Black History Month has regularly been celebrated every October in Britain, but recently, some boroughs have steered away from the title and opted to rebrand it as ‘Diversity Month,’ where all ethnicities are honored collectively.
Wandsworth, one conservative borough in South London, contracted a company called Better to lead "Diversity Month," which is "intended to be a time of “celebrating and learning together about the many and varied experiences and cultures within our borough," according to The Guardian. Instead, the month will also commemorate Indian, Polish, Spanish, Chinese as well as African and Caribbean cultures.
Wandsworth is admittedly diverse. Despite Britain having a black, African, Caribbean and black British population making up 3.3 percent of its whole, 11 percent of Wandsworth’s population is Black, the Guardian reports. With these stats, the borough is buckling down on keeping Black History Month out and Diversity Month in.
“We are proud to celebrate the historical achievements and successes of all the diverse communities that make up our borough and who all contribute so much to life in our city,” a spokesperson for Wandsworth council said. “We do continue to recognize and celebrate Black History Month with a number of specific events but we also at the same time celebrate all the different faiths, ethnicities, cultures and genders of a ll who live in our borough.”
However, some professionals have spoken against a collective month for all ethnicities, such as historian and broadcaster David Olusoga, who believes Black History Month should remain separate.
“I’ve been critical of Black History Month in the past, but I think it really is becoming a shared experience,” Olusoga told The Gaurdian. “We can have Black History Month with all people learning about it. Can black people not create things without being seen as exclusive? Black History Month feels to me really inclusive.”
Meanwhile, British websites dedicated to Black History Month and the promotion of related events have experienced hacking, News One reports. The website for Black History Month Magazine, for one, was hacked and quickly restored by their IT department, only to face another crash the next day.
“Our website is the most popular in the UK on black history,” Editor of Black History Month Magazine, Patrick Vernon, told News One. “I think it was done deliberately to ensure the content’s not available or accessible.”
When discussing the appropriation of Black History Month, Vernon believes it reflects the racism the country must address and underscores the need for the month to begin with.
“Black History Month was established 30 years ago because the black experience in Britain was not recognised in the national curriculum and in mainstream society,” he said. “Unfortunately we do not live in a post-racial Britain. If we did perhaps we would not need Black History Month.”
Now, check these out:
Why I Don’t Believe In Black History Month
15 Moments Of Black History That Have Occurred Since The Last Black History Month
