Why Black History Matters

Posted on: 13 October 2020 by Dr Diane Frost, Senior Lecturer in Sociology, Social Policy and Criminology in Blog

Every October in the UK we celebrate and mark Black History Month. This year, the month-long event has a higher profile than in previous years, the result of several contributory factors. The Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests that exploded in response to the killing of George Floyd in the US and others; the subsequent rising levels of consciousness raising around racial injustice, and recent debates about decolonising the curriculum, have all played a role. But why should Black history matter and why should it be part of mainstream British history?

Part of our national and collective history

First and foremost, Black history matters because it is part of our national and collective history. Black history is integral to British history even though it continues to be omitted or marginalized from school, college, and university curricula. There is an urgent need to establish Black history as a significant and embedded aspect of British history for several key reasons. The historical contribution Black people have made and continue to make to British society is part of all our national story. Should not this contribution be acknowledged in the spirit of honesty and inclusion? There is no space here to include even the tip of a very large iceberg that represents Black contributions to our national history, but two compelling episodes of recent British history stand out. The first relates to the Black (and Indian) contribution to the histories of the First and Second World Wars (Costello 2015). The second links to the Windrush generation.

Both histories have either been neglected of the Black contribution or ‘hidden’, as in the case of the World Wars (until quite recently), or they have been re-hashed and distorted to provide political capital to bolster a hostile anti-immigration rhetoric and policy as in the case of Windrush. Excluding and marginalizing the role and contribution of Black communities to the World Wars is not only dishonest and poor history (as well as short-changing such communities) but it reinforces racist stereotypes circulating at the time that they did not make sacrifices. Indeed, Black involvement in the World Wars was made possible through Britain’s colonial relationship with large swathes of Africa, the Caribbean, the Indian subcontinent and other colonised territories. This was also the reason why hundreds of thousands of Caribbean’s were encouraged in the 1940s and 1950s to settle and work in those British industries that were desperately short of labour following the Second World War. However, the recent and shameful treatment of hundreds of once Caribbean migrants (many of whom are British subjects and have spent more time in the UK than in the Caribbean) in the so called ‘Windrush scandal’ speaks volumes to the ignorance of that history and their important contribution to British history, particularly by those in public office who should know better.

Celebrating and acknowledging the achievements of Black communities

An understanding of Black history is important for other reasons. It celebrates and acknowledges the achievements of Black communities in spite of the structural barriers that have stifled and undermined this; it demonstrates how individuals can feel proud of being part of a wider, supportive and valued community that has proved resilient in the face of historical stigmatisation and marginalisation, particularly through institutionalised systems of racist oppression. Black history is also important because it enables us to acknowledge and recognise change. Change is important, particularly the role of current communities and previous generations in the struggle for equality and justice. To not acknowledge change and some progress, (with the caveat that greater change is still needed) is to disrespect the efforts of those who fought and won changes. It is also disempowering and fatalistic to say there have been no changes. At the same time, we have a long way to go in terms of racial equality and justice. We have seen some welcome changes in attempts to teach Black and BAME migration history in schools at GCSE level (See Our Migration Story); we have some Black history modules and courses in universities. Yet there is still a long way to go.

An important part of our collective history is knowing and understanding where we were; where we are now and where we might be in the future. It is therefore pertinent to have knowledge of how previous generations have taken on struggles and helped change societies for the better. The history of collective struggle, including those led by and for Black people, forms a significant strand of Black history that warrants further discussion here. Parts of this struggle, alongside other elements of Black history have been ‘hidden from history’ to cite the socialist-feminist historian, Sheila Rowbotham (1992) who first used the term in relation to women’s history of struggle for equality.  

Communities have had little choice but to organise to resist racism in all its guises

Black history then provides inspiration for future generations to learn the lessons of the past and to understand how communities have had little choice but to organise to resist racism in all its guises. Black protest in the UK forms a continuous element of Black history which in turn has drawn inspiration from and has been part of, a broader history involving different and intersecting oppressed groups. This includes histories of the working-class; women; disability and LGBTQ+ rights. 

Protesters in London, June 2020, photographed by James Eades (Unsplash)

Black protest is rooted in a long and proud history of resistance that has a global reach, spanning the US, the UK, the Caribbean, Central and South America and of course Africa. All these movements have specific genealogies relating to their historical and social context. The liberation movements in Africa for example from the 1960s fought for independence from European colonial rule; the struggle against apartheid in South Africa brought down a violent institutionalised state racism; whilst the Civil Rights and Black Power movements in the US struggled to challenge segregation and wider racial inequalities, including police brutality.

Here in Britain, Black, Asian and other oppressed groups have also organised in their own self-defence throughout history on a range of issues including racist immigration controls; police brutality; institutionalised racism in the workplace; education and health care and far-right violence involving the National Front in the 1970s and the English Defence League in more recent years.

