Juneteenth,
or June 19, 2022, was marked with fireworks and concerts, parades,
and proclamations, a big difference from Juneteenth a year ago when
President Biden signed the executive order making Juneteenth a
federal holiday just two days before its actual occurrence. Last
year’s hastily implemented plans were replaced by
well-orchestrated programs this year. Last year’s celebration
merited brief chats; this year, there was a nationally televised
concert. This year, the media went to great lengths to explain
Juneteenth, perhaps doubling their coverage from a year ago.
Corporations and other organizations are observed or commemorated
Juneteenth. I was surprised, for example, by receiving notices of
Juneteenth observations from not one but two of the financial
services organizations I deal with.
A
white man at the airport wished me a “Happy Juneteenth”
and while I somewhat appreciated his greeting, it didn’t make
me happy, mainly because I don’t think the word “Happy”
should be applied to Juneteenth. Big Dot of Happiness, a company out
of Wisconsin, has produced cringe-worthy “Happy Juneteenth”
greeting cards. An online search will yield all kinds of products.
Many of those companies presumably are not owned by Black people,
commercializing Juneteenth with t-shirts, stickers, stationery, and
more.
Commercialization
is the way of predatory capitalism, so I’m not surprised at
those who hope to extract surplus profits from the people who want to
observe the day when formerly enslaved people were reminded that
their enslavement was over. Many who heard the announcement in
Galveston back in 1865 were elated, some were angry at being
exploited, and some understood that the quality of their lives was
not to change immediately or soon. Jim Crow laws, peonage and the
sharecropping system, and economic lynching emerged immediately after
the passage of the 13th Amendment. The holiday observation of
Juneteenth is a vital way to inject the issue of enslavement into the
popular lexicon, if only once a year. But the holiday transcends
symbolism only if coupled with decisive action to combat contemporary
economic exploitation and virulent racism.
President
Biden set the right tone when he issued a proclamation a few days
before Juneteenth. He described the day as “a chance to
celebrate human freedom, reflect on the grievous and ongoing legacy
of slavery, and rededicate ourselves to rooting out the systemic
racism that continues to plague our society as we strive to deliver
the full promise of America to every American. This Juneteenth, we
are freshly reminded that the poisonous ideology of racism has not
yet been defeated - it only hides.” Now that the fireworks have
faded, the
barbeque
has been digested, and the red soda water has been consumed,
President Biden might do more to attack the hidden, and not so
hidden, ideology of racism.
Has
his administration sufficiently tackled pay disparities in federal
employment? On Equal Pay Day 2022, the Biden-Harris Administration
issued a forceful pay equity statement. Yet, gaps remain, and many
are the result of the hidden racism that Biden referred to in his
Juneteenth statement. African Americans are more likely than others
to work for the federal government and experience smaller pay gaps
with the federal government than in the private sector. At the same
time, however, pay gaps remain, and Black employees are more likely
to be clerical workers in the federal government than employed in the
Senior Executive Service (SES). Connecting the Juneteenth
proclamation to a strong statement about economic equity in federal
government employment would have been impactful. There are still
opportunities for this focus, perhaps incorporating a statement about
workers’ rights with a strong message about Black federal
workers.
HR
40, the legislation to study reparations and offer remedies for
economic discrimination against Black people, has enough votes to
pass the House of Representatives. Still, it cannot pass the Senate,
given its current composition. President Biden has been urged to
establish an HR 40 Commission through an executive order whose focus
would be to examine the reparations issue thoroughly.
He
could do this with the simple stroke of a pen, putting action behind
the strong words he issued on Juneteenth. By embracing reparations to
remedy historic racial economic exploitation, President could put
teeth behind his lofty sentiments about hidden racism.
The
federal observation of Juneteenth is an important step forward in our
nation’s recognition of enslavement and its foundational
contribution to the wealth of this country.
Reparations
are the necessary next step. We must move from recognition to remedy.
