In a landmark moment of American history, President Joe Biden proclaimed June19th as a federal holiday, reminding his fellow Americans of the power of that the emancipation of the Black people holds for the nation.
Surrounded by Vice President Kamala Harris – the first ever African American and woman to occupy the office – and cheering black leaders and legislators at a White House ceremony – Biden reflected on the importance of the Emancipation Proclamation, originally announced one hundred and fifty-six years ago on June 19th, 1865.
Since that time when a major general of the Union Army arrived in Galveston, Texas, to enforce the Emancipation Proclamation and free the last enslaved Americans in Texas from bondage, the day has been known as Juneteenth.
“Juneteenth marks both the long, hard night of slavery and subjugation, and a promise of a brighter morning to come. This is a day of profound — in my view — profound weight and profound power,” Biden said.
The president called Juneteenth a day in which “we remember the moral stain, the terrible toll that slavery took on the country and continues to take — what I’ve long called “America’s original sin.”
At the same time, Biden underlined that the day means the “extraordinary capacity to heal, and to hope, and to emerge from the most painful moments and a bitter, bitter version of ourselves, but to make a better version of ourselves.”
The gathering included prominent African American Opal Lee, and the president hailed the 94-year-old for being an incredible voice – “a daughter of Texas. Grandmother of the movement to make Juneteenth a federal holiday.”
The president recalled the happenings of the Juneteenth, 1939, when Lee was 12 years old, a white mob torched her family home.
“But such hate never stopped her any more than it stopped the vast majority of you I’m looking at from this podium.”
Later, Ms Lee made recognition of the day as her a singular mission, and walked for miles and miles, literally and figuratively, to bring attention to Juneteenth, to make this day possible, the president noted.
Biden also reflected on some soul-searching moments for America.
“By making Juneteenth a federal holiday, all Americans can feel the power of this day, and learn from our history, and celebrate progress, and grapple with the distance we’ve come but the distance we have to travel, Jim.
“You know, I said a few weeks ago, marking the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacre, great nations don’t ignore their most painful moments. Great nations don’t ignore their most painful moments. They don’t ignore those moments of the past. They embrace them. Great nations don’t walk away. We come to terms with the mistakes we made. And in remembering those moments, we begin to heal and grow stronger.
“The truth is, it’s not — simply not enough just to commemorate Juneteenth. After all, the emancipation of enslaved Black Americans didn’t mark the end of America’s work to deliver on the promise of equality; it only marked the beginning.”
To honor the true meaning of Juneteenth, we have to continue toward that promise because we’ve not gotten there yet, the president said. “The Vice President and I and our entire administration and all of you in this room are committed to doing just that.
“That’s why we’ve launched an aggressive effort to combat racial discrimination in housing — finally address the cruel fact that a home owned, to this day, by a Black American family is usually appraised at a lower rate for a similar home owned by a white family in a similar area.
“That’s why we committed to increasing Black homeownership, one of the biggest drivers of generational wealth.
“That’s why we’re making it possible for more Black entrepreneurs to access — to access capital, because their ideas are as good; they lack the capital to get their fair — and get their fair share of federal contracts so they can begin to build wealth.”
“That’s why we’re working to give each and every child, three and four years of age, not daycare, but school — in a school. (Applause.)
“That’s why — that’s why we’re unlocking the incredibly creative and innovation — innovation of the history — of our Historical Black Colleges and Universities, providing them with the resources to invest in research centers and laboratories to help HBCU graduates prepare and compete for good-paying jobs in the industries of the future.
“Folks, the promise of equality is not going to be fulfilled until we become real — it becomes real in our schools and on our Main Streets and in our neighborhoods — our healthcare system and ensuring that equity is at the heart of our fight against the pandemic; in the water that comes out of our faucets and the air that we breathe in our communities; in our justice system — so that we can fulfill the promise of America for all people. All of our people.”
