Although some argue Black history is too vast, too intense, covering a period of over four centuries, to be encapsulated within one month; February, like it has for several years past, is again being commemorated as Black History Month.
For America’s Black population, each year’s commemoration seems to gain more significance. This year, the media, social and traditional, have been focusing more on America’s Black history and the people who made significant contributions throughout this history, resulting in more Americans learning of the outstanding achievements of Black Americans.
One of the areas in which Black Americans faced the most challenges for centuries was that of politics. It wasn’t until 1965 with the passage of the Voting Rights Act that Black Americans could vote freely in American elections. With each general election since 1965, the Black vote became more important and sought after.
2008 became a pivotal watershed year for Blacks in American politics. Beyond all expectations, a Black man, Barack Obama, was nominated to represent a major political party, the Democratic Party, as a presidential candidate. Obama confounded the most profound doubters when he was overwhelmingly elected as president. In this election, Black voters emerged as a very strong voting bloc with 95 percent of Black voters voting for Obama. The Black vote has been more eagerly sought since by both Republican and Democrat candidates, although the support by Black voters leans heavily towards the Democrats. The Black vote was also very influential in the election of President Joe Biden in 2020, in which 62.6 percent of Blacks voted. Though not as historically impactful as the Black vote in 2008, the Black vote was pivotal in giving Biden a historical victory in Georgia and ensured he secured victories in closely contested states like Michigan and Pennsylvania.
The increasing power of the Black vote in America is one of the most successful achievements of the Black population, especially following the atrocities of the era of segregation. Black history will note with pride that America’s Black population is responding emphatically to the call to utilize its voting power and make a defining change in local, state, and national governmental leadership.
Having experienced vile atrocities since the era of slavery when Black men and women were forcibly brought from Africa to toil on sugar and cotton plantations; through a failed reconstruction period; through a civil war sparked over a resistance to end slavery; through cruel, demeaning years of racial segregation; through a bitter, bloody fight for their civil rights and the right to vote; the Black population has arrived at a place where attempts to marginalize their votes are being soundly defeated.
As emphatic as this achievement is, it is not one to celebrate without caution. The success of the Black vote in unseating an establishment bent on keeping the Black population in a solid, narrow box is, unfortunately, building renewed national threats against the Black population.
Large swaths of America’s population, despite the passage of time, will never accept that various races in the modern American population are entitled to those benefits white Americans claim to be their rightful prerogative. There exists a fragile social compact that tries to imply all Americans are born and can coexist equally. This social compact wants to make it acceptable for descendants of former Black slaves, Black segregated farmers, domestic help, laborers, and support staff to attend integrated public schools, colleges; gain respectable, well-paying jobs, and rise to the top of the social hierarchy.
But there is increasing resistance to those who suggest the existence of such a social compact. There are still too many non-Black Americans who postulate an alternate social compact. This alternative seeks to keep America’s Black population “in its place” in that solid, narrow box, trying to make it extremely difficult for Blacks to climb the social ladder and share benefits white Americans claim as theirs exclusively.
The remarkable evolution and lesson of Black history is America’s Black population isn’t willing to remain in a narrow box. Strengthened by years of persistent migration of Blacks from the Caribbean, and ironically from Africa, America’s Black population has made significant gains in society, shaking off the stigma of a marginalized class, to secure its place in the middle class, and beyond.
There’s increasing evidence of the influence of Black leadership in various aspects of American life, outside traditional fields of sports and entertainment. Today, Blacks are leaders in business, medicine, science, education, politics, and are increasingly entrenched in the higher echelons of the federal government.
The commemoration of another Black History Month should be a time for America’s Black population to not only reflect on historical achievements and accomplishments but ensure there are systems in place to continue the population’s upward mobility. It’s critically important Black Americans don’t fall victim to any semblance of complacency. There’s still a far way to go to reach “the promised land” envisaged by Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Black America must always be wary of the clear and present threat existing to derail its progress.
