Black History Month serves as a mirror of the prevailing political atmosphere, so in what ways can we modernize it?
It's Black History Month in the UK, and it feels like it’s time for a re-evaluation. Throughout its history, an observance that started out as a celebration and reminder of the past, cultural identity and bonds between global Black communities, has developed a business-like atmosphere, expanding to include events where Black people are paid to address white audiences about implicit prejudice and “allyship”. The 2020s Black Lives Matter protests created a surge in the business of showcasing anti-racist commitment. But even that moment has passed. The tide has crested, resulting in a somewhat empty inheritance of what raising awareness is for.
The Origins of Black History Celebration
Initially celebrated in the United States and Canada, Black History Month was created in 1962 as an observance of African American heritage by African American historian Carter G. Woodson with seven days of celebration and reflection in the February's second week. Black History Month grew out of this campaign and was formally inaugurated in 1970. Today it is observed not only in the US and Canada in the second month, but also in autumn in the UK, the Federal Republic of Germany, Ireland and the Netherlands.
The period has transformed since that time, giving reduced attention to the histories of the slave trade across the Atlantic and struggles for equality, and increasingly on prominent Black figures in politics, culture, and activism, and extensively acknowledging the input Black people have made to influence the nation. It is in schools where Black History Month is most regularly observed, with discussions and heritage festivities. But the way the month is celebrated is a indication of the contemporary political context. How it progresses is a valuable example in how appropriation leads to erosion: the restructuring of Black History Month has impeded the point of it, which is to tackle systemic and institutional racism.
A Disconcerting Period
Few things illustrate how critical it is to reconsider Black History Month better than the particular moment in which it falls this year. In the Britain, a reemerging right-wing in the shape of the Reform political group is ahead in surveys. In the warmer months we saw the most significant ultra-conservative gathering in British history. the Conservative leader, the person of color at the helm of the Tory party, is a strong critic of Black Lives Matter, and we are in a place where a elected representative feels empowered to state that the absence of Caucasian individuals in parts of a city is a cause for alarm. Simultaneously, extreme conservative groups are growing in the European continent as a whole.
In the US, a massive attack against diversity initiatives and positive discrimination has been taken, frequently with success, to the supreme judicial bodies of the nation. A effort to scrub the history of people of color and narrative from the records is ongoing. One of the former president's initial presidential directives focused on the institution dedicated to Black heritage, and the Smithsonian Institution, accusing them of a “concerted and widespread effort to change the national past” by depicting the United States “as naturally discriminatory”.
In this context, the month symbolises how minimally it can be influential if it is confined to either obligatory business commemorations, or depoliticized celebrations of former accomplishments, rather than confronting the situation of the current era. It also demonstrates how its short period means that it is separated from the wider consistent effort that is needed. An academic expert, a professor at a learning establishment, articulated it most accurately when she voiced worries about the fleeting superficial actions of the celebration. “The problem with adopting a symbolic stance”, she commented, “is that it frequently results in that Black History Month becomes a brief show rather than a agent of progress.”
Rethinking, But Not Jettisoning
Establishing how to adjust, modify and expand initiatives for racial equality and recognition in such periods of dismay and anxiety is a difficult task. There is a temptation to just eliminate events including Black History Month entirely, assuming they are no longer suitable, or are vestiges of an time that has been ineffective.
However, regardless of the situation, Black History Month, and in fact the whole broad system and tradition of racial movements – local anti-racism groups, diversity equity and inclusion initiatives, and yes, even those talks to businesses – form an infrastructure that a lot of work has been dedicated to. It is there not only to deteriorate as the politics moves on (and in fact, declines), but to be a dynamic entity.
So what would a new dynamic Black History Month seem? To begin with, it would be extended beyond a brief observance: something that is distributed throughout the annual calendar (as various establishments are already commencing), sections of its curriculum (particularly around historic Black characters) integrated into educational programs. It would also be a era that does not evade political issues, and allows opportunity for people, particularly young people, to share their anxieties and narratives. What purpose serves mere awareness of the bygone era when it fails to address the contemporary truth of ultra-nationalist gatherings in the urban areas? Establishments who mark it should not be pacified with the passive language of hidden discrimination and awareness of subtle slights, but challenged by the dangers that affect everyone if anti-racism is not taken seriously. To summarize, Black History Month should be made current, pressing, and reactive. It could be that an entire name rebrand is necessary – Contemporary Black History Month.
