Black History Month serves as a mirror of the political moment, so in what ways can we modernize it?
It's Black History Month in the United Kingdom, and it appears it’s time for a rethink. As time has passed, an observance that began as a festivity and recollection of heritage, traditions and links between international African diaspora communities, has taken on a corporate feel, growing to encompass gatherings where Black people are paid to speak with predominantly white listeners about “unconscious bias” and supportive partnership. The demonstrations for racial justice in the 2020s generated a rise in the business of demonstrating racial awareness. However, that period has concluded. The wave has crested, producing a diluted aftermath of what increasing understanding is for.
The Origins of Black History Celebration
Initially celebrated in the America and its northern neighbor, Black History Month was created in 1962 as an observance of African American heritage by African American historian Carter G. Woodson with a week of remembrance and recognition in the middle of February. Black History Month grew out of this initiative and was formally inaugurated in 1970. Today it is observed not only in the US and Canada in the second month, but also in the tenth month in the United Kingdom, Deutschland, Éire and the Netherlands.
The period has developed since that time, placing less emphasis on the histories of the slave trade across the Atlantic and civil rights battles, and increasingly on influential individuals of color in politics, culture, and activism, and broadly celebrating the input Black people have made to mold society. It is in schools where Black History Month is most frequently marked, with discussions and heritage festivities. But the way the month is observed is a reflection of the political moment. How it progresses is a instructive case in how co-option leads to dismantling: the transformation of Black History Month has stymied the objective of it, which is to address systemic and institutional racism.
A Troubling Time
Few things illustrate how important it is to reevaluate Black History Month better than the specific period in which it falls this year. In the UK, a reemerging right-wing in the shape of the Reform party is ahead in surveys. In the warmer months we saw the biggest extreme right demonstration in the history of Britain. a prominent political figure, the African descendant in charge of the right-wing political group, is a staunch adversary of anti-racism activism, and we are in a position where a elected representative feels empowered to state that a lack of white people in certain urban areas is a cause for alarm. Meanwhile, ultra-nationalist movements are surging in the European continent as a whole.
In the America, a significant offensive against diversity initiatives and positive discrimination has been brought, frequently with success, to the top legal institutions of the state. A effort to scrub African American heritage and experience from the historical documents is ongoing. One of the political figure's early administrative commands aimed at the National Museum of African American History and Culture, and the prestigious establishment, claiming they of a coordinated and broad attempt to change the national past” by portraying America “as inherently racist”.
Given these circumstances, the observance illustrates how little it can be influential if it is limited to either dutiful corporate observances, or stripped of political content celebrations of historical achievements, rather than confronting the realities of the contemporary world. It also shows how its short period means that it is disconnected from the more extensive continuous action that is necessary. A university professor, a educator at University of Greenwich, expressed it perfectly when she voiced worries about the fleeting superficial actions of the observance. “The difficulty with embracing a superficial method”, she commented, “is that it frequently results in that Black History Month evolves into a fleeting performance rather than a driver of transformation.”
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 difficult task. There is a temptation to just do away with events including Black History Month entirely, thinking they are simply not fit for purpose, or are vestiges of an time that has not worked.
Yet, in spite of all this, Black History Month, and in fact the entire extended network and heritage of racial movements – local anti-racism groups, DEI programs, and indeed, including corporate presentations – constitute an framework that a lot of work has gone into. It is there not only to deteriorate as the political landscape shifts (and in fact, deteriorates), but to be a living breathing thing.
So what would a contemporary active 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 beginning to do), elements of its material (particularly around prominent figures of color) incorporated into school curriculums. It would also be a period that does not shy away from political issues, and allows opportunity for people, particularly young people, to share their anxieties and narratives. What purpose serves simple recognition of the history when it fails to address the current situation of ultra-nationalist gatherings in the street? Institutions who celebrate it should not be pacified with the neutral terminology of “unconscious bias” and sensitivity to “microaggressions”, but challenged by the dangers that face all if fight against prejudice is not treated with importance. To summarize, Black History Month should be made up-to-date, critical, and responsive. It could be that an total re-identification is required – Contemporary Black History Month.