Tireless British National Party councillor and campaigner Michael Simpkins has announced his intention to apply for a £1,600 grant from the Wiltshire County Council to celebrate white history month — because that was what they paid towards this month’s black history celebrations in the region.

“I was delighted to read in the Wiltshire Times how black history month was celebrated in Trowbridge at a cost of £1600 to the Wiltshire Council taxpayer,” Councillor Simpkins wrote to his local newspaper.

“After all I have been saying for a long time that a person’s ethnic origin is important to them despite being told by our liberal elite that ‘race doesn’t matter’. I think it is only fair, in the interests of due impartiality that I be allowed to promote white history month which was started by the British National Party last year and takes place every November,” he wrote.

“Here we celebrate the input the white race has put into Britain, Europe and the world in industry, medicine, science, music and the arts. I might even request a £1600 grant from Wiltshire Council to do so.”

The grant from Wiltshire County Council has been used to stage a black history exhibition at the Civic Hall. It features a static display packed full of photos and stories, as well as four touch-screen units including film clips and articles.

This coming weekend will feature a “day of celebrations at the Civic Hall to mark Black History Month, including information stands, cultural talks, drama workshops, hair braiding, face paiting [sic] and African drumming workshops from 2pm to 5pm,” according to the Wiltshire Times.

“During the evening, from 5.30pm, there will be a licensed bar, music from the a [sic] Trowbridge gospel choir, rap poetry from Moroccan teenager Chahida Boutarfas, 18, from Trowbridge, a Michael Jackson and Motown tribute set and a performance by reggae band Troy Ellis and The Longshots.”

The paper also said that “For the first time this year, the Black History Month celebrations in Trowbridge have included input from the West Wiltshire Interfaith Group and the Wiltshire Islamic Cultural Centre.”

* An explanation of the origin of the word “African” would make an interesting contribution to black history month. Students of black history might be surprised to learn that white people gave them that name in the first place.

The origin of the word Africa comes from the Roman general Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus who lived from 235–183 BC. Scipio Africanus was a general in the Second Punic War between Rome and its ancient rival Carthage, and was responsible for defeating the famous general Hannibal at the Battle of Zama in 202 BC. This battle ended the war, and Scipio became a Roman hero.

Welcomed back to Rome, he was given the additional Latin nickname “Africanus” which means “to bring, give, impart or turn over.” This Latin word was then given to the territory around Carthage which he had conquered, and the province became known as “Africa.”

Initially this name “Africa” referred only to the Roman province which was a strip of land along the Tunisian coast, but later Europeans called the entire continent and its people “Africa” since the inhabitants had no name for it. Arabs today call Tunisia “Ifrikia” which is a derivative.