Today is Juneteenth, a holiday steeped in a painful history, but has grown to be beautiful celebration of life. I’ve written about the holiday since it became more visible to the rest of the country in 2020. I’ll list out the links to those posts below:
Juneteenth 2020
Juneteenth 2021
Juneteenth 2022
In all of those musings my underlying sentiments remain the same- people who don’t believe in CRT or teaching/learning actual history shouldn’t have the day off, there should be an effort to educate people on the realities of slavery, and there is still little movement in the area of an apology (and REPARATIONS) for this horrendous, inhumane legal practice that resulted in the destruction of families and fundamental inequalities.
I won’t rehash what I’ve written about the last few years, but I did want to reiterate how impossible it is to separate race from the celebration of this holiday and acknowledge that this holiday is very much for Black Americans. It’s interesting to think about how it can be celebrated outside of that community. I think making sure to support black-owned businesses and make an effort to learn the history of the holiday is helpful, but this day is so much more than a day off. This holiday commemorates an extremely dark time in this country and to make it about anything other than that is disingenuous.
I just had a conversation with my mother who doesn’t agree we should be “celebrating“ this holiday, which I kind of understand. Celebration I think is a word that can be taken in many different ways. For me, celebrating this day is less giving power to a system of oppression that kept enslaved people from their freedom, but more remembering a history that was integral in forming the nation and seeing how what was once acceptable has destroyed a piece of this country many of us are fighting to rebuild. Let’s face it, there was never a moment in this country where everyone from every background was treated fairly and decently. This nation was built on a lie and the refusal to accept this continues to keep us from moving forward. It’s insulting to just give a day off when this country does owe descendants of slaves much more than a federal holiday and confusing company logos. However, a day off also means a day away from the grind. A day to be with family and friends. A day to spend however you want. It’s a day to remember.
There are places putting in efforts to preserve historical sites, making it clear what went on there, which is incredible. The reality is there will likely never be anything that can be done to make up for what this country did, but I do agree with my mother that reparations are key. Making some sort of effort to rectify the stark inequity would be a start. I still stand by celebrating this holiday. As I mentioned before, it is something we cannot forget. It’s not something that happened so long ago it doesn’t matter. We’re not talking about ancient Rome. This is something that happened during the inception of our country. This holiday in particular is a testament to resilience, but also a reminder of true evil.
I’ll be off resting. Maybe taking a walk. Definitely thinking of my ancestors and practicing gratitude today. 🖤