Cynthia Atchico, genealogist for the Seminole Indian Scouts Cemetery Association (SISCA) and one of the organizers of their Juneteenth celebrations, says that the new national Juneteenth holiday is an important way for all communities “to show solidarity with people of African descent in the U.S.” SISCA’s Juneteenth celebrations take place at the Seminole Scouts Museum, which also offers public tours. The museum is housed in the former “colored school” in Brackettville, the historic George Washington Carver School.
To me, this Juneteenth felt a little different with so much national focus and media attention on the date. I commemorated the holiday by taking my children on the Alexandria Underground Railroad tour offered by Manumission Tours. Based on a book by African-American abolitionist William Still, the tour highlights the stories of several enslaved people who fled slavery in Alexandria for freedom in Philadelphia. I took my children on the tour because they love learning about history, and I want to expose them to as much of it as their young minds can handle.
While Juneteenth has cultural significance for African-Americans due to shared traditions, histories, and connections across generations, it's important to remember that the passage of the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act is purely symbolic. A federal holiday provides time for reflection, for relaxation, or for travel. But the fact is that a holiday can't erase generational inequality, protect voting rights, reform policing, or provide reparations. Without ongoing systemic changes in these areas, the national acknowledgement of Juneteenth can feel hollow.
In fact, according to Michelle Alexander, author of The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, today “there are more African American men in prison or jail, on probation or parole than were enslaved in 1850.” The truth behind this reality is that even something as ubiquitous as summer travel or daily transportation can lead to dire outcomes for African-Americans. My father, for example, tells the story of being pulled over while driving his motorcycle one morning in a mostly white part of town due to a loud muffler. Even though the officer never issued my father a ticket, he impounded the motorcycle, and when my father went to pay to retrieve it, he was sent to jail. He was nearly sent to a prison farm the next morning for 30 days and was only released after a huge effort by my grandmother.
That incident happened in Memphis in the 1960s, but it all too closely echoes today’s encounters between police and unarmed Black people in cars or other forms of transport. And it's one reason that travel has always had a depth of meaning for me. Due to the confines of Jim Crow, my parents could not freely travel across their own city, let alone the world. So, when I cross yet another border, get a stamp in my passport, or make a new friend on the road—whether in Athens, Georgia, or Athens, Greece—I walk with purpose, pride, and the understanding that generations before me could not easily, freely, or even legally do so.
Perhaps, that will be the impact of making Juneteenth a federal holiday: a national day of recognition and remembrance that honors the resilience and freedom of Black Americans.
The Link LonkJune 25, 2021 at 03:43AM
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Celebrating Juneteenth as a Federal Holiday Was a Moment to Reflect on Our Freedom of Movement - Condé Nast Traveler
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