UK Councils condemned for 'shameful' rebranding of Black History Month

For more than 30 years, Black History Month has been a fixture in Britain’s cultural calendar, celebrated every October in schools and at tens of thousands of events across the country. But this year the event, which starts on Monday, is at the centre of an appropriation row as campaigners complain that a number of councils have scrapped the name, describing it instead as a celebration of all different ethnicities.

The historian and broadcaster, David Olusoga, is among those who have spoken out to defend the need to keep the month focused on black history. The shadow equalities minister, Dawn Butler, said the Windrush scandal exposed the need to keep black history in sharp focus.

The Conservative-led London borough of Hillingdon, in west London, stopped Black History Month in 2007 and resisted attempts earlier this month to get it reinstated, instead focusing on a programme of multi-ethnic events called Culture Bite with events on south Asia, country dancing and wine tasting.