Why Juneteenth matters everywhere in the world

To some, it might seem like a relatively obscure Americanism. Even in America, it was only made a federal holiday a year ago.

But Juneteenth, celebrated on 19 June, presents an opportunity to take stock of the systemic racism and intolerance that have long cut across international borders.

The specific event commemorated by the holiday foreshadowed the disappointing and disjointed healing process to follow. On 19 June 1865, more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation had been issued, Black people in Galveston, Texas were belatedly informed of their freedom by soldiers reading from a general order as they marched through town.

In a sign of things to come, that order admonished freed slaves to “remain quietly” at home – presumably a slave plantation where they’d been delivered as property – and warned that they would “not be supported in idleness.” The 13^th Amendment, which abolished slavery throughout the US, was ratified a few months later – though 19 June has come to be recognized as the day marking the end of perhaps the bleakest chapter in the country’s history.

Juneteenth was celebrated within Texas as early as 1867, and by the 20th-century celebrations had become prominent in neighbouring states. It became a state holiday in Texas in 1979. The push for federal holiday status gained momentum amid a racial reckoning that began in 2020. Ultimately, the lone senator blocking passage realized it was not a fight that would win him allies.

The enshrining of 19 June as a federal holiday came amid renewed efforts to restrict voting rights for people of color, and to gloss over systemic racism in school curricula. However, some progress has been made on addressing the lasting impacts of slavery and abuse that extended long past 19 June 1865.

Below is an excerpt from a visualization of the accumulated lynchings of Black people in the Southern US between 1882 and 1930 on a monthly basis. These public executions followed accusations of wrongdoing but no due process; they served to inflict terror and exercise control.

In 2020, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution calling for “concrete action” for the elimination of racial discrimination and xenophobia. It cited an alarming rise in hate speech and incitement to violence.

Unsettling developments have served as reminders that racism is a widely-shared problem. An increase in anti-Asian racist violence during the pandemic, for example, has been fueled in some instances by leaders looking to assign blame.

In Europe, an “alarming spike” in Islamophobia has been observed amid a normalization of extreme right-wing rhetoric, and people of color continue to deal with systemic racism.

According to government statistics in the UK, for example, just 2% of white British households are overcrowded, compared with 24% of Bangladeshi and 16% of Black African households; statistics have also registered a 68% home-ownership rate for white British households, compared with 20% for Black African households.

Racism can also creep into popular culture and sport; ugly incidents have marred high-profile soccer matches including a Europa League qualifier in 2021 between Czech and Scottish sides.

Popular culture in China has also played on racist imagery. One infamous advertisement for laundry detergent showed a woman “washing” her Black boyfriend by turning him into a fair-skinned Chinese man.

Australia, too, has been home to embarrassing episodes including recurring reports of people and performers wearing blackface.

Ultimately, confronting our worst instincts is necessary to learn from our past, and do better.

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