Protesters in London, June 2020, photographed by James Eades (Unsplash)

Protest and its historical genealogy is more important than ever today. The BLM movement stands in a proud tradition of activism and its fight builds on previous struggles around a long and historical catalogue of African American and Black British killings at the hands of the police and others. Moreover, BLM epitomises why history and its legacy is so important to contemporary society as it has powerfully demonstrated the link between historical legacies of imperialism on BAME groups today. What started out as a protest in response to the killing of George Floyd in the US, shifted to a broadening of demands and moves to dismantle symbols of slavery, oppression, and colonial power in the US and Europe. Indeed, understanding where we are today in terms of racial inequality and injustices demands an understanding of British colonial history.

We cannot study Black history without examining British imperial history (and vice versa)

We cannot study Black history without examining British imperial history (and vice versa), where an idealised account of colonialism stands in contrast to the violence and genocide that was inflicted on colonial subjects. Using a critical anti-racist perspective enables us to both acknowledge whilst simultaneously challenging and dispensing with imperialist racist tropes. Such history also needs to centre Black people and their agency and contribution. The positive and important roles they played in providing labour, for example on British colonial ships that traded with ports across the globe. West African crews occupied a significant role in British imperial trade (as did others), loading and discharging cargoes in West Arica bound for the port of Liverpool and elsewhere (Frost 1999). However, we rarely hear of such contributions in mainstream versions of colonial British history.

Protest and its historical genealogy is more important than ever today. The BLM movement stands in a proud tradition of activism and its fight builds on previous struggles around a long and historical catalogue of African American and Black British killings at the hands of the police and others. Moreover, BLM epitomises why history and its legacy is so important to contemporary society as it has powerfully demonstrated the link between historical legacies of imperialism on BAME groups today. Racist ideas were certainly around before the nineteenth century colonial era. Those who supported slavery and the slave trade for example, drew on and perpetuated racist depictions of Africans as sub-human and animal-like. Such views were used as justifications for the inhumane and brutalising treatment of African slaves and ensured greater profits - the whole the raisons d’ etre of the slave trade. The colonial ‘Scramble for Africa’ in the 1880s and 90s, saw the main European powers colonise and slice up the continent between them. One strand of thought that sought to justify these actions depicted Africans as child-like, in need of guidance from a ‘paternalist’ British or European state. Such thinking was reflected in Rudyard Kipling’s poem: The White Man’s Burden (1899) and in policy towards territories colonised by Britain that sought to colonise, civilise and Christianise. Such ideas and actions became legitimations for economic colonialism that supplied Britain with important raw materials; markets for manufactured goods and investment of capital and infrastructures (roads; ports; railways). 

Photograph by Maksim Shutov (Unsplash)

A host of cultural imperialist attitudes further reinforced this legitimation. Monuments and statues were erected that supported; celebrated and justified these colonial episodes of British history. The legacy of colonialism was to nurture and perpetuate racism.

Whilst Black people have always questioned and been critical of this history, recent BLM activism has reached and touched a wider (White) audience that has begun to question a darker side of British imperial history; its continuing relationship to the position of Black people today and of the need to stop white-washing British history through a more honest (warts and all) narrative that takes responsibility for past atrocities. The recent iconic felling of the statue of former slave trader Edward Colston in Bristol was truly inspiring and moved many. This powerful act has given new impetus to both new and ongoing struggles (for example, the Rhodes Must Fall campaign). The involvement of White people standing side by side in solidarity with Black people in BLM marches, gives hope. The ‘Taking the knee’ in British professional football by all players, and other acts of solidarity are important and send a clear message.

Black Lives Matter protesters taking the knee in London, photographed by James Eades (Unsplash)

These protests have prompted greater questioning around the celebration of British imperialist histories and has strengthened demands for the removal of other offensive symbols of oppression. It has also opened a wider debate about whether such physical icons should indeed be removed, including the changing of street names. These moves will themselves become part of the rich and varied historical protest that is Black British history but there is a need for this to be included in the teaching of British history more generally and not ‘hidden’ or ‘written out’ of the mainstream. This is a significant part of British history per se and there is a need for this be taught to all future generations across all levels of education.

BLM activism will leave a history that is shared by all, and a legacy to inspire future generations, just as those activists did before them. So whilst we remember those inspiring protests, we must also remind ourselves of the powerful consciousness raising that took place and the groundswell of support for racial justice and equality. That should gives us hope.

Diane Frost

Dr Diane Frost is a Senior Lecturer in the Sociology, Social Policy and Criminology department at the School of Law and Social Justice, University of Liverpool. Diane's teaching and research interests cover a range of historical and sociological areas around the issues of 'race' and ethnicity. She has undertaken several inter-disciplinary research collaborations, including a recent British Academy funded project on Neighbourhood Identity and Belonging in Liverpool 8. Her latest project (in collaboration with Dr Sheila Blackburn, Department of History) is funded by the Leverhulme Trust and focuses on Charles Booth and Liverpool.

Email: dfrost@liverpool.ac.uk