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 feels like it’s time for a rethink. As time has passed, an celebration that started out as a celebration and reminder of heritage, traditions and links between global Black communities, has developed a commercial tone, broadening to incorporate events where Black people are remunerated to address Caucasian groups about “unconscious bias” and “allyship”. The anti-racism rallies of the last decade sparked an increase in the industry of showcasing anti-racist commitment. But even that moment has passed. The tide has peaked, resulting in a somewhat empty inheritance of what raising awareness is for.
The Background of Black History Observance
Initially celebrated 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 commemoration and observance in the second week of February. Black History Month evolved from 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 autumn in the United Kingdom, Deutschland, Éire and the Holland.
The month has transformed since that time, focusing less on the accounts of the slave trade across the Atlantic and civil rights battles, and increasingly on prominent Black figures in government, the arts, and social movements, and widely honoring the impact Black people have made to shape the country. It is in schools where Black History Month is most regularly observed, with discussions and heritage festivities. But the manner the celebration is celebrated is a indication of the contemporary political context. How it progresses is a instructive case in how co-option leads to dismantling: the transformation of Black History Month has stymied the purpose of it, which is to tackle systemic and institutional racism.
A Troubling Time
Little demonstrates how critical it is to reconsider Black History Month more than the current time in which it occurs this year. In the Britain, a reemerging right-wing in the form of the Reform organization is top in opinion ratings. In the summer we observed the largest far-right rally in the UK's past. the Conservative leader, the African descendant in charge of the Conservative party, is a firm opponent of the racial justice movement, and we are in a situation where a member of parliament feels emboldened to say that the absence of Caucasian individuals in parts of a city is a source of worry. Meanwhile, extreme conservative groups are expanding in the EU as a entirety.
In the United States, a significant offensive against inclusion programs and preferential policies has been carried, often successfully, to the highest courts of the country. A campaign to scrub the history of people of color and legacy from the historical documents is ongoing. One of the former president's initial presidential directives targeted the National Museum of African American History and Culture, and the prestigious establishment, accusing them of a organized and extensive campaign to rewrite our Nation’s history” by representing the nation “as naturally discriminatory”.
Against this backdrop, the celebration represents how little it can be impactful if it is confined to either routine organizational acknowledgments, or politically neutered commemorations of former accomplishments, rather than confronting the situation of the current era. It also reveals how its limited duration means that it is detached from the wider consistent effort that is required. A university professor, a educator at a learning establishment, put it best when she expressed apprehension about the temporary “tokenism” of the month. “The problem with taking a tokenistic approach”, she commented, “is that it often means that Black History Month evolves into a brief show rather than a driver of transformation.”
Reevaluating, Not Abandoning
Determining how to alter, change and broaden actions for equal rights and acknowledgment in such moments of dejection and worry is a difficult task. There is a urge to just eliminate observances such as Black History Month completely, assuming they are no longer suitable, or are vestiges of an era that has failed to deliver.
But despite everything, Black History Month, and in fact the entire extended network and tradition of racial movements – grassroots Black Lives Matter organisations, inclusion and equity efforts, and yes, even those talks to businesses – constitute an framework that a significant effort has been invested in. It is there not merely to decline as the politics moves on (and in fact, deteriorates), but to be a dynamic entity.
So what would a fresh vibrant Black History Month seem? To begin with, it would be not just one concentrated month: something that is distributed throughout the annual calendar (as certain organizations are already beginning to do), elements of its material (particularly around notable African descendants) included in educational programs. It would also be a period that does not evade politics, and allows opportunity for citizens, particularly the younger generation, to air their fears and experiences. What use is basic knowledge of the bygone era when it ignores the current situation of ultra-nationalist gatherings in the public spaces? Organizations who celebrate it should not be reassured with the neutral terminology of “unconscious bias” and alertness to “microaggressions”, but faced with the dangers that face all if opposition to discrimination is not treated with importance. In short, Black History Month should be made up-to-date, urgent, and adaptive. Maybe an total re-identification is required – Contemporary Black History Month.
