Challenging progressive paternalism with Black History Month

Isympathize with calls to end Black History Month. After all, black history is part of the world’s history and should be taught as such. And one must wonder how long we intend to segregate historical education by race, if the hope is to eventually end racial division within our society.

However, the most persuasive reason to continue celebrating Black History Month is that it presents an opportunity to counter paternalistic racial attitudes that masquerade as progressive politics, exemplified by many journalists, governments and academics who present black people as powerless victims with little to no personal agency.

Black History Month was founded with the hope of challenging 20th-century racial paternalism. Its founder, Dr. Carter G. Woodson, a West Virginia coal miner turned university professor, declared his intention to use historical education to “crown (blacks) as a factor in early human progress and a maker of modern civilization.” Woodson wanted black men and women to be understood as great contributors to their societies, who should be encouraged to live up to their potential and reject being defined by tragedies like slavery or segregation.

Nearly a century has passed since Woodson laid the foundation for black historical education in North America, but the presentation of black people as powerless victims, as opposed to great contributors, persists. Only today it is considered progressive to perpetuate the racial paternalism of the past.

Consider, for example, current Canadian examples of progressive paternalism:

An Ontario judge has argued in favour of lenient race-based sentencing rules for black offenders in the criminal justice system, which would hold black Canadians to lower behavioural expectations than others under Canadian law.

A Toronto Star interview with polarizing activist Desmond Cole presents black Canadians as a homogeneous group dominated by the supposedly omnipotent forces of “white supremacy” and “anti-blackness.”

The Toronto District School Board’s strategy to support black students focuses on anti-racism training of teachers and administrators, rather than giving parents more say in how their kids are educated, such as expanding school choice options.

Each of these instances of progressive paternalism continues the old tradition of treating black people as victims who need to be saved by others. Brown University economist Glenn Loury describes such efforts as being informed by a “bias narrative” to explain modern racial inequalities. This bias narrative does not put black people at the centre of improving their own lives; instead, it focuses on changing the biases of whoever is assumed to be victimizing blacks. By contrast, Loury describes an alternative “developmental narrative” that considers the skills, traits, habits and orientations a person needs to be successful in their society. The developmental narrative focuses on how to best empower black people to improve their own lives.

These two narratives need not be mutually exclusive on every social issue, as Loury acknowledges. Successful education reform, for instance, may require some accountability measures to monitor teacher biases, in addition to giving parents more power over publicly funded schools. Still, the bias narrative has the unique potential of dehumanizing black people by failing to recognize their personal agency in any way. And that’s precisely what genuine efforts to fight racism should be alarmed by.

Black History Month started as a call to challenge racial paternalism. It remains an opportunity to do so. With thanks to Dr. Woodson.

WOODSON WANTED BLACK MEN AND WOMEN (TO) REJECT BEING DEFINED BY TRAGEDIES.