Still relevant — U. reps defend continuing importance of Black History Month

SALT LAKE CITY — A lot would have to happen to eliminate the need for Black History Month, says Neveah Parker.

She's pondered the notion of the annual monthlong celebration focused on the contributions of Black Americans coming to an end. Many other things, however, would have to happen to render the celebration, now 100 years old, irrelevant.

"We wouldn't see the school-to-prison pipeline, right? We wouldn't see Black people being criminalized, killed in the streets, excluded from positions of power. We wouldn't see this attack on (diversity, equity and inclusion)," said Parker, a University of Utah student and president of the school's Black Student Union. "All of those things need to happen in order for us to really not need a Black History Month anymore."

February is Black History Month, and Parker and Jarrel Johnson, an assistant professor of higher education, took part in a discussion Wednesday at the university to mark 100 years of the annual celebration. Black History Month evolved from Black History Week, first held in 1926.

Johnson, an advocate, like Parker, of holding onto Black History Month, is skeptical a "post-racial society" — in which discrimination and racial prejudice is eliminated — is possible. Increased awareness on racial issues, though, is within the realm of possibility, and Black History Month can play a role in striving for that.

"I don't think that we will arrive here, where we can move past this. But I do think that we can arrive at a space where we're conscious," he said. "That's healthier."

Some variously decry activities like Black History Month that focus on individual racial and ethnic groups as divisive or unneeded in light of advances in the civil rights movement. Along those lines, Utah lawmakers in 2024 passed legislation prohibiting diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives at the state's public universities, including the University of Utah. Such initiatives are ostensibly meant to help students from traditionally marginalized communities navigate the university setting, but in prohibiting them, lawmakers in 2024 argued that they have the effect of marginalizing other population groups.

Johnson, however, alluded to the push by some against diversity, equity and inclusion efforts with concern. More generally, he lamented the changing tone of public debate about race issues, seemingly away from directly addressing the shortcomings of the past.

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"What I'm seeing with this current sociopolitical climate is that we're not willing to deal with the ugly truths that we have. Our history is complex. Our history is not comfortable all the time," he said. While the notion of white supremacy may come from prior generations, for instance, "we do have to deal with the remnants of it, and we do have to be conscious enough to know when we have to take that apart and really deal with it."

Reckoning with the past, he went on, helps make the country a better place.

More specific to Black History Month, Johnson said it serves to honor the legacy of prior generations of Black people who broke through glass ceilings and seemingly impenetrable barriers. He favors celebrating the totality of Black people of yesteryear rather than focusing on any individually.

"We have to celebrate the collective, not just the one narrative story that we oftentimes are fed, and know that our history has expanded beyond just slavery and that it's actually still contributing to this country today," he said.

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