Significance of juneteenth

What is Juneteenth...

Juneteenth is a national holiday celebrating the end of chattel slavery in the Americas.

Before Juneteenth, Black people were in chattel slavery, reducing them to property, as you would assume a chair to be, and suffered unimaginable hardships and unfathomable pain. I am going to add links to fill you in with the information if you do not know. Thank you!

• https://juneteenth.com/

• https://www.history.com/.amp/topics/black-history/slavery

• https://www.britannica.com/event/Emancipation-Proclamation

• https://www.britannica.com/topic/Juneteenth

• https://www.history.com/news/what-is-juneteenth

• https://www.pbs.org/wnet/african-americans-many-rivers-to-cross/history/what-is-juneteenth/

• https://nmaahc.si.edu/blog-post/historical-legacy-juneteenth

• https://www.archives.gov/historical-docs/13th-amendment

• https://constitutioncenter.org/interactive-constitution/amendment/amendment-xiii

• https://constitutioncenter.org/interactive-constitution/amendment/amendment-xiv

So, hearing all this heart wrenching information about my ancestors, you would think I’d be distressed, embarrassed, or miserable. On the contrary! Some days it’s extremely stressful and miserable to be Black in the US with all the oppression, white supremacy, and nearly all hardships I have to be conscious of.

I admire the Black side in US history (it’s very difficult to live somewhere else because while some areas don’t have intense slavery backgrounds or don’t enslave particular Black people, they are still just as anti-Black but may not receive repercussions for it. I don’t know how to explain). I'm proud to be Black—everyday I can’t say that, but many times I can’t, I’m proud of my heritage of being an African American. There’s something special about celebrating Juneteenth as an American, because it’s my passage into Americanness. It’s more to me than the Fourth of July, which is for White people and the US as a whole, and Turkey Day, which is not my history (and seems re-envisioned).

It’s unfortunate that all baggage is still going on and it’s unfortunate that racism isn’t over but I’m happy to see that we, Black people, are still fighting and there are some people happy to make their space and to exercise their right to be here, the United States.

After the events of Juneteenth sucked horribly, but I’m still extremely happy that it got better. Juneteenth should’ve been respected as a holiday. It’s when White people were decent and ended something that should’ve never been in US history, ever.