Dr. Charles E. Becknell, special assistant to the vice president for equity and inclusion as well as associate director and professor for UNM’s Africana Studies Program, explains the importance of Black History Month, how it has changed throughout the years, issues regarding race in our current society and his hopes for UNM students celebrating during this month.
What is the greatest importance of celebrating black history month in this day and age?
Not only is it an opportunity to identify and promote the great accomplishments of people of African descent in our world, it is also an opportunity to introduce critical interpretations of these events from a Black historical perspective. For example, we can and should consider the meaning of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution of the U.S. (abolition of slavery) within our current age of mass incarceration.
Too often, we imagine that time erases the connection of one historical event to the other. However, critical examination shows how each are intricately bound together. So again, I believe that it is important not only to recognize and highlight past accomplishments, but to measure them against contemporary realities.
What are the biggest issues that need to be addressed currently in our society in regards to race relations?
This is a complex question. However, within this context I will say that the most pervasive issue regarding “race relations” is the predominance of a distorted racial ideology and a pervasive ignorance of race, racism and white supremacy. Racial ideology is how people make meaning of their world by way of race and realizing the extent to which this meaning shapes their judgments, beliefs and how they support the racial order of individuals and groups.
Also, not realizing how this system of belief sways how people describe the contemporary racial reality, the opinions of the public, and whether they uphold, defy or dismantle white supremacy. I think people fail to realize that race, though not real, is not a figment our imaginations.
It is a social construct that is habitually fashioned and restyled by political design and primary interests, and it has real penalties that influence our lives day in and day out.
What are your hopes for UNM students celebrating black history month?
Again, my hope is that students, faculty and staff at UNM become more aware of important people, achievements and events in the history of the African Diaspora. Also, I would hope for them to measure these accomplishments against our contemporary reality to gain a better understanding of the world in which we live.
I always try to impart to students that if you want to know/understand the world that we live in today, then you must examine the past. In this case, it means learning about how our rich African past and the holocaust of enslavement shaped and continue to inform our political, economic and social institutions/values today.
How is this year different than past years? What has changed and what has stayed the same?
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I believe this year is similar in the sense that it is an opportunity to unearth new discoveries, share traditional information and enhance what currently exists. But there are two less obvious differences worth noting.
First, we are celebrating Black History Month in a STEM-based era, which allows us to unearth, disseminate and preserve Black history in a uniquely progressive way.
Second, we are celebrating Black History Month in a new era of black student activism, which demonstrates itself at UNM on the heels of the Black Lives Matter movement and the nonstop slaying of black women, men and children. STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics) merged with student activism, can expand Black History Month from activities/events around identification and representation to include a more critical understanding of liberation.
What would you want to say to students to address black history month at UNM?
Go deep and think critically. Do not start with the period of enslavement when addressing Black History. Black people have a rich African past that long precedes the period of enslavement.
But when you do examine the period of enslavement, consider how it has and continues to impact/influence our nation’s economy. Professor James Horton (of) George Washington University states: “By 1860, the dollar value of America’s 4 million slaves was greater than the dollar value of all of America’s banks, all of America’s railroads and all of America’s manufacturing COMBINED. When you look at how the economics of enslavement translated into the general economy of the nation, then you can see that slavery was not just some sideshow in American society. It was the main event in American history.”
Denicia Aragon is a staff reporter for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at news@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @dailylobo.
