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Juneteenth Should Gain Status as a National Holiday, Now
There is a mounting movement emerging on making Juneteenth a federal Holiday. Let it be so.
Juneteenth is a high octane commemoration now being celebrated in nearly 40 states, largely within the African American community. It recognizes the end of slavery in the United States, culminating in Texas in 1865 when emancipation was announced to enslaved blacks in Galveston. For many blacks it’s a holiday that is a substitute for the 4th of July because it resonates more truly for them on themes that speak to American freedom and democracy.
The police murders of George Floyd in Minneapolis and Rayshard Brooks in Atlanta have once again elevated the nation’s sensibilities around the stark racial division that bedevils our country. Their deaths — along with the racially associated killings of Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery — punctuate the latest occasions of our country’s attempts to hold serious and sustained discussion about unrelenting ethnic animus.
Perhaps the current national conflagration related to race is a kairos moment for our country, a time to address the moral corruption within our society which is historically connected to narratives that have sought to dehumanize black life. Perhaps it is a time for further action at delineating the niceties and complexities related to race, especially…
