Celebrating Juneteenth

Juneteenth marks the end of slavery in Texas and the United States more than two and a half years after Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. On June 19th, 1865, Union Major General Gordon Granger rode into Galveston, TX with an order that read:

The people of Texas are informed that in accordance with a Proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired laborer.

Any student of history knows that “absolute equality of rights” for former slaves and their generations of descendents has remained more of a dream than a practice across this land. Many Americans feel about civil rights progress the way slaves in Galveston must have felt when Granger read Lincoln’s order, dated September 1862: why did this have to take so long?

Yet since that day, Juneteenth has slowly grown into a nationwide celebration of black liberation, a recognition of black struggle, and a reminder that unjust systems must be dismantled wherever they exist.

This week Juneteenth finally became an officially recognized national holiday, and Saint Joseph’s College of Maine is proud to mark the occasion in at least three important ways:

On the anniversary of George Floyd’s murder, the resulting groundswell of protest, and my Call to Action Against Racism, the College’s Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) Group and Leadership Team continue to make progress on the items outlined in that document. This momentum includes the recently initiated process for hiring our first JEDI Officer, new training opportunities, diversity initiatives in both hiring and recruiting, and scholarships supporting students from historically marginalized communities. These concrete measures honor the spirit of Juneteenth by doing – beginning to dismantle our own systems of privilege and inequity here at SJC.

Today, we raise a new Black Lives Matter flag over campus. A simple and profound statement of shared humanity and expanding justice, we are proud to show the world that we stand with BIPOC members of our community, surrounding communities, and the global community. The flag will fly alongside the American flag to commemorate this historic Juneteenth moment and the continuing struggle for equality everywhere.

Finally, the College will also be formally honoring Juneteenth each year by adding the day as an official holiday on our annual calendar. Non-essential employees of Saint Joe’s will get a day off, and we encourage all members of our community to use the day to reaffirm our individual and collective commitment to racial justice through activism, advocacy and service.

Happy Juneteenth.