It is February and you know what that means – it is Black History Month. I have never been too keen on the setting aside of particular months for things whether it be Women’s History Month in March or Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October. I feel it gives people an excuse to ignore these topics the rest of the year. In the case for the historical recognitions it seems like the same token individuals/artifacts are dusted off (sometimes not even) and brought out for the obligatory exhibit or public program.
In our field if we don’t fall into step with the observance of a particular month for a particular group we could be labeled as out of touch, insensitive, or even worse, bigoted. I have always honed to the belief that if an organization is truly interested in serving the public—we as non-profits are responsible for keeping the public trust after all—it serves all the members of the public all the time. It doesn’t mean that you slip a minority into an exhibit or program to make sure you are hitting some quota, it means you keep your audience in mind at all times. You create programs that reflect your community and you are welcoming to everyone from all backgrounds. It is easy to say but hard to achieve. Not that most of us would want to consciously be unwelcoming, but there are perceptions we all have to manage.
The public is conditioned to expect African American history in February, though is it me or are they less conscious of March being Women’s History Month? So what to do if you want to capitalize on expectations but not appear to be pandering? Have your Black History Month program or exhibit or what-have-you in February but have another one some other month as well. Make sure your exhibits reflect the diversity of your community as much as you can reasonably manage. I understand the challenges this can create. My institution has limited resources relating to African American history (historically the Black population of the area hovers around 10%), though they are improving very slowly.
Nevertheless, we refuse to use the “we don’t have it, we can’t exhibit it” excuse and have come up with other ways to try to be good stewards of our community’s history. We host lectures, symposia, write articles, and use photos to fill in the gaps we have. At the same time we don’t typically make a big deal over the fact our efforts are specifically focused on Black history or women’s history or any other group’s history. It is all history and has equal importance to the understanding of our community and nation.
A recent thread on a listserv to which I subscribe was entitled “Incorporating the African American Story.” This made me think, are people still “incorporating” Black history? Shouldn’t it be there from the start?