in. It is there not only to deteriorate as the political landscape shifts (and in fact, deteriorates), but to be a vital organism.
So what would a fresh vibrant Black History Month appear as? To begin with, it would be extended beyond a brief observance: something that is distributed throughout the annual calendar (as certain organizations are already starting to implement), elements of its material (particularly around prominent figures of color) incorporated into academic syllabi. It would also be a time that does not evade governmental matters, and provides room for people, particularly young people, to share their anxieties and narratives. What value has simple recognition of the bygone era when it ignores the current situation of extreme conservative demonstrations in the urban areas? Institutions who mark it should not be comforted with the neutral terminology of implicit prejudice and alertness to minor insults, but faced with the risks that face all if anti-racism is not approached earnestly. To summarize, Black History Month should be made contemporary, pressing, and responsive. Maybe an total re-identification is in order – Contemporary Black History Month.
