Why we should abolish Black History Month

Taken out of context, this proposition may appear as the ravings of a far-right, racist fanatic.  This is hardly surprising given the month's lofty ideals of recognition for the continuously persecuted people of colour.  However, the reality of the month contrasts its ideals of inclusivity and enlightening the population on aspects of the past that have been obscured from the pages of history.  Much of the 'lessons' on 'black history' all disproportionally focus on, and distort the slave trade and Martin Luther King.  This simply reinforces the pseudo-view that the entire history of the African people revolves around slavery, and Martin Luther King liberating them. Africa's place in the human story is often unacknowledged, Hegel, the great German idealist philosopher stated in 1831 that 'Africa has no historical part in the world'.  This false and explicitly racist view was echoed by Hugh Trevor-Roper, the Head of History at Oxford University in 1963.  

The failure to trace the rise and fall of great African Empires, such as the Kingdoms of Kush and Mali mean that it is not 'black history' that is being taught, it is their history written with racist bias.  

In addition to compounding this viewpoint, 28, or 29 days are simply not enough to convey the impact that Africa has had on the world.  It's contribution is equal to that of Europe or Asia, yet no one proposes that January be 'white history' month.

This is because in every history book, every month, every day, Eurocentric history is celebrated and studied as British history. It should be, because our history is inherently Eurocentric in terms of geography and population structure. However, our great nation was not built alone.

Black men and women placed this nation on their backs, and with their actual blood, sweat and tears, and over their dead bodies, built this nation alongside countless other oppressed peoples. So, why, as Britons, would we celebrate this group of people for a mere 28 (or sometimes 29) days a year? We shouldn’t. We should celebrate them all 365 days by writing them into the history of the land they helped to create.

By abolishing Black History Month, and imposing desperately needed reforms, 'black history' will no longer be relegated to 28 days out of every 365. If we get rid of Black History Month, it will be everyone's responsibility to fill all 365 days with a celebration of our shared history. Our inclusive British history will include the placed, the displaced, the oppressed, the aggrieved and the ignored. It will be a first step in removing the “us versus them” mentality that gets us to choose sides. If we can all agree that 28 days are not enough, then it is the first step in agreeing that we are one nation.