Where Do We Stand This Juneteenth?

Juneteenth is the newest national holiday in the United States, but it’s more than a day off work. Juneteenth is a chance to remember and honor our nation’s history, as well as a chance to look to the future.

The Emancipation Proclamation declared that all slaves were freed as of January 1, 1863. This was accomplished through the passing and ratification of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution. However, in the days before airplanes and highways, such a sweeping legislative action could not be enforced nationwide immediately. In parts of the South still controlled by Confederates, slaves were kept illegally in some areas. Juneteenth celebrates the day that the last of the slaves were officially freed by Union soldiers on June 19th, 1865 in Galveston, Texas, more than two years after slaves were officially declared free. This new federal holiday, already celebrated in Black communities for years, gives Americans the chance to celebrate the day that we truly ended slavery in this country, as well as the freedom and opportunity the ending of slavery opened for our previously enslaved Americans. (The National Museum of African American History and Culture)

While the 13th Amendment freed the slaves, they were not made citizens of the United States until the 14th Amendment was ratified in 1868. Even after that, Jim Crow laws kept Black Americans from being equal citizens in society until such practices as separate restrooms and schools were outlawed through the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and Brown v. Board of Education (Harvard). These actions ended the Jim Crow Era and moved our society toward a more equitable and inclusive status. However, this isn’t the end of the racism story.

While most voters support teaching the history of slavery and, more broadly, Black history, in schools, many states’ legislators are dictating how schools can teach about race and Black History (EducationWeek, 2023). In 2023, Florida published social studies standards that include how slavery led slaves to develop “skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit” (Florida State Standards, SS.68.AA.2.3, Benchmark Clarification). This erases the harm done by slavery and leads students to believe that slavery could even be beneficial for those being oppressed, which is a repugnant and harmful position. South Dakota outlawed “training or orientation that teaches, advocates, acts upon, or promotes divisive concepts” in schools, while defining “divisive concepts” as a list of topics related to race and racism (SD House Bill 1012). While many of the “divisive concepts” sound reasonable (not teaching that one race is superior to another), the bill causes fear of punishment in teachers and prevents productive conversations about race and racism from occurring in classrooms. More recently, the removal of people of color from educational materials, federal webpages, and social media to combat “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI)” by the Trump administration (NPR, 2025) has further shown that, even in 2025, Black Americans are somehow still viewed as outside group in American society, rather than the integral part of American history and society that they are. In Indiana, Micah Beckwith, lieutenant governor, commented that the ⅗ Compromise, which counted enslaved people as ⅗ of a person, rather than an actual human, was a “great move” (Indiana Capital Chronicle, 2025). In doing this, he lauded a political move that dehumanized a large number of Black Americans and counted them as subhuman. No political strategy can make this acceptable.

This litany of recent racist policies, actions, and statements shows that, while we no longer have slavery, we still have a long way to go to obliterate racism and recognize the tremendous impact of slavery that still persists today. Of course, noted here are only acts by the government and government officials. Other racist acts, of which there are many, are not included here but certainly happen on a daily basis. Further, we need education systems that highlight the contributions of people of color alongside their White counterparts, rather than the whitewashed version of history that is so often taught today. As an educator myself, I’ve seen students who insist that racism is a thing of the past and no longer exists in society today. I was explicitly taught this myself as a child. However, as I have hopefully demonstrated, this could not be further from the truth.

Therefore, this Juneteenth, I challenge you to celebrate the end of slavery, yes, but also to reflect on the areas in which we still need progress in this country. What can you do to further racial justice and equity in your family, community, or state? How can we come together to stand against racist acts by those in power? I urge you to write your legislators; support local businesses, especially those owned by people of color; engage in challenging your own implicit biases (we all have them!); and learn about the truth of our history, rather than the edited version we are so often taught in school. We need to pay attention to what those in power are doing and who they’re erasing from history so that we can honor and celebrate those individuals who have helped progress our nation from the abomination of slavery.