Black History Month serves as a mirror of the current political climate, so in what ways can we modernize it?
We are in Black History Month in the UK, and it appears it’s time for a re-evaluation. As time has passed, an event that began as a festivity and recollection of the past, cultural identity and bonds between international African diaspora communities, has taken on a commercial tone, growing to encompass gatherings where individuals of African heritage are compensated to address white audiences about “unconscious bias” 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, resulting in a somewhat empty inheritance of what promoting consciousness is for.
The History of Black History Celebration
First commemorated in the America and its northern neighbor, Black History Month was conceived in 1962 as “Negro History Week” by African American historian Carter G. Woodson with multiple days of remembrance and recognition in the middle of February. Black History Month evolved from this initiative and was publicly established in 1970. Now it is celebrated not only in the North America in February, but also in October in the UK, Germany, the Republic of Ireland and the Netherlands.
The month has transformed since its inception, giving reduced attention to the accounts of the slave trade across the Atlantic and struggles for equality, and greater focus on notable African descendants in public life, creative fields, and advocacy, and widely honoring the contribution 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 method the celebration is observed is a manifestation of the political moment. How it evolves is a instructive case in how assimilation leads to erosion: the restructuring of Black History Month has impeded the point of it, which is to confront systemic and institutional racism.
A Disconcerting Period
Little demonstrates how critical it is to reconsider Black History Month more than the particular moment in which it occurs this year. In the Britain, a resurgent right in the shape of the Reform political group is leading the polls. In the recent season we saw the largest far-right rally in British history. Kemi Badenoch, the Black leader of the right-wing political group, is a strong critic of the racial justice movement, and we are in a situation where a legislator feels empowered to state that a lack of white people in parts of a city is a reason for concern. Simultaneously, extreme conservative groups are expanding in the EU as a entirety.
In the US, a massive attack against DEI and affirmative action has been brought, frequently with success, to the top legal institutions of the country. A campaign to remove African American heritage and experience from the historical documents is under way. One of the political figure's initial presidential directives aimed at 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 fundamentally prejudiced”.
Against this backdrop, the observance symbolises how insufficiently it can be effective if it is restricted to either dutiful corporate observances, or stripped of political content commemorations of contributions in the past, rather than confronting the conditions of the contemporary world. It also demonstrates how its short period means that it is detached from the more extensive continuous action that is required. An academic expert, a professor at an educational institution, put it best when she raised concerns about the short-term symbolic gestures of the month. “The problem with adopting a symbolic stance”, she commented, “is that it often means that Black History Month becomes a transient display rather than a catalyst for change.”
Reconsidering, Not Discarding
Establishing how to adapt, revise and extend initiatives for fair treatment and appreciation in such periods of dismay and anxiety is a difficult task. There is a inclination to just discontinue events including Black History Month entirely, assuming they are inadequate for current needs, or are vestiges of an era that has been ineffective.
But despite everything, Black History Month, and in fact the complete comprehensive structure and tradition of activism for racial justice – local anti-racism groups, DEI programs, and yes, even those talks to businesses – represent an framework that a considerable labor has been dedicated to. It is there not just to decay as the political landscape shifts (and in fact, declines), but to be a dynamic entity.
So what would a contemporary active Black History Month seem? Firstly, it would be not just one concentrated month: something that is spread out across all seasons (as some institutions are already starting to implement), sections of its curriculum (particularly around notable African descendants) included in school curriculums. It would also be a time that does not shy away from political issues, and leaves space for citizens, particularly youth, to share their anxieties and narratives. What purpose serves mere awareness of the past when it fails to address the contemporary truth of far-right rallies in the public spaces? Institutions who mark it should not be reassured with the non-confrontational words of hidden discrimination and alertness to minor insults, but challenged by the threats that affect everyone if fight against prejudice is not taken seriously. In short, Black History Month should be made contemporary, pressing, and adaptive. Maybe an entire name rebrand is in order – Contemporary Black History Month.
