Juneteenth: An important holiday that changes little
Johanna Soll
Commentary
June 18, 2021
The fact that June 19 has been made a US holiday to commemorate the end of slavery is overdue and important. But police reform is much more urgent in the effort to combat systemic racism, says Johanna Soll.
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Over the last year, the Black Lives Matter movement has brought greater attention to racism and police violenceImage: Angela Weiss/AFP/Getty Images
The US has made June 19, or Juneteenth, a federal public holiday. This second independence day, as it were, commemorates the liberation of enslaved African Americans.
It dates back to June 19, 1865, when Union Major General Gordon Granger proclaimed the abolition of slavery in Galveston, Texas. It brought to an end the second genocide on US soil — after the forced displacement and persecution of Native Americans.
Confronting the past?
Does the Juneteenth holiday mean the United States is now willing to fully confront its past? Of course not. Instead, we are witnessing both openness and denial in discussions of US slavery — a system that played a decisive role in allowing the US to develop into the richest nation on Earth.
Lawyer Johanna Soll holds both German and US citizenshipImage: privat
This schizophrenia was evident most recently in Texas, the first US state to make Juneteenth a holiday in 1980. The Texas legislature has passed a law that effectively bans public schools from teaching students about racism.
As Juneteenth becomes a US-wide holiday, Texas lawmakers, it seems, are desperate to prevent educators from addressing the atrocities of US slavery and persistent anti-Black racism today.
Police brutality remains
The racism that permeated US society after the abolition of slavery has largely remained in place to this day. It manifests itself in excessive, often lethal, police brutality against African Americans, and in the stark wealth inequality between Black and white US citizens.
The Black Lives Matter movement succeeded in drawing greater attention to racism and the problem of police violence against African Americans, especially after the May 2020 murder of George Floyd. Indeed, it is chiefly thanks to these activists that Juneteenth is now a US holiday.
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This holiday commemorating the end of slavery is both overdue and important, but will have little impact on everyday life. It would be far more helpful for the US Congress to pass a pending police reform bill.
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Republicans oppose police reform
This move would establish certain standards and procedures that should exist in any rule of law-based system. Standards such as extended liability in cases of police misconduct, anti-discrimination directives, racial awareness workshops, a ban on chokeholds and carotid holds and restricting the use of deadly force to a last resort. Republicans in Congress, however, have vehemently opposed such police reform.
Only laws offer a means of effectively combating the systemic racism that blights the US today. In absence of such legislation, Juneteenth offers little more than a symbolic solace.
It has been more than 150 years since the abolition of US slavery. To this day, African Americans are still treated as second-class citizens.
Juneteenth changes nothing about this.
Remembering George Floyd through street art
George Floyd's murder by police officer Derek Chauvin inspired street artists around the world to express their support with the Black Lives Matter movement.
Image: Octavio Jones/REUTERS
A global icon
Former police officer Derek Chauvin was found guilty of the murder of George Floyd. The Black man's brutal death in May 2020 had sparked a worldwide movement of solidarity that was expressed through protests and art. This mural features George Floyd's face and the words, "I can breathe now," a reference to his last words as Chauvin was kneeling on his neck: "I can't breathe."
Image: Octavio Jones/REUTERS
Many faces, one message
Black Lives Matter: In Minneapolis, George Floyd's murder was followed by violent protests against police brutality toward African Americans. On this wall on Hennepin Avenue, the city commemorates not only George Floyd, but also African Americans Eric Garner, Breonna Taylor, Tamir Rice and Philando Castile, who were also killed by police officers.
Image: Mark Hertzberg/ZUMAPRESS/picture alliance
Street art in Gaza
George Floyd became a global figure, depicted in street art around the world. Here in Gaza City, a woman walks past a large mural linking Floyd to the Black Lives Matter movement. Chauvin, the police officer who pressed his knee on Floyd's neck, now faces
up to 40 years in jail after being found guilty on all murder charges.
Street art can also be used to mark a memorial site, as seen here in front of this painting of George Floyd, which was also set up in Minnesota in January 2021. Mourners left flowers and political messages in front of his portrait at the intersection of 38th Street and Chicago Avenue South, where Floyd died.
Image: Tim Evans/NurPhoto/picture alliance
Black Lives Matter in NYC
A temporary Black Lives Matter mural in Manhattan, New York City, displays names of Black people who have been victims of police violence. The Black Lives Matter protests raged around the country in the summer of 2020, gathering hundreds of thousands of demonstrators.
Image: picture alliance
An inauguration mural
In the US capital, Washington, multiple murals commemorate the Black Lives Matter movement and show the faces of those who have died in connection with police brutality. The use of the patriotic colors, red, white and blue, is particularly striking here.
Image: picture alliance
Remembering the victim
This work of street art featuring George Floyd's face is located in Venezuela, in the town of Valencia. It was commissioned by the city's mayor. The microphone is a reminder that Floyd had also made a name for himself as a rapper.
Image: Juan Carlos Hernandez/ZUMAPRESS/picture alliance
'I can't breathe'
George Floyd died after a police officer pressed his knee on Floyd's neck on May 25, 2020. Throughout the 8-minute, 46-second incident, Floyd stated several times that he could not breathe. His last words were painted onto the artwork in Berlin's Mauerpark.
Image: Alexander Borais/Zoonar/picture alliance
A call for solidarity
In Cologne, Germany's fourth largest city, you can find this painting honoring the political struggle of the Black Lives Matter movement. In many major German cities in the summer of 2020, people took to the streets in solidarity with the BLM movement.
Image: Christoph Hardt/Geisler-Fotopress/picture alliance
