Black History Month serves as a mirror of the prevailing political atmosphere, so in what ways can we modernize it?
This is Black History Month in the UK, and it feels like it’s time for a re-evaluation. Throughout its history, an celebration that started out as a festivity and recollection of heritage, traditions and links between Black populations worldwide, has adopted a business-like atmosphere, broadening to incorporate events where Black people are paid to talk to white audiences about hidden biases and “allyship”. The anti-racism rallies of the last decade created a surge in the business of demonstrating racial awareness. Yet, that phase is now over. The wave has reached its height, leaving a sort of hollowed out legacy of what raising awareness is for.
The Background of Black History Observance
First commemorated in the US and Canada, Black History Month was created in 1962 as a week dedicated to Negro history by historian of African descent Carter G. Woodson with multiple days of commemoration and observance in the February's second week. Black History Month developed from this campaign 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 October in the UK, Deutschland, Éire and the Holland.
The observance has evolved since those days, focusing less on the accounts of colonial slavery and civil rights battles, and more on notable African descendants in government, the arts, and social movements, and broadly celebrating the input Black people have made to influence the nation. It is in educational institutions where Black History Month is most frequently marked, with discussions and heritage festivities. But the way the month is commemorated is a manifestation of the political moment. How it progresses is a good lesson in how appropriation leads to weakening: the reshaping of Black History Month has impeded the point of it, which is to confront embedded and established prejudice.
A Jarring Moment
Few things illustrate how critical it is to reconsider Black History Month as much as the current time in which it falls this year. In the United Kingdom, a resurgent right in the guise of the Reform party is ahead in surveys. In the summer we witnessed the most significant ultra-conservative gathering in the history of Britain. the Conservative leader, the person of color at the helm of the right-wing political group, is a firm opponent of anti-racism activism, and we are in a position where a elected representative gains confidence to say that “not seeing any white faces” in parts of a city is a reason for concern. Simultaneously, far-right parties are growing in the European continent as a entirety.
In the America, a massive attack against inclusion programs and preferential policies has been taken, repeatedly with positive outcomes, to the supreme judicial bodies of the country. A effort to scrub Black history and legacy from the records is ongoing. One of the former president's initial presidential directives aimed at the museum of African American legacy, and the renowned cultural organization, claiming they of a organized and extensive campaign to change the national past” by depicting the United States “as fundamentally prejudiced”.
In this context, the celebration symbolises how little it can be effective if it is limited to either dutiful corporate observances, or stripped of political content festivities of former accomplishments, rather than confronting the situation of the present. It also reveals how its restricted time span means that it is separated from the wider consistent effort that is needed. A university professor, a professor at University of Greenwich, put it best when she voiced worries about the short-term symbolic gestures of the observance. “The issue with taking a tokenistic approach”, she wrote, “is that it frequently results in that Black History Month becomes a transient display rather than a driver of transformation.”
Rethinking, But Not Jettisoning
Figuring out how to adjust, modify and expand initiatives for fair treatment and appreciation in such moments of dejection and worry is a difficult task. There is a inclination to just discontinue things like Black History Month entirely, believing they are inadequate for current needs, or are remnants of an time that has not worked.
Yet, in spite of all this, Black History Month, and in fact the complete comprehensive structure and heritage of racial movements – local anti-racism groups, DEI programs, and yes, even those talks to businesses – represent an framework that a lot of work has been invested in. It is there not just to decay as the political landscape shifts (and in fact, deteriorates), but to be a vital organism.
So what would a fresh vibrant Black History Month seem? Well, first, it would be extended beyond a brief observance: something that is dispersed across all seasons (as certain organizations are already starting to implement), sections of its curriculum (particularly around notable African descendants) incorporated into educational programs. It would also be a period that does not avoid politics, and leaves space for people, particularly youth, to air their fears and experiences. What use is simple recognition of the bygone era when it fails to address the current situation of far-right rallies in the street? Organizations who mark it should not be comforted with the neutral terminology of hidden discrimination and alertness to subtle slights, but faced with the dangers that impact society if fight against prejudice is not taken seriously. In short, Black History Month should be made up-to-date, pressing, and adaptive. It could be that an complete renaming is required – Black History is Now Month.
