This weekend, communities across Washington will be celebrating Juneteenth. These festivals commemorate the day in 1865 when Union soldiers entered Galveston, Texas, and announced that slaves were free and had equal rights with their former masters. In contrast to today’s instant news, Texans didn’t learn their world had changed until two months after Robert E. Lee’s surrender and two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation.
Juneteenth celebrates a moment in our history when hope overcame the shackles of the past. On that day it seemed possible that America’s promise of liberty for all could be fulfilled. On that day men and women who had known only slavery, who had not been allowed to marry, or protect their children from violence, or learn to read, or own property, could believe that they might pursue happiness.
Barack Obama’s clinching of the Democratic nomination for president represents another such moment of hope. All of us can believe again that the promise of the American Revolution is within our grasp.
We need that hope because today, nearly one hundred fifty years after the first Juneteenth, Americans are still not born with equal life chances. Despite emancipation and the Civil Rights movement, African Americans still typically earn 22 percent less than whites, and die on average 5 years sooner. Black kids are more frequently disciplined in school, do worse on standardized tests, are more likely to end up in jail. Native Americans and Hispanics face similar disparities.
Millions of Americans of all hues and backgrounds face poverty, broken homes, no hope of higher education, no clear path to following their dreams. Some children start out kindergarten so far behind, they never have a chance to succeed in school. A few people seem to be born on an express elevator to the penthouse suite, while others only make it to the top floors wearing a maid’s uniform.
Our health care system leaves millions with little access, resulting in infant deaths, premature deaths, and preventable disabilities, while insurance and drug company executives pocket millions. Too many Americans face economic uncertainty, while fuel costs are soaring, states and the federal government are cutting services, and global warming and international turmoil loom over us.
Juneteenth allows us to celebrate that real progress has happened before and can happen again. But it also reminds us that change does not come easily.
A new social order didn’t come about during the 19th century by abolitionists reaching consensus with Southern plantation owners. After 80 years of failed compromises, it took a bloody war and an occupying army to end slavery. When the army withdrew, Jim Crow moved in. That system of racial oppresion didn’t fall because people who benefited had a change of heart, but because the NAACP filed lawsuits, black and white protestors risked jail, violence, and death, and the federal government passed new laws that it enforced with the National Guard.
Now in June 2008, we can hope that real change will come in our nation. But we had better prepare to fight for it.
A new administration in the “other Washington” may be able to bring about universal health coverage, paid family leave, high quality preschool, and better access to higher education and job training. Then, indeed, every child might grow up believing they have a shot at pursuing their dreams. We may get real accountability and competent administration in the federal government, rather than profiteering by political cronies. We may win strict regulation of vehicle fuel consumption and renewed investment in conservation and alternative energy, to really make a dent in global warming. We may even get a foreign policy that leads to peace and security, rather than creating ever more enemies.
None of these changes will come about through consensus. They will require passing tough new laws and pursuing new policies that vested interests will fight.
Some commentators will counsel you not to expect too much of a new administration of either party. But I say, let’s prepare to win the fights ahead by grasping the hope of this moment. We need belief that a better future is possible in order to let go of the past and risk leaping ahead. This year, let’s all celebrate Juneteenth.
Marilyn Watkins, policy director of the Economic Opportunity Instititue (www.eoionline.org), writes every other Wednesday. Her e-mail address is marilyn@eoionline.org.
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