Don’t Let Black History Month Become Like Other Holidays

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Growing up, there’s nothing like that first hint of the winter holiday season; a neighbor struggling to put up a life-size inflatable, Mariah Carey on the radio in 60-degree weather, an ambivalent high schooler in a Santa hat checking you out at the store. However, as you get older, the holiday season starts to become about how to buy everyone you love holiday gifts with while still being able to fill your car up with gas. 

Let’s be honest, American holidays are just excuses for companies and brands to market us gaudy decorations, morbid amounts of candy, and make us feel bad for being single. But capitalism's latest victim may just be its most important: Black History Month.

Black History Month is not just a time to celebrate the achievements and lives of black people, it is an acknowledgment of the oppression, violence, and destruction of culture that Black people have had to (and continue to) endure in much of the world. The fact that Black History Month has to even exist is a nod to the wrongdoings of governments, organizations, and individuals. The month should be a time of reflection and education. A time when people of all races can learn about and contemplate the influence that Black people have had on the world.

Instead, the month has become a time when brands and companies can use unnecessary amounts of black, yellow, red, and green, put corny sayings on shirts, and make commercials that try to make us forget that they continue to struggle with racism within in their own company

While other holidays have succumbed to corporate corruption, the commercialization of Black History Month is particularly dangerous. Black History is a history in which modern capitalism has commonly preyed on, neglected, and exploited black communities. 

As soon as February ends, all the stores, ads, and decorations come down. No company is “supporting black-owned businesses'' in July. These corporations don’t care about Black History Month, they simply care about using the holiday as a way to market themselves. 

It’s a similar phenomenon to what is happening to Pride month. All of a sudden once the holiday rolls around companies and institutions create ads and campaigns declaring that they are “allies”. 

We need to make sure that Black History month doesn’t become like the other holidays. It isn’t something that can be used as an excuse to buy more food or cliche decorations. It isn’t something that can act as a reason to go to the movies or go out to dinner. The moment it becomes an “excuse for” Black History Month will have lost its meaning.