Juneteenth is a celebration of the end of slavery in the United States. For many, it’s also a day to reflect on not just how far we have come as a country, but also how far we still have to go.
For that reason – one UB professor is taking a stand that Juneteenth should be a national holiday.
“Juneteenth should be our national moment of pause, a day that inspires everyone to reflect on what has been achieved as it also reminds us of how much is left to be accomplished before every American is allowed to live in dignity and realize the rights of full citizenship,” Cecil Foster said.
Foster, a University at Buffalo professor of transnational studies, believes Junteenth should serve as a day we reflect on social justice issues in our country, and an opportunity to recommit ourselves each year towards the goals our country has had since the reconstruction era after the Civil War.
“We are experiencing what could be a new abolitionist moment on multiple levels in this country,” says Foster. “People all over the world are once again looking to the United States, as they did at the end of the Civil War, to form a new social order where freedom for all humanity is on display.
George Floyd’s death, and the demonstrations that followed, have brought a new focus to the holiday, which is on Friday, June 19. Foster says these events have a deep resonance that brings up the same issues that leaders had hoped would change after the Civil War.
“During reconstruction the country entered a brief moment when it appeared social justice issues would be at the forefront of the effort, where the full humanity of former slaves and the people who fought for their freedom would be met through equality, appreciation, citizenship and a sense of belonging.”
But, then there were Jim Crow laws. There were the southern states who had rejoined the union, and brought with them their indifference towards these issues, Foster said.
Foster explained that in the time after the Civil War, where we were supposed to see reforms, the country saw policies that promoted segregation, oppression and exclusion for nearly another 100 years. Civil rights weren’t fully extended.
“We cannot ignore this,” says Foster. “And establishing Juneteenth as a national holiday will always remind us that freedom, citizenship, and social justice should be this country’s promise to all Americans.”
Foster is also a novelist, essayist, journalist and scholar.
