Black History Month is a reflection of the political moment, 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 reassessment. As time has passed, an observance that began as a festivity and recollection of history, culture and the connections between Black populations worldwide, has adopted a business-like atmosphere, growing to encompass events where individuals of African heritage are compensated to speak with predominantly white listeners about hidden biases and “allyship”. The 2020s Black Lives Matter protests created a surge in the industry of demonstrating racial awareness. But even that moment has passed. The wave has crested, producing a diluted aftermath of what raising awareness is for.
The Origins of Black History Observance
First commemorated in the US and Canada, Black History Month was established in 1962 as an observance of African American heritage by Black scholar Carter G. Woodson with a week of remembrance and recognition in the second week of February. Black History Month grew out of this movement and was publicly established in 1970. Now it is celebrated not only in the US and Canada in winter, but also in October in the UK, Deutschland, the Republic of Ireland and the Netherlands.
The month has evolved since those days, focusing less on the narratives of the slave trade across the Atlantic and fights for racial justice, and increasingly on influential individuals of color in politics, culture, and activism, and broadly celebrating the contribution Black people have made to shape the country. It is in schools where Black History Month is most frequently marked, with lectures and artistic activities. But the manner the celebration is observed is a manifestation of the political moment. How it evolves is a valuable example in how assimilation leads to erosion: the reshaping of Black History Month has hindered the purpose of it, which is to confront systemic and institutional racism.
A Jarring Moment
Hardly anything shows how crucial it is to reevaluate Black History Month more than the specific period in which it falls this year. In the United Kingdom, a resurgent right in the form of the Reform organization is leading the polls. In the summer we witnessed the most significant ultra-conservative gathering in the UK's past. a prominent political figure, the African descendant in charge of the Tory party, is a staunch adversary of the racial justice movement, and we are in a position where a elected representative feels empowered to state that a lack of white people in specific city neighborhoods is a cause for alarm. Simultaneously, extreme conservative groups are growing in Europe as a whole.
In the United States, a colossal assault against inclusion programs and preferential policies has been brought, often successfully, to the top legal institutions of the state. A effort to remove the history of people of color and legacy from the historical documents is in progress. One of the former president's first executive orders aimed at the museum of African American legacy, and the prestigious establishment, alleging that they of a “concerted and widespread effort to change the national past” by representing the nation “as naturally discriminatory”.
In this context, the observance represents how insufficiently it can be influential if it is restricted to either obligatory business commemorations, or stripped of political content festivities of contributions in the past, rather than challenging the realities of the current era. It also shows how its limited duration means that it is detached from the more extensive continuous action that is needed. Denise Miller, a educator at an educational institution, articulated it most accurately when she voiced worries about the short-term symbolic gestures of the observance. “The problem with taking a tokenistic approach”, she stated, “is that it frequently results in that Black History Month evolves into a fleeting performance rather than a catalyst for change.”
Reconsidering, Not Discarding
Figuring out how to adjust, modify and expand actions for racial equality and recognition in such periods of dismay and anxiety is a treacherous thing. There is a urge to just do away with things like Black History Month entirely, believing they are simply not fit for purpose, or are vestiges of an period that has been ineffective.
Yet, in spite of all this, Black History Month, and in fact the complete comprehensive structure and tradition of campaigns for equality – grassroots Black Lives Matter organisations, DEI programs, and yes, even those talks to businesses – constitute an infrastructure that a lot of work has gone into. It is there not only to deteriorate as the politics moves on (and in fact, declines), but to be a vital organism.
So what would a contemporary active Black History Month seem? Well, first, it would be more than a single focused period: something that is spread out throughout the annual calendar (as certain organizations are already beginning to do), elements of its material (particularly around notable African descendants) included in academic syllabi. It would also be a period that does not shy away from politics, and allows opportunity for citizens, particularly the younger generation, to share their anxieties and narratives. What use is simple recognition of the bygone era when it doesn’t reckon with the current situation of far-right rallies in the street? Organizations who celebrate it should not be pacified with the passive language of implicit prejudice and awareness of subtle slights, but challenged by the threats that impact society if anti-racism is not approached earnestly. To summarize, Black History Month should be made up-to-date, pressing, and adaptive. Perhaps an complete renaming is necessary – Black History is Now Month.
