Friend,

Not far from my office at the Capitol, and just around the bend from the Lincoln Memorial, is a monument dedicated to Martin Luther King, Jr. In advance of Juneteenth, I visited the memorial to reflect on King’s legacy and collect my thoughts about this fragile moment in history.

To state the obvious, it’s a trying time for those of us who are concerned about racial justice. President Trump has halted [[link removed]] diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts. He turned America’s refugee program into a backdoor for white Afrikaners [[link removed]] to express racial grievances. His administration has weakened protections [[link removed]] against racial discrimination in housing, employment, and healthcare. A recent executive order effectively censors [[link removed]] the Smithsonian for exploring America’s racial history. The administration has cancelled federal oversight [[link removed]] of the Minneapolis and Louisville Police Departments, which were responsible for the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. Trump has cut funding [[link removed]] for HBCUs and attempted to disenfranchise voters of color [[link removed]] . I could go on and on.

Despite all this, the memorial reminded me of King’s powerful optimism. Engraved in stone is his conviction that “the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.” It’s a reminder that progress takes time, and it’s not linear. After all, today marks the occasion that 250,000 enslaved people in Texas finally achieved freedom more than two years after President Lincoln had signed the Emancipation Proclamation. Advancing racial justice happens in fits and starts, but it’s made possible by many hands working to bend that arc.

We may be headed in the wrong direction right now, but I’m confident that your hands, mine, and many others will succeed in bending the arc toward justice once again.

— Jim

Paid for by Himes for Congress

Himes for Congress
857 Post Road
#312
Fairfield, CT 06824
United States

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