Happy Juneteenth! Now What?
A bill establishing Juneteenth as a national holiday was officially signed into law by President Joe Biden on Thursday, June 17th, just in time for the commemoration of the end of slavery in the United States. It is observed on June nineteenth each year, the date in 1865 — three years after the Emancipation Proclamation — when enslaved people in Texas were declared free by the slow-advancing Union Army. From President Biden’s address:
“Juneteenth represents not only the commemoration of the end of slavery in America more than one hundred and fifty years ago, but the ongoing work that has to bring true equity and racial justice into American society — which we can do. In short, this day doesn’t just celebrate the past. It calls for action today.”
Indeed: efforts to codify the holiday — already observed, often officially, in many states — gained traction after the murders of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd in 2020. The ensuing dialogue, often violent, often divisive, often seemingly aimless, has nonetheless been the catalyst for some genuine change: efforts to defund police departments or at least redirect some of their funding have become hard initiatives in a number of states and municipalities; the murder charges against Floyd’s murderer Derek Chauvin that so many early protestors clamored for resulted in three convictions; and, arguably, the tide that rose against the not-so-quiet proliferation of white supremacist ideas and actions also rose against President Donald J. Trump in the 2020 elections.
And while these and the nationalizing of Juneteenth are important, positive, and urgent steps, much has not changed. We must reckon with the clear and contradictory poles that dominate race dialogue today: Juneteenth, and the conservative backlash against the teaching of critical race theory in schools.
What is Critical Race Theory?
Critical race theory has been moving inexorably but slowly toward mainstream race dialogue since the 1970s. It has its origins in the writings of a number of American activists and legal scholars and began as an approach to understanding and challenging law as it relates to race, pushing the boundaries of progressive concepts of racial justice, and examining cultural issues related to racism, race, and their impact.
The two prevailing themes that define critical race theory have drawn the greatest backlash: that racism and white supremacy are or can be structural in American society and that their structure is supported by law; and that destroying or rebuilding those structures, or at least creating an accord between race and law, is within the grasp of the American people.
Opposition to Critical Race Theory
Critical race theory has drawn heavy criticism from many on the political and cultural right, including lawmakers. Many have equated it with “identity politics:” dubiously defined leftist agendas to manipulate and transform prevailing American ideologies and to restructure voting blocs and educational standards, and to artificially reorganize extant racial and social hierarchies. Critical race theory seems to have become a magnet for criticism that many would have more accurately directed at The 1619 Project, as the latter’s impact has been more directly felt in educational settings.
The 1619 Project
The 1619 Project is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalism project by The New York Times that challenges established pedagogy relative to American history especially as related to race. It takes its name from the initial arrival of enslaved people in the American colonies in 1619. The project’s stated purpose: “to reframe the country’s history by placing the consequences of slavery and the contributions of black Americans at the very center of our national narrative.” As reexamined history, its proximity to educational standards long written, established, taught, and supported by white Americans has made the project a flag for any and all efforts to look critically at the troubled history of the U.S. For many critics of both The 1619 Project and critical race theory, they are indistinguishable from one another.
Reaction to Critical Race Theory
As of the preparation of this article, twenty-six states (and counting) have passed or initiated bills that would strictly limit or outright prohibit the teaching, discussion, or curricular support of critical race theory. This comes after many schools and classrooms had already begun to integrate The 1619 Project into their curricula. It is easy to interpret the legal backlash against both as an effort to “whitewash” American history, and many do see it that way. It is also easy to bristle at the ways in which the project and the theory have been mischaracterized by their opponents: that it teaches black children to “hate” white children; that it teaches black students to “hate” their country; that it will villify white authority figures such as police, politicians, and historical figures; that it threatens the nation’s “core values;” that some people are “inherently bad” because their skin is white. It doesn’t take much study to determine that these reactions have little support among facts, and that there is no evidence that critical race theory has an agenda that is divisive, proposes a history that deviates from facts, or both. The agenda of critical race theory opponents and opponents of The 1619 Project seems to be to distract from the fact that these initiatives, if taught, would be nothing more than teaching history. There is nothing unhistorical or unsupported by records and evidence in either initiative.
Critical Race Theory and Juneteenth
The contradiction — and potential real-world conflict — inherent in establishing Juneteenth as a national holiday is that such validation and the holiday itself are catalysts for a de facto study of critical race theory via educational resources exactly like The 1619 Project. It can appear as though the only way to observe Juneteenth while satisfying the conservative opponents of critical race theory is to avoid talking about Juneteenth at all, providing little formal history. This result would be a great deal more than “whitewashing” the holiday: it can, in fact, feel like the only way that opponents of critical race theory can exist in a world that observes Juneteenth is if, ultimately, this vital new holiday becomes just another opportunity for auto dealerships to discount new cars, grocery stores to advertise ribs and Solo cups, and for even the whitest, most conservative Americans to have a day off by the pool. This is simultaneously the most destructive and most American thing that could happen to Juneteenth.
