This commemorative month is a reflection of the current political climate, 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 event that started out as a commemorative event of history, culture and the connections between international African diaspora communities, has taken on a commercial tone, expanding to include functions where Black people are compensated to talk to Caucasian groups about implicit prejudice and supportive partnership. The demonstrations for racial justice in the 2020s generated a rise in the business of displaying cultural sensitivity. Yet, that phase is now over. The tide has reached its height, resulting in a somewhat empty inheritance of what promoting consciousness is for.
The Background of Black History Celebration
First commemorated in the US and Canada, Black History Month was established in 1962 as “Negro History Week” by African American historian Carter G. Woodson with seven days of remembrance and recognition in the second week of February. Black History Month developed from this initiative and was formally inaugurated in 1970. Currently it is marked not only in the North America in the second month, but also in the tenth month in the Britain, Deutschland, Ireland and the the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
The month has transformed since those days, focusing less on the histories of the slave trade across the Atlantic and struggles for equality, and greater focus on prominent Black figures in government, the arts, and social movements, and extensively acknowledging the input Black people have made to mold society. It is in schools where Black History Month is most commonly celebrated, with lectures and artistic activities. But the manner the observance is celebrated is a reflection of the current political situation. How it evolves is a valuable example in how appropriation leads to dismantling: the restructuring of Black History Month has impeded the purpose of it, which is to tackle embedded and established prejudice.
A Troubling Time
Little demonstrates how crucial it is to rethink 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 shape of the Reform political group is top in opinion ratings. In the summer we witnessed the most significant ultra-conservative gathering in British history. Kemi Badenoch, the person of color at the helm of the Conservative party, is a staunch adversary of anti-racism activism, and we are in a place where a member of parliament feels empowered to say that the absence of Caucasian individuals in specific city neighborhoods is a cause for alarm. Meanwhile, extreme conservative groups are growing in the EU as a entirety.
In the America, a significant offensive against inclusion programs and preferential policies has been carried, frequently with success, to the supreme judicial bodies of the state. A drive to erase Black history and legacy from the records is ongoing. One of the political figure's initial presidential directives aimed at the National Museum of African American History and Culture, and the Smithsonian Institution, claiming they of a “concerted and widespread effort to rewrite our Nation’s history” by representing the nation “as inherently racist”.
Given these circumstances, the observance symbolises how insufficiently it can be effective if it is confined to either dutiful corporate observances, or depoliticized festivities of former accomplishments, rather than addressing the situation of the present. It also reveals how its short period means that it is separated from the broader ongoing work that is required. Denise Miller, a educator at a learning establishment, expressed it perfectly when she expressed apprehension about the temporary “tokenism” of the month. “The problem with adopting a symbolic stance”, she wrote, “is that it frequently results in that Black History Month evolves into a fleeting performance rather than a catalyst for change.”
Rethinking, But Not Jettisoning
Determining how to adjust, modify and expand actions for fair treatment and appreciation in such periods of dismay and anxiety is a treacherous thing. There is a urge to just discontinue things like Black History Month completely, assuming they are no longer suitable, or are relics of an era that has been ineffective.
But despite everything, Black History Month, and in fact the whole broad system and tradition of activism for racial justice – local anti-racism groups, diversity equity and inclusion initiatives, and indeed, including corporate presentations – represent an foundation that a significant effort has gone into. It is there not only to deteriorate as the situation evolves (and in fact, deteriorates), but to be a vital organism.
So what would a new dynamic Black History Month look like? To begin with, it would be more than a single focused period: something that is dispersed throughout the annual calendar (as certain organizations are already commencing), elements of its material (particularly around historic Black characters) incorporated into academic syllabi. It would also be a era that does not shy away from politics, and provides room for citizens, particularly young people, to air their fears and experiences. What purpose serves mere awareness of the history when it doesn’t reckon with the current situation of ultra-nationalist gatherings in the public spaces? Institutions who observe it should not be pacified with the non-confrontational words of “unconscious bias” and alertness to minor insults, but challenged by the dangers that impact society if fight against prejudice is not approached earnestly. In short, Black History Month should be made contemporary, urgent, and responsive. Maybe an complete renaming is necessary – Black History is Now Month.
