Black History Month is upon us, and it’s time for all social, civic and governmental agencies to dedicate their time to highlighting the achievements of Black Americans throughout U.S. history. This tradition was initially important in raising awareness of Black struggle and achievement, especially because many people in the United States did not recognize or understand the significant role Black Americans played.
However, it might be time to reconsider whether setting aside one month is the most effective way to honor Black Americans’ contributions to American history.
Don’t get me wrong — I am all for fighting systemic racial inequalities through liberal means and showing just how pivotal Black Americans are to the American experiment. But what we should really be pushing for is integrating Black history into the mainstream of American history throughout the entire year.
The start of Black History Month can be traced back to a Black historian named Carter G. Woodson, who created Negro History Week in 1926. He chose February because it was the month both Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln were born. His goal was initially to showcase and celebrate the role Black Americans played in history. In 1976, Negro History Week was expanded into the month that we all know today. The establishment of Negro History Week, and later Black History Month, served an essential role for its time, elevating voices that had been systematically excluded from mainstream American history.
But nearly a century later, American society has changed and evolved. While racism and racial inequality persist, we have also made significant gains in racial relations and racial inclusion too. This is seen with increasing rates of interracial marriage and the Black American individual poverty rate falling from 51% in 1956 to 17% in 2023. There’s also been a growth of Black elected officials, such as Barack Obama, Kamala Harris and Tim Scott, which shows the acceptability of black leaders in American politics..
But this progress raises another important question: Does limiting Black history to a single month unintentionally reinforce the idea that it is a sidebar to the “real” story of America? This progress should not be segmented into one month but woven into the larger story of American history. The aim should not be segregation but rather a unified historical front because Black history is American history. The story of America cannot be told without acknowledging the critical role Black Americans have played. From the nation’s original sin of enslaved Africans working on plantations to help build its wealth to the Civil Rights Movement, Black Americans’ experiences are forever interwoven in the fabric of American history. Separating these two creates the false idea that they are distinct.
Another concern with Black History Month is the fake or superficial actions that are often taken by the government and companies. The media and educational institutions focus on the same people every year — Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks and Barack Obama — yet skip over figures like Bayard Rustin, Thurgood Marshall, Shirley Chisholm and even Booker T. Washington. By reducing this history to one month, we turn it into a checklist of feel-good sentiment. Not only that, but it may give companies an excuse to avoid real attempts toward diversity and equality throughout the rest of the year. Companies often flood their social media accounts with Black leaders during February, only to forget about them on March 1. This is undoubtedly a performative effort.
A much more effective approach would be for us to fully integrate the understandings and teachings of Black History Month into everyday educational instruction. History textbooks should not just include token Black figures, and teachers should be encouraged to teach a more inclusive version of American history.
Companies should make a concerted effort to highlight Black voices throughout the year in order to normalize their presence. The goal here is not to erase any history but to integrate it and reach a point where we move beyond the constraints of a single month. We should acknowledge that Black history is the American story as well and celebrate the entire American story all year round.
Woodson himself even hoped for the day that Black History Month would end because he longed to see a time when Black History was seamlessly integrated into American education and history. The best way to honor his vision is by finally applying it.
By moving beyond this month, we can create a society that values the role Black Americans play in American history. Only then can we truly dismantle racial ignorance and problems that Woodson hoped to combat.
Lamar Ashley is a third-year political science and history major. He can be reached at ljashley@uci.edu.
Edited by Zahira Vasquez and Grace Tseng.