Juneteenth, 2022
June 19th, 2022 - Father’s Day coincides with a very visible Juneteenth. This newly government-recognized holiday proved to be a day of internal conflict for many. Over the weekend I was asked numerous times how and where to celebrate Juneteenth and if it was really appropriate for people outside of the Black community to celebrate the day. Before I share my answers to those questions, let me share some other thoughts…
Father’s Day. Always surprisingly rough. Surprising because even though I have had many years to brace myself for a day of celebration that highlights a void in my life, the day somehow finds a new way of triggering tears. This year, as expected, I tried envisioning a life with a father present. I also tried to recall who stepped up as a father figure in my life and while I can list numerous women (who I am grateful for and blessed to have!) that took the lead and helped shape me, I could count only two great but variably present men (who I am also grateful for and blessed to have!). But that ratio (2:Many) haunted my day. It led me to run through the list of men in my family and friends. Where were they? Unfortunately, many had died at a relatively young age from strokes, cancer, drug overdose, and the like, which of course, reminded me of my job. As a forensic pathologist, I see an overrepresentation of minoritized groups in America for many causes of death. Coupled with an overrepresentation of men in the decedent population falling under our jurisdictions, that translates to many fathers of color who have died too soon, exacerbated by this pandemic. That’s where I landed for the majority of the day.
Juneteenth. The day celebrated by many Black Americans as their true day of freedom since the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 meant essentially nothing in this divided nation until the Union advanced, conquered, and liberated the enslaved in each state of the Confederacy. While the Union’s advancement to Galveston, TX marked the end of chattel slavery, it still existed as a handful of Indigenous tribes who sided with the Confederacy held slaves until the following year. Newly freed slaves often still worked for their former masters as share croppers, being paid pennies and charged money to rent their homes, barely breaking even or kept in debt. They were denied proper education and healthcare and kept in poor housing, and as our nation grew, our schools, hospitals, and neighborhoods remained segregated with those serving Black communities severely underfunded and under-resourced - a pattern that persists today in our public school, healthcare, and housing systems. Almost immediately after the Civil War ended the Ku Klux Klan was formed to instill terror and subdue any sense of freedom - a behavior that persists today in many similar hate groups that masquerade as national pride. Many Confederate officers became law enforcement agents and judges, helping to shunt former slaves into the prison system - a pattern that persists today in our criminal justice system. The enslaved went straight into a segregated Jim Crow era that kept them oppressed and “less than” - governed by laws that kept them separate. Given unequal treatment. Not free. It took our nation nearly a century to enact any laws to protect the welfare of Black Americans (the Civil Rights Act of 1964). And it is evident that nearly every system in this still divided country continues to fail the Black community. With so much unchanged, I was left questioning what exactly were we proudly celebrating as a nation.
A girl without a father in a community without many fathers in a people without true freedom and equality. It felt like the opposite of a celebration until my timelines flooded with people of all identities joyfully stepping up into a father role. Some breaking generational curses with a smile. Pictures of families with generations of Black grandfathers, fathers, and children embracing and laughing. While there is still work to be done, much work has been done. There has been some healing. There has been some progress. As imperfect as it is, we are not where we were 20, 50, or 100 years ago, and that is a cause for celebration.
Back to the opening questions. Yes, if you want to celebrate Juneteenth, you absolutely should! How to do so is completely up to you. With it being a government-recognized holiday, many celebratory events are bigger and receive more press and production support. Most of these highlight Black entrepreneurs in the community and shopping their creations and listening to their stories is an excellent way to show support and build connections with people in your community you might not normally engage with. Other ways to celebrate Juneteenth? Recognizing the work left to be done in every single system in America and committing to doing something in your workplace to address the disparities and inequities that still exist. Also, recognizing the people who have already been there doing the important work before it became popular (ex: disparities research), supporting them, and engaging them in future projects is an excellent way to recreate the spirit of Juneteenth. Don’t ignore us and leave us behind as this country has done time and time again - break that cycle yourself.
