Juneteenth's Federal Recognition is Bittersweet

By: Holly Ji

This Thursday, Biden signed legislation officially making Juneteenth a federally recognized holiday. Juneteenth is an important day for many Black people, as it marks the day slaves heard the news of emancipation in Galveston, Texas. Although on the surface, recognizing the holiday may feel like good news, it also demonstrates how surface-level the government is willing to go for Black liberation. The Juneteenth National Independence Day Act was passed with a unanimous vote from the Senate and a whopping 415 votes from the House. However, most of those same legislators refuse to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, the Ending Qualified Immunity Act, and the For the People Act, which would all greatly change the infrastructure to fight against systemic racism in the US. On a day meant to celebrate the freeing of Black slaves, there are incarcerated Black men who must sit in their jail cells as courts are closed. On a day for education on Black history, there are twenty-two states trying to ban critical race theory from our schools. As Black families suffer from poverty largely caused by white supremacy preventing the growth of generational wealth, big corporations and non-black businesses co-opt Juneteenth and sell merchandise, treating the day as a “trend” that generates revenue. As many non-black people get a paid day off work for a holiday that is not theirs, many Black people still have to work while only eleven US states make workplace discrimination based on hair texture illegal. Juneteenth should be recognized, but so should the struggles and generational trauma of Black people. 

If you truly want to celebrate Juneteenth as an ally, you have the power to push legislators to really reform our horribly racist systems. Some sources you can visit are:


The Catalystjuneteenth, Juneteenth, black, racismComment