Category: Race Equity

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Celebrate and recognize the history of Juneteenth

Celebrate and recognize the history of Juneteenth

The impact of recognizing Juneteenth as the federal holiday with the passing of the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act cannot be understated. Yet many people don’t know the meaning and significance of Juneteenth. 

While it took two and a half years for word of the Emancipation Proclamation to reach Texas, it has taken 156 years for Juneteenth to be recognized as historically significant. 

We celebrate Juneteenth and all it means with the knowledge and reality that we have much more work to do. We must seek to know the history and the barriers and structures of racism that carry forward in order to learn from our mistakes as a country and as individuals to do better in the future. This is a day to reflect and to deeply consider the wound of racism. 

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We cannot heal until Black community members are safe

As the trial of Derek Chauvin has captured the attention of many people across the country and around the world, we are feeling a deep sense of grief. One single trial or one verdict cannot erase the rightful grief, fear, and anger experienced by Black men, women, and children across the country, as our communities are ripped apart. The fact that police killings disproportionately impact Black community members is a clear indication of a deep-rooted systemic problem. 

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Let’s listen to Black community members today and every day

"Native Omaha Days is a bi-annual event in North Omaha held since 1976 celebrating the community's history and culture." ALYSSA SCHUKAR/THE WORLD-HERALD
“Native Omaha Days is a bi-annual event in North Omaha held since 1976 celebrating the community’s history and culture.” ALYSSA SCHUKAR/THE WORLD-HERALD

Every February, we focus on learning ‘Black history’, in other words, the American history that must be central to any true study of our country. Black history is ingenuity, innovation, and the ongoing pursuit of truth and justice moving this nation closer to its ideals of liberty and democracy. But history does not live in some distant, disconnected, and stagnant past, and it’s definitely not a lesson we should study in February alone. 

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