BHM: We don’t need a “White History Month”

Every time we reach this part of the year, you can bet there’ll be that person piping up with the glib refrain: “there’s no white history month”. Correct –  this does not exist. But it’s important to note that this is not out of discrimination or some view of racial supremacy, it’s exactly the opposite.

The reason Black History Month is so necessary is because of the lack of focus on black individuals in education, and our history. If you have ever been sat in a classroom and wondered why there seems an absence of black scientists, authors, and political actors then you are a member of the vigilant few.

That is exactly why we need a Black History Month. It should not take special exertion to learn about black history. For many of us, growing up in England means that we become accustomed to learning exclusively about white British, American or European individuals such as Hippocrates, Alexander Fleming and Florence Nightingale.

You can bet there’ll be that person piping up with the glib refrain: “there’s no white history month”

In fact, without Black History Month, there is a chance I would never have realised there was an absence of positive black figures being taught in secondary schools because of the entrenched nature of the white history narrative. “White History Month” isn’t a thing because there’s so much white history already in everyday life – taught in education and the media. Black history, on the other hand, doesn’t receive such a generous spotlight. So to most people it might seem as though not many people of colour have achieved great things – which is far from the truth.

Margaret Busby OBE, for example, was Britain’s youngest and first black woman book publisher, having co-founded Allison & Busby in 1967. Charles Odamtten Easmon is known as the “Father of Cardiac Surgery in West Africa” for performing the first successful open-heart surgery in Ghana in 1964. Notable people of colour in history such as the aforementioned deserve to become better known to future generations – and Black History Month can help achieve this.

To most people it might seem as though not many people of colour have achieved great things – which is far from the truth

Black History Month, through its specific focus, can not only help young people of colour to learn more about their roots, but can allow everyone to come to terms with important parts of world history – such as colonialism and the Atlantic slave trade. Black History Month also provides a greater range of positive role models for every young person – showing them someone to whom they can relate – not only the likes of Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King Jr., but also black female role models such as Rosa Parks and Maya Angelou.

Even the fact that we need a month to give black history a platform suggests that it isn’t being taught with a fair balance in mainstream education. If this was the case then yes, the argument against a month of dedication to black history may be just; but since this is nowhere near the case, I will have to rebuke anyone that says otherwise for now.