There is always debate about the concept’s necessity and efficacy. But with nativists in their pomp, it’s good to focus on who we are and why

• What forces shaped four generations of Black Britons? | The panel

Pity Black History Month UK, assailed on all sides. Those on the right seek to end the celebration on the basis that it amounts to special treatment for a group that doesn’t deserve it. History should be colour-blind: society should not differentiate, they say. We are not racist, we just want fairness. But often, they are – and they really don’t.

On the other side of the argument are the progressives, notably minority progressives, who say the idea of a month to consider Black history is demeaning because it should already have a year-round place in our teaching and consciousness. There is a further view that any beneficial effect the month once had has been diluted by unimaginative repetition and commercially motivated virtue signalling. Players taking the knee in the Premier League? Been there, done that: yawn!

Hugh Muir is executive editor, Opinion

For Black History Month, figures from the arts, culture and sport reveal the people and ideas that made them who they are today

• When you’re traduced, abused and gaslighted – believe me, Black History Month matters | Hugh Muir

Financial reparations are not the answer. Working together with our Commonwealth family is the best way to ensure prosperity for us all

• Andy Burnham open to calls for formal apology for Britain’s role in slave trade

On 28 October 1787, Thomas Clarkson pushed through the crowds to reach the pulpit of Manchester Cathedral. A campaigner for abolishing slavery, he spoke urgently about the horrors of the slave trade and the humanity of enslaved people. “He drinks the cup of sorrow,” Clarkson said. “And he drinks it at our hands.”

During Black History Month, these are the stories it is important to remember. They show us the complicated truth of our history. Thousands of people in Manchester signed a petition against slavery after Clarkson’s sermon. And yet Manchester’s cotton industry was built on the labour of enslaved people. There are similar stories up and down the nation. We are a country where brave people led the way in abolishing slavery, but we are also a country that participated in the trade in human lives.

Andy Burnham is prime minister of the United Kingdom

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