John,

Today is Juneteenth! Officially, it’s Juneteenth National Independence Day and now a U.S. federal holiday commemorating the emancipation of enslaved African Americans. On June 19, 1865, Union Army Gen. Gordon Granger proclaimed the end of slavery to individuals in Galveston, Texas. Abraham Lincoln had outlawed slavery more than two years prior to this with the Emancipation Proclamation, but the enforcement of the end of slavery in Texas had been poor and inconsistent until Granger arrived in the state with Union troops and made his proclamation, known as General Order No. 3. Today is a day for celebrating African American culture.

It's an incredible day in history, but there are forces at work trying to prevent us from even talking about Juneteenth, let alone celebrating and teaching about the holiday. Tell your senators to support the African American History Act now!

With the African American History Act, students, parents and educators will receive the support and resources they need to learn and teach about holidays like Juneteenth. Black history is American history. Not every piece of that history is pleasant to remember, and some events may spark difficult emotions and conversations, but we must still teach it to our students, in age-appropriate ways, to ensure we don’t repeat our mistakes.

Though we know there still is much progress to be made, we have seen so much positive change since 1865. We cannot allow extremists to erase that progress and put marginalized communities centuries back. Our students and our communities deserve to have their history celebrated and taught. Tell your senators to support the African American History Act now!

It’s up to us. We cannot stay silent. We must preserve our history and accurately teach it.

In solidarity,
Fedrick C. Ingram
AFT Secretary-Treasurer