Juneteenth: Celebrating its first national holiday
State Rep. Kevin “Coach” Christie addresses the crowd at the Juneteenth Celebration in Hartford, Vt., on Saturday. (Gareth Henderson Photo)
Over the weekend, Juneteenth offered a day of celebration, but also a day of recognition — recognizing the impact of the past, and the work that lies ahead.
On Saturday afternoon, well over 100 people came to Lyman Point Park for Hartford’s second annual Juneteenth Celebration, hosted by the town and the Hartford Committee on Racial Equity and Inclusion. For the first time, this important day was a national holiday; but it was Vermont’s 14th year commemorating it as “Juneteenth National Freedom Day”.
That was a note of hope offered by local State Rep. Kevin “Coach” Christie, who is also the Hartford School Board chair and said Vermont can be a “catalyst for change.” In an interview shortly after he arrived at Lyman Point Park, Christie acknowledged the frustrations many feel when it comes to the pace of progress on racial issues.
“In the grand scheme of things, it’s about progress, not perfection,” he said.
Though Vermont’s 14-year acknowledgment of Juneteenth — and now the nation’s — are definitive steps forward, Christie noted in his remarks, that the 156th commemoration of Juneteenth comes with “mixed emotions, celebrations and sadness.”
“One cannot ignore where we are as a country, as a state, as a town today, where some of our neighbors can no longer tolerate what they’re watching on the news, and what is happening around us,” Christie said. “Sadly, the reasons vary, from support for racial justice to support for white supremacy.”
The speakers of the day, introduced by Select Board Vice Chair Joe Major, were part of the continued education about Juneteenth, repeating this important day’s significance in national history. Juneteenth marks the day when General Gordon Granger officially brought the news of the Emancipation Proclamation to Texas. On June 19, 1865, slaves in Texas were told by their government they were free, by order of the President of the United States. That happened two and a half years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Proclamation.
From left, at Hartford's Juneteenth Celebration, U.S. Rep. Peter Welch speaks with Joe Major, vice chair of the Hartford Select Board, and Sara Campbell and Allene Swienckowski, of the Hartford Committee on Racial Equity and Inclusion. (Gareth Henderson Photo)
Mixed emotions are part of the reality for many people on Juneteenth, Christie again noted.
“As we celebrate on the one hand, let us remember: Systemic racism exists, and as we see, now is the time to reaffirm our commitment to the mitigation of systemic racism in Vermont,” he said.
Working together was a key theme from Saturday’s event. Along those lines, it’s important to recognize that we’re all part of one global family, said Dia Draper, the assistant dean for diversity, equity and inclusion at Dartmouth College's Tuck School of Business.
“We’re linked, we’re connected, whether we like it or not,” Draper told the crowd. “How we treat our planet, treat each other, treat the people we work with — it all matters.”
Speaking at Hartford’s Juneteenth Celebration is Dia Draper, the assistant dean for diversity, equity and inclusion at Dartmouth College's Tuck School of Business. (Gareth Henderson Photo)
Maggi Ibrahim, the new equity coordinator for the Hartford School District, came to the U.S. from her native Egypt many years ago, with her parents whom she had to help navigate this English-speaking country — including helping them read her report cards. She viscerally remembers when the guidance counselor at her school rejected her effort to join an advanced-placement English class. She told her, “You’re fine just where you are” — focusing on Ibrahim’s immigrant background and socio-economic status, rather than her 94 in honors English.
In her remarks, Ibrahim also noted many Americans still know little to nothing about Juneteenth.
“The fact that most Americans did not know — and still do not know — the importance of what we may also call Freedom Day, Jubilee Day, Emancipation Day or Liberation Day gravely underlines the disparities and racist infrastructure of our public education system,” Ibrahim said. “My guidance counselor looked at me and did not see me for who I was — a burgeoning, bright student — because I was labeled, ‘at risk.’”
She added, “As the new equity coordinator of the Hartford School District, I will work to make sure that our children — all of our children — feel seen, heard, valued and have their whole selves represented.” For example, Ibrahim said students will learn about days like Juneteenth, and events like the Tulsa Race Massacre, and they will write about marginalized voices in the U.S.
Maggi Ibrahim, the new equity coordinator for the Hartford School District, gives her remarks at Saturday’s Juneteenth Celebration. (Gareth Henderson Photo)
After Saturday’s celebration, Steve Swayne, a longtime Quechee resident, said it was interesting to see the story of “Who is Vermont?” play out.
“Vermont consists of the people who want to be here and make Vermont better,” Swayne said. “That includes the eighth-generation Vermonters and also the newest transplants.”
Swayne, who is Black, said Hartford’s event was “a really wonderful experience”, though he wondered about the people who weren’t there, who may not agree with having the federal holiday, or even want to talk about it.
“If you’re not willing to have that conversation, we’re going to have some difficult times ahead,” he said.
Days after voting for Juneteenth to become a national holiday, U.S. Rep. Peter Welch spoke at Saturday’s event. He noted the importance of knowing history, highlighting that the progress gained after the emancipation was to be short-lived.
“Then there was the backlash of Jim Crow, where again in this country, with the authority of law, a person was not allowed to vote because of the color of his or her skin; where with the authority of law, you couldn’t get a mortgage to buy a property in a city like Chicago. … It wasn’t because you were Black, you just lived in the wrong neighborhood,” Welch said.
This made the suffering of African-Americans “invisible,” he said, because it was “just the way it was.” But with Juneteenth as a national holiday now, Welch said, it exposes that suffering, and acknowledges injustice must end.
“Juneteenth is an acknowledgment that no more will that suffering be made invisible,” he said. “What we’ll call that suffering when it is imposed by the law, is we’ll call it what it is: injustice. There’s no justification for denying a person any opportunity because of the color of his or her skin.”
— Gareth Henderson
