There Has To Be Space In Black History Month For Mixed Race PeoplePosted in Articles, Media Archive, Politics/Public Policy, United Kingdom on 2019-10-11 01:15Z by Steven |
There Has To Be Space In Black History Month For Mixed Race People
Grazia
2019-10-09
Black History Month is a sacred space for Black experience and political Blackness, says Miranda Larbi.
For some, October is a month of ghouls, pumpkins and spurious sexy cat outfits. For others, it’s something more significant. Black History Month – a four week window through which to examine Britain’s racial skeletons.
The period offers a brief hiatus from an overarching white narrative where we hear stories from our ancestors, and understandably, they’re not always that positive.
Colonial history is violent, unfair and badly taught. British school kids spend a few scattered hours across their schooling learning about PoC. Maybe they’ll hear a bit about slavery before going back to studying Elizabeth I for the fifth time, but very rarely will the syllabus mention how complicit the British government were in the crimes committed against black people…
If the UK really respected its BAME communities, Black History Month would be obsolete because our history would be seamlessly woven into the British curriculum. But as it is, BHM is an absolutely crucial space. For many of us, Black History Month represents that kind of chicken soup for the soul because it’s been the only opportunity for seeing any kind of representation. It’s just a shame that there isn’t more space in it Black-white biracial narratives during the month…
Read the entire article here.