As the war wages on between those who want Critical Race Theory (CRT) taught along with just plain history and those who want to stick their fingers in their ears and sing the national anthem, the Senate has voted on making Juneteenth a federal holiday. The House still has to vote to make it official, but obvs it’ll pass.
Now don’t get me wrong, I am excited about the acknowledgement that Juneteenth exists and will be recognized on a national level BUT miss me with that bs it’s somehow enough to have a day off without understanding why. Shall we take a look at the long list of federal holidays that we’ve come to know and love solely for being time off?? Juneteenth isn’t just a day off. It is representative of a time in our dark history where humans were owned, property of other humans. This day marks the last day that evil, crippling, destructive institution of slavery came to an end - arguably (definitely), it morphed into the prison industrial complex, but that’s for a whole other blog post. Juneteenth, a demarcation of slavery ending in Galveston, Texas TWO YEARS after it should have, is not something to take lightly. It’s not enough to give people the day off and not wholly recognize as a country how the atrocity of slavery continues to impact society today. The entire thing reeks of another performative action to avoid actual change or accountability.
I wrote about the importance of Juneteenth last year and am grateful that there are increasing celebrations and resources about this incredibly important day, but I worry this will be it. This federal holiday will get buried amidst all the others as just another day off rather than a day to remember. A lot of the federal holidays have devolved into exactly that- solely, day off. In addition to a day off, it should be mandatory to outline exactly why this day exists, but with the widespread refusal to appreciate CRT and attempts to erase factual historical events, the country has shown once again how resistant it is to evolution, criticism, and reality.
Although, last year, and this year it seemed like we were taking the time to understand the historical significance of federal holidays and even began to question the legitimacy of their inception. But as we “get back to normal” I can already feel that capacity for patience and understanding dwindling. Because things are starting to move more quickly and burnout is creeping its way back into the work lexicon, I’m worried the importance of Juneteenth will eventually fall to the wayside or worse- when it does become a federal holiday, make people complacent. A holiday isn’t enough, but should be a start to repairing the irrefutable damage caused by slavery. Let’s talk reparations. Let’s talk social justice. Let’s talk ending systemic racism. Let’s do some more as a nation to dismantle white supremacy. But let’s not accept a federal holiday as enough. Where’s admission of guilt and concession this country was built on blood? I say for the bagillionth time, where’s an apology?
And I’ll say it again. There still hasn’t been an official apology issued by the government owning up to their complicity and responsibility perpetuating a system that ripped families apart, condoned rape, beatings, and murder. A system that was completely acceptable and often encouraged to build this “great nation” at the expense of not just black people but many people of color, including Native Americans whose history is steeped in unconscionable horror and continues to be downplayed/ignored. Another glaring blemish on how this country came to be.
As I write this I feel the sad heaviness of skepticism weighing squarely on me while I also attempt to embrace the hopefulness that things are changing incrementally and that a majority of this country does want more. People are rebelling against unlivable wages. People are continuing to take the streets and protest police brutality.
While many companies may be pining for the freedom to exploit workers and cross their fingers for the return of an apathetic public, I think we’re all coming to terms with the inability to “go back to normal.” We’ve experienced too much and leaned on each other too hard to leave that feeling of humanitarianism and camaraderie behind. Yes, we have never been more polarized, but we’ve also never been more vocal and pursuant of equality in these last few years.
I hope this Juneteenth people don’t shy away from the discomfort of history and celebrate how far we’ve come. Black people, we are our ancestors and should be proud. Our predecessors are legends and endured unimaginable hardships. We are their wildest dreams. I cannot wait to fully celebrate Juneteenth and bask in the resilience and beauty of where I came from. HOWEVER, a day off granted to us by a government who can do some much more to enact tangible change and doesn’t accept accountability just isn’t nearly enough.