Erasing Black History, dismantling democracy - It’s all connected

Did it feel like we just celebrated our last Black History Month? This question isn’t hyperbole. It is a reflection of what we have just witnessed. February 2025 felt less like a celebration of Black progress and more like an assault on everything Black Americans have fought for. Online, people have been calling this the worst Black History Month ever, and it’s hard to argue otherwise. This month wasn’t just a series of bad headlines, it was a coordinated attack on democracy, Black identity, and the very idea that America can be a multiracial society.

The moment that made it clear to me was February 28, the final day of Black History Month. That morning, President Trump sat beside Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and publicly sided with a dictator over a democracy. Not just any dictator but the historic advisory of our nation. The following afternoon, on March 1, he signed an executive order making English the official language of the United States, sending a clear message to millions of non-English speakers, many of whom are immigrants and people of color, that they are outsiders in their own country. And just the day before, his administration launched a federal portal, the "snitch line", encouraging people to report diversity, equity, and inclusion programs in schools. The same government that is choosing to side with dictators is now asking Americans to turn in their teachers for fostering inclusion.

None of this is coincidence. This is about power, who holds it, who gets to participate in democracy, and who gets erased from history altogether. Black Americans know this pattern because we have lived it. The dismantling of democracy has always come with an attack on Black political power, and Trump is making that clear again. The executive order declaring English the official language is not about language, it’s about exclusion. The attack on DEI is not about ideology, it’s about erasing progress. The choice to back Putin over Ukraine is not about diplomacy, it’s about aligning with authoritarianism because democracy is a threat to those who have always held power in America.

The struggle for civil rights and equality has always been intertwined with the broader fight for democratic principles. Every moment of Black progress has been met with violent pushback. Reconstruction was followed by Jim Crow. The Civil Rights Movement was followed by mass incarceration and voter suppression. And now, after the election of the first Black president and the mobilization of Black voters that shaped elections for a generation, we are watching another wave of backlash unfold.

What’s happening now is not just about America; it’s about how the world sees America. The United States has long projected itself as the leader of the free world, but that image has always been complicated by the reality of racial injustice. During the Cold War, the Soviet Union weaponized America’s treatment of Black citizens, using images of segregation, police brutality, and lynchings as propaganda to undermine U.S. claims of being the world’s beacon of democracy. It was not lost on global leaders that while America claimed to champion freedom abroad, it was actively oppressing Black Americans at home. The Civil Rights Movement wasn’t just a domestic fight, it was an international reckoning that forced the U.S. to confront its hypocrisy.

That international pressure helped fuel legislative victories like the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Black activism forced America to live up to its ideals because the world was watching. Now, in 2025, the world is watching again, but this time it is seeing a country sliding backward. When Trump aligns with Putin, attacks democracy, and suppresses Black political power, he is signaling to the world that America’s commitment to democracy is conditional. The promise of America, the idea that it can be a true multiracial democracy, is what’s really under attack.

This is what makes Black History Month 2025 feel different. It feels like a warning. This year, we did not celebrate history, we watched it being dismantled in real time. The same forces that seek to strip Ukraine of its sovereignty are working to strip Black Americans of their rights, their votes, and their influence. The connection is clear: If democracy falls anywhere, it is at risk everywhere.

So the question is not just whether this was the worst Black History Month ever, it’s whether we will allow it to be the last. Will we wake up and fight for the future of Black America? Will we recognize that the battle for democracy is not just happening overseas, but right here, in our schools, in our voting booths, in our history books? This is not a moment to be disheartened. It is a moment to be mobilized. Because if we don’t fight now, there may not be another Black History Month left to celebrate.

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