Trending Topics

Trump Issues Proclamation Celebrating ‘National African-American History Month’

President-elect Donald Trump. Photo by Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images.

(UPDATE) Though initial claims suggested President Donald Trump had permanently changed Black History Month to be  recognized as “National African-American History Month”, it turns out he isn’t the first president to issue such a proclamation.

TMZ on Thursday, Feb. 2, reported that the newly-elected president decided to axe the moniker “Black History Month” after meeting with several African-American leaders this week. Trump said they decided the term “Black” was largely “out dated” and felt it would be more appropriate to use the term “African-American,” an administration official familiar with the matter told the news site.

The official also added that the president was mindful of the new addition to the Smithsonian, referencing the newly opened National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C.

There was much backlash over the alleged name change, but it turns out that the terms “Black History Month” and “African-American History Month” have been used interchangeably by presidents for decades. Snopes.com reported that former President Gerald Ford first used the the term Black History Month in 1976, but later presidents including Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama have used the term “African-American History Month” in at least one of their annual proclamations for the month of February.

Read Trump’s presidential proclamation for National African-American History Month below:

Back to top