Black History Month serves as a mirror of the current political climate, so in what ways can we modernize it?
This is Black History Month in the United Kingdom, and it seems it’s time for a rethink. Over the years, an celebration that started out as a celebration and reminder of the past, cultural identity and bonds between global Black communities, has developed a corporate feel, expanding to include functions where individuals of African heritage are compensated to speak with white audiences about “unconscious bias” and “allyship”. The demonstrations for racial justice in the 2020s sparked an increase in the enterprise of demonstrating racial awareness. But even that moment has passed. The surge has peaked, producing a diluted aftermath of what raising awareness is for.
The Background of Black History Celebration
Originally observed in the US and Canada, Black History Month was established in 1962 as a week dedicated to Negro history by historian of African descent Carter G. Woodson with seven days of remembrance and recognition in the February's second week. Black History Month grew out of this campaign and was publicly established in 1970. Today it is observed not only in the North America in winter, but also in autumn in the Britain, the Federal Republic of Germany, Éire and the the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
The observance has transformed since those days, focusing less on the histories of transatlantic enslavement and civil rights battles, and more on prominent Black figures in politics, culture, and activism, and extensively acknowledging the impact Black people have made to mold society. It is in educational institutions where Black History Month is most regularly observed, with discussions and heritage festivities. But the way the month is observed is a reflection of the current political situation. 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 confront structural and organizational discrimination.
A Jarring Moment
Few things illustrate how important it is to reconsider Black History Month better than the specific period in which it occurs this year. In the United Kingdom, a reemerging right-wing in the shape of the Reform political group is ahead in surveys. In the recent season we saw the most significant ultra-conservative gathering in the UK's past. the Conservative leader, the Black leader of the right-wing political group, is a staunch adversary of the racial justice movement, and we are in a place where a elected representative feels emboldened to declare that a lack of white people in certain urban areas is a cause for alarm. At the same time, extreme conservative groups are growing in the EU as a whole.
In the United States, a colossal assault against diversity initiatives and positive discrimination has been brought, repeatedly with positive outcomes, to the highest courts of the country. A campaign to remove African American heritage and experience from the records is ongoing. One of the political figure's first executive orders targeted the museum of African American legacy, and the prestigious establishment, claiming they of a organized and extensive campaign to alter the country's historical narrative” by portraying America “as inherently racist”.
In this context, the month illustrates how little it can be influential if it is limited to either obligatory business commemorations, or depoliticized festivities of former accomplishments, rather than challenging the conditions of the present. It also reveals how its short period means that it is disconnected from the broader ongoing work that is required. A university professor, a professor at University of Greenwich, put it best when she voiced worries about the short-term symbolic gestures of the month. “The difficulty with taking a tokenistic approach”, she commented, “is that it often means that Black History Month becomes a brief show rather than a driver of transformation.”
Reevaluating, Not Abandoning
Establishing how to adjust, modify and expand actions for equal rights and acknowledgment in such periods of dismay and anxiety is a challenging endeavor. There is a temptation to just discontinue observances such as Black History Month completely, assuming they are simply not fit for purpose, or are relics of an time that has failed to deliver.
However, regardless of the situation, Black History Month, and in fact the whole broad system and heritage of activism for racial justice – community-based BLM initiatives, DEI programs, and yes, even those talks to businesses – form an framework that a lot of work has been dedicated to. It is there not just to decay as the situation evolves (and in fact, declines), but to be a living breathing thing.
So what would a contemporary active Black History Month seem? Firstly, it would be not just one concentrated month: something that is spread out throughout the annual calendar (as some institutions are already beginning to do), parts of its content (particularly around prominent figures of color) included in academic syllabi. It would also be a time that does not shy away from governmental matters, and provides room for people, particularly young people, to express their concerns and stories. What use is simple recognition of the bygone era when it fails to address the current situation of far-right rallies in the street? Establishments who mark it should not be comforted with the passive language of implicit prejudice and sensitivity to “microaggressions”, but faced with the dangers that face all if anti-racism is not approached earnestly. To summarize, Black History Month should be made contemporary, pressing, and responsive. Maybe an total re-identification is necessary – Present-Day African Heritage Celebration.
