President Joe Biden signed legislation on Thursday, June 17th that officially observes Juneteenth National Independence Day as a federal holiday, recognizing the symbolic end of slavery that occurred in Galveston Texas on June 19th, 1865. This day came two and a half years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. Despite the Proclamation, many slaves remained in captivity until Union forces took control of the states and enforced the legislation. This historic day in 1865 marks the arrival of federal troops in Texas that ensured the remaining enslaved people were freed.
The recognition of Juneteenth as a federal holiday serves as a celebration of the emancipation of Black people in the United States. Many think slavery was a cultural facet of the Confederacy and the southern states, but it is easy to forget that until being outlawed in the state constitution in 1780, many of our own communities in the Merrimack Valley and throughout Massachusetts allowed slavery to persist.
The holiday also serves as a reminder that our nation needs to continue to evolve and grow, learning from its history of unequal governing. We continue to grapple with this legacy today in the fields of housing, land-use, transportation, and environmental policies where many historical practices resulted in the inequitable enrichment of white communities to the exclusion of impoverished communities of color. These policies did not end with emancipation, in fact, many still continue today. The work of planners and planning techniques play an important role in perpetuating as well as disentangling systemic racism and it is our job as a planning agency to challenge ourselves and our region to do better. MVPC remains committed to building more equitable communities and threading that commitment through the work we do every day.
MVPC recognizes Juneteenth as a celebration of emancipation and a recognition of all the work that is still to be done. Happy Juneteenth!
For more information about the ways MVPClooks to bring equity into the forefront of our work, please visit one of our program pages or feel free to contact us!
Featured Image Photo Credit: CNN