This commemorative month serves as a mirror of the current political climate, so in what ways can we modernize it?
It's Black History Month in the United Kingdom, and it seems it’s time for a rethink. As time has passed, an celebration that began as a commemorative event of heritage, traditions and links between global Black communities, has developed a corporate feel, broadening to incorporate gatherings where individuals of African heritage are paid to talk to Caucasian groups about implicit prejudice and “allyship”. The demonstrations for racial justice in the 2020s sparked an increase in the industry of showcasing anti-racist commitment. But even that moment has passed. The wave has reached its height, leaving a sort of hollowed out legacy of what promoting consciousness is for.
The Origins of Black History Celebration
First commemorated in the US and Canada, Black History Month was conceived in 1962 as “Negro History Week” by historian of African descent Carter G. Woodson with a week of remembrance and recognition in the middle of February. 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 winter, but also in autumn in the UK, the Federal Republic of Germany, Éire and the Netherlands.
The period has evolved since that time, giving reduced attention to the histories of the slave trade across the Atlantic and struggles for equality, and more on influential individuals of color in government, the arts, and social movements, and broadly celebrating the input Black people have made to shape the country. It is in schools where Black History Month is most regularly observed, with talks and cultural events. But the manner the observance is celebrated is a reflection of the contemporary political context. How it develops is a good lesson in how co-option leads to dismantling: the reshaping of Black History Month has impeded the objective of it, which is to confront embedded and established prejudice.
A Troubling Time
Hardly anything shows how critical it is to reconsider Black History Month as much as the particular moment in which it takes place this year. In the Britain, a revitalized conservative movement in the form of the Reform party is top in opinion ratings. In the summer we witnessed the biggest extreme right demonstration in British history. the Conservative leader, the person of color at the helm of the Conservative party, is a strong critic of anti-racism activism, and we are in a place where a member of parliament gains confidence to state that the absence of Caucasian individuals in certain urban areas is a source of worry. Simultaneously, far-right parties are expanding in Europe as a entirety.
In the US, a massive attack against inclusion programs and preferential policies has been carried, often successfully, to the highest courts of the state. A effort to scrub the history of people of color and narrative from the archives is in progress. One of the political figure's initial presidential directives focused on the museum of African American legacy, and the Smithsonian Institution, accusing them of a coordinated and broad attempt to change the national past” by portraying America “as naturally discriminatory”.
In this context, the month symbolises how minimally it can be impactful if it is limited to either routine organizational acknowledgments, or stripped of political content commemorations of contributions in the past, rather than challenging the situation of the present. It also reveals how its limited duration means that it is separated from the more extensive continuous action that is necessary. An academic expert, a professor at an educational institution, expressed it perfectly when she expressed apprehension about the short-term symbolic gestures of the celebration. “The difficulty with taking a tokenistic approach”, she wrote, “is that it typically leads to that Black History Month turns into a transient display rather than a agent of progress.”
Reevaluating, Not Abandoning
Determining how to adjust, modify and expand efforts for equal rights and acknowledgment in such times of discouragement and concern is a treacherous thing. There is a inclination to just eliminate things like Black History Month entirely, believing they are no longer suitable, or are relics of an time that has failed to deliver.
But despite everything, Black History Month, and in fact the complete comprehensive structure and legacy of racial movements – grassroots Black Lives Matter organisations, diversity equity and inclusion initiatives, and certainly, even commercial engagements – constitute an infrastructure that a considerable labor has been invested in. It is there not merely to decline as the situation evolves (and in fact, regresses), but to be a vital organism.
So what would a fresh vibrant Black History Month seem? Firstly, it would be more than a single focused period: something that is spread out across all seasons (as some institutions are already beginning to do), parts of its content (particularly around historic Black characters) included in school curriculums. It would also be a time that does not evade politics, and allows opportunity for people, particularly the younger generation, to share their anxieties and narratives. What use is simple recognition of the past when it fails to address the current situation of extreme conservative demonstrations in the street? Institutions who observe it should not be comforted with the passive language of “unconscious bias” and sensitivity to “microaggressions”, but confronted with the dangers that face all if fight against prejudice is not approached earnestly. Briefly stated, Black History Month should be made up-to-date, urgent, and responsive. Perhaps an entire name rebrand is in order – Contemporary Black History Month.
