Black History Month is normally a time when we discuss Black contributions and achievements but this year is different. This year we’re talking about voter suppression, book bans, bomb threats, and Joe Rogan saying the N-word. It feels like anti-Black History Month.
Seems like only yesterday when millions of Americans joined together in support of Black Lives Matter after the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. That historic moment in history assembled people from all backgrounds and we were on the right path. What happened?
Simple answer, the trend fizzled out. The media and white celebrities stopped amplifying Black voices after the protests, and Breonna Taylor’s hashtag was the only thing keeping them interested. In 2021, a year and a half after Floyd’s murder, a poll found a decline in support for BLM. The highest point of support was in June 2020, one month after George Floyd’s murder.
Data posted Dec. 23, 2021 by Mapping Police Violence reported at least 1,051 people were killed by police in America last year. These alarming numbers are important because they prove that despite all the global protesting ─ nothing is changing.
- February 2022, 22-year-old Amir Locke was killed by Minneapolis police during a no-knock warrant.
The George Floyd Justice in Policing Act banned no-knock warrants, but Congress never delivered. The same Congress with members who don’t think Black people are Americans so I guess we shouldn’t be surprised, right? Last year was a master class in white privilege, and this year isn’t looking much better. Which brings me to the “critical race theory” attack. Republicans are using CRT to scare parents and score political points. Their beef with Black History isn’t about protecting children and education, it’s about racism and giving white historians more leverage in manipulating the truth.
A civil rights history seminar for teachers, held by Professor J. Michael Butler, was cancelled by a Florida school district over concern that it endorses CRT, but it doesn’t. “The Long Civil Rights Movement” seminar is about the civil rights movement beginning before Martin Luther King Jr.. Florida also advanced the “Individual Freedom” bill that would ban public schools and private companies from making white people uncomfortable when being taught about racism. This ‘Teacher Loyalty’ bill also feels like anti-Black History. That bill would limit and restrict teachers from covering racism and slavery. We don’t need silence, we need support. There’s a war going on against Black people and now, more than ever, we must understand that Black History Month isn’t just about reflecting, it’s about action.
Black History is American history, no matter how committed people are to erasing it.
