Black History Month serves as a mirror of the prevailing political atmosphere, so what steps can we take to refresh it?
It's Black History Month in the UK, and it appears it’s time for a reassessment. Over the years, an observance that was initiated as a celebration and reminder of history, culture and the connections between global Black communities, has taken on a business-like atmosphere, expanding to include gatherings where individuals of African heritage are remunerated to address Caucasian groups about “unconscious bias” and active solidarity. The anti-racism rallies of the last decade sparked an increase in the industry of showcasing anti-racist commitment. However, that period has concluded. The wave has crested, leaving a sort of hollowed out legacy of what increasing understanding is for.
The Background of Black History Observance
Initially celebrated in the United States and Canada, Black History Month was conceived in 1962 as an observance of African American heritage by Black scholar Carter G. Woodson with seven days of celebration and reflection in the middle of February. Black History Month grew out of this movement and was officially launched in 1970. Currently it is marked not only in the North America in the second month, but also in autumn in the UK, Germany, Ireland and the Holland.
The observance has developed since those days, giving reduced attention to the narratives of the slave trade across the Atlantic and civil rights battles, and greater focus on influential individuals of color in politics, culture, and activism, and broadly celebrating the impact Black people have made to shape the country. It is in learning environments where Black History Month is most frequently marked, with lectures and artistic activities. But the way the observance is observed is a manifestation of the contemporary political context. How it develops is a good lesson in how assimilation leads to dismantling: the restructuring of Black History Month has stymied the objective of it, which is to tackle structural and organizational discrimination.
A Troubling Time
Little demonstrates how crucial it is to reevaluate Black History Month better than the particular moment in which it falls this year. In the Britain, a reemerging right-wing in the guise of the Reform party is top in opinion ratings. In the recent season we witnessed the most significant ultra-conservative gathering in the history of Britain. Kemi Badenoch, the African descendant in charge of the right-wing political group, is a firm opponent of anti-racism activism, and we are in a place where a member of parliament gains confidence to say that “not seeing any white faces” in specific city neighborhoods is a cause for alarm. Simultaneously, extreme conservative groups are surging in Europe as a entirety.
In the United States, a significant offensive against DEI and affirmative action has been brought, often successfully, to the highest courts of the nation. A campaign to remove African American heritage and experience from the archives is in progress. One of Donald Trump's first executive orders aimed at the institution dedicated to Black heritage, and the renowned cultural organization, accusing them of a “concerted and widespread effort to rewrite our Nation’s history” by depicting the United States “as inherently racist”.
Given these circumstances, the observance symbolises how minimally it can be influential if it is restricted to either dutiful corporate observances, or stripped of political content celebrations 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 required. An academic expert, a educator at University of Greenwich, put it best when she voiced worries about the temporary “tokenism” of the celebration. “The problem with adopting a symbolic stance”, she commented, “is that it frequently results in that Black History Month evolves into a brief show rather than a catalyst for change.”
Rethinking, But Not Jettisoning
Figuring out how to adapt, revise and extend efforts for equal rights and acknowledgment in such periods of dismay and anxiety is a difficult task. There is a urge to just discontinue events including Black History Month altogether, assuming they are no longer suitable, or are remnants 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, diversity equity and inclusion initiatives, and indeed, including corporate presentations – represent an framework that a considerable labor has gone into. It is there not just to decay as the politics moves on (and in fact, declines), but to be a vital organism.
So what would a new dynamic Black History Month appear as? Firstly, it would be more than a single focused period: something that is dispersed through the year (as certain organizations are already starting to implement), elements of its material (particularly around notable African descendants) incorporated into academic syllabi. It would also be a time that does not shy away from governmental matters, and allows opportunity for individuals, particularly youth, to share their anxieties and narratives. What value has basic knowledge of the past when it doesn’t reckon with the contemporary truth of far-right rallies in the street? Institutions who observe it should not be pacified with the neutral terminology of hidden discrimination and awareness of subtle slights, but faced with the dangers that impact society if fight against prejudice is not taken seriously. To summarize, Black History Month should be made current, urgent, and adaptive. Perhaps an total re-identification is in order – Contemporary Black History Month.
