SWAMPSCOTT — To mark Black History Month, the town has issued a proclamation which acknowledges that “Black History is American History” and invites its residents to read and sign onto the document.
The proclamation urges residents and officials of the town to “honor the history and achievements of Black Americans and to reflect on the centuries of struggle” and “to live up to the founding principles of our nation and the Town of Swampscott — that all people are created equal and have the right to be treated equally throughout their lives.”
This year’s proclamation continues a tradition started in 2021. It was prepared by Town Administrator Sean Fitzgerald and reviewed by the S.U.R.E. (Swampscott Unites, Respects, Embraces Diversity) community group. The Select Board has voted to adopt the proclamation.
“Hopefully, citizens of Swampscott read the proclamation and endorse it,” said Ralph Edwards, a board member of S.U.R.E and longtime Swampscott resident.
With less than 4 percent of Swampscott’s population being Black, Edwards said, it was important to acknowledge the month and that Black history is celebrated in a separate way for a reason: For a long time, Black history was not celebrated at all. Black History Month highlights the contribution of Black individuals and the Black community collectively to every aspect of American society, such as business, education, politics, science and the arts.
“But in the long run, Black history is American history; it is everyone’s history,” said Edwards. “This is the history that we all share. Everything that has happened in this country involved Black people.”
Black History Month helps Black children and youth learn this history, which provides them with a sense of their ancestry and the contributions of Black Americans to the development of the country.
“We have to constantly counteract the negative history that is usually presented, either by commission that something is patently false or, what generally happens, by omission,” said Edwards.
Fitzgerald said the proclamation reminds the community of its responsibility to reflect on historic challenges facing both Swampscott and the nation, and to highlight the incredible history and contribution of Black citizens.
“We have an opportunity in Swampscott to think more critically about race and think more intently about our responsibility as a community to really understand the history of racism and Black History, and both celebrate Black History and honor achievements of Black Americans, but also understand the struggle and understand why it is important in this generation to think anew about what we all should be doing to advance the cause of human rights and civil rights for all Americans,” said Fitzgerald.
Fitzgerald admitted that he might have not reflected enough about racial inequities and systemic racism that continues to plague not only Swampscott, but the entire nation. He said that hiding or ignoring the realities is not an option and that everyone throughout public, private, nonprofit, civic, and business communities need to roll up their sleeves and recognize that more needs to be done for diversity, inclusivity and justice.
Swampscott is a welcoming community and was very responsive to the death of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter movement, said Edwards, but to build a community where Black people and other people of color can be present, feel safe, thrive and raise children just like anyone else, the town needs to enact policies and put practices in place that would have a lasting effect.
“We are not where we want to be,” said Edwards. “We are not who we would like to be.”
More work needs to happen in Swampscott’s institutions like the Police Department and around housing development so that people can afford to live in Swampscott, said Edwards. On the national scale, what worries Edwards is that some states are trying to manipulate what is taught to students and enacting laws that will suppress Black people’s vote, impeding their citizenship.
That is why the proclamation states that this is a “historic moment of time,” Edwards said.
To celebrate Black History Month, S.U.R.E is holding a virtual event on Feb. 28 titled “Black History is OUR History: A Town-wide Celebration of Poetry and Reflections.”
