Will slavery ever end in America?

Today, communities across the U.S. will celebrate the anniversary of the end of chattel slavery in the South. Juneteenth is America’s most recently established federal holiday, but it—and the impact of the historical events that it celebrates—are also widely misunderstood.

Last year, I published “Juneteenth remains aspirational” in order to remind readers of several points obscured by congratulatory celebrations that overlook our nation’s reprehensible—and continuing—history, including:

• the actual impact of the Emancipation Proclamation at the time that Lincoln issued it;

• the meaning of the 13th Amendment that ended the Civil War, and a critical caveat that has allowed slavery to not only fester, but also to expand across the United States and grow multiracial;

• President Biden’s self-serving hypocrisy in recognizing Juneteenth as a national holiday;

• the perverse political co-optation of communities who today celebrate a supposed history that unfortunately remains an object of hope; and

• a link between incarceration and economics overlooked even by most people who do recognize contemporary mass slavery across the United States.

Juneteenth remains aspirational

Shahid Buttar · June 20, 2023

Described by the Smithsonian as “our nation’s second Independence Day,” Juneteenth is the most recent federal holiday to gain formal recognition. It commemorates the approximate date—more than two years after President Lincoln declared the Emancipation Proclamation

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As I wrote last year:

The notion that Biden would claim any credit for enshrining Juneteenth as a national holiday is frankly grotesque when considered in light of his policy record as a Senator before weaseling his way into the White House. He was the author of the 1993 crime bill that notoriously swelled the ranks of our nation’s prisons, as well as the quarterback of the process that put Clarence Thomas on the Supreme Court—reflecting yet again Biden’s long history of theatrical nods to the concerns of Black communities while ignoring their needs and interests in practice.

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By all means, celebrate Juneteenth. But don’t pretend that slavery ever ended in the United States.