Commentary: now we know about Juneteenth, let’s be better

At the beginning of June 2019, I didn’t know that the date June 19 meant anything other than a day near the start of summer.

But around this time in June 2019, I learned a new word, “Juneteenth.” From its name, I could decipher that it correlated with something in June, probably around the 13th to the 19th. But I really didn’t dig any deeper into its origin.

That is until June 2020. Towards the beginning of that month, I interviewed a Champaign resident, Mariah Madison. The Chicago native, who played basketball for Eastern Illinois University, now lives in Champaign where she shares her entrepreneurial spirit throughout the community through Buy Black Chambana, HeadStart Marketing, LLC., and Nannyville. 

During the interview, she also talked about the work she was doing to establish Juneteenth celebrations and traditions in the Champaign-Urbana community. When I asked her to tell me more about Juneteenth, I learned that although the Emancipation Proclamation was signed in 1863, slavery did not actually end until June 19, 1865. Landowners in Texas continued to hold Black people as slaves; federal troops arrived in Galveston on June 19, to take control of the state and ensure that all enslaved people were freed.

It hadn’t dawned on me until talking to Madison, but in the United States we celebrate a lot of things: we celebrate our independence from Britain on July 4; we celebrate the death of St. Patrick; we celebrate the Veterans who have served our country; we hold feasts during a football game that is usually outdone by commercials, but we don’t even pause to think about a date where we put an end to enslavement.

Of course, the truth of the matter is that Black people in the United States have continued to be enslaved through a system of oppression for nearly 150 years after slavery officially ended. Yet, their communities have commemorated “Juneteenth” with barbecues and community gatherings for years. The white people just didn’t know about it.

But now we do. 

In 2020 as the nation mourned George Floyd and Brianna Taylor, among others, we also watched the Black community come together to observe Juneteenth. It was on the news, we saw event posts on social media feeds, we were provided with videos, and articles were written. The word “Juneteenth” was everywhere. 

Our state representatives took notice, too. Last month, the Illinois Senate passed a measure to make Juneteenth a state holiday. It also passed the House last week. 

Of course, not everyone is as engaged in events or government decisions as I am. I had to think about and consider this when I learned that an Honor Parade in Mahomet was scheduled for June 19, 2021. 

The first annual Honor Parade was held as a way to honor police, firefighters, first responders, and military personnel late in the summer of 2020. 

It is important to take a moment to recognize people who go out of their way day after day to ensure that our homes are safe, our communities are clean, our health is taken care of and our rights are protected.

As the granddaughter and niece of people who have served and a friend to many police officers, I know that the vast majority of them have hearts of gold. 

But, I’m also aware of some of the origins of the police force in the United States. 

Victor E. Kappeler, Ph.D., from the School of Justice Studies at Eastern Kentucky University writes, “The birth and development of the American police can be traced to a multitude of historical, legal and political-economic conditions. The institution of slavery and the control of minorities, however, were two of the more formidable historic features of American society shaping early policing. Slave patrols and Night Watches, which later became modern police departments, were both designed to control the behaviors of minorities. For example, New England settlers appointed Indian Constables to police Native Americans (National Constable Association, 1995), the St. Louis police were founded to protect residents from Native Americans in that frontier city, and many southern police departments began as slave patrols. In 1704, the colony of Carolina developed the nation’s first slave patrol. Slave patrols helped to maintain the economic order and to assist the wealthy landowners in recovering and punishing slaves who essentially were considered property.”

Slave patrols could enter the house of anyone — black or white — who was suspected of harboring slaves. After the Civil War, the slave patrols were to “monitor the behavior of newly freed slaves, many of whom, if not given their own land, ended up working on plantations owned by whites and to enforce segregation policies as per the era’s new Black Codes and Jim Crow laws,” according to the American Bar Association. 

And as the Black community fought for equalities, such as a right to work, equal wages, the right to vote, and the opportunity to send their children to a public school, the police force was often met with brutality from the police. 

While I am grateful for many qualities our police officers carry, like many things in our history, I am not proud that we have used a system such as policing to oppress other human beings. 

In a town where we don’t plan anything without looking at the calendar to see if there is a football or basketball game, we did not look at the calendar to see if there could be anything of significance on June 19.

Over the last year, the Mahomet community has had groups of residents pleading with the school board and the Village to become more culturally aware and inclusive. Even prior to the rise in calls to make our educational system more historically accurate, residents have asked our elected officials to think about how practices like allowing the Confederate flag in our annual celebration speaks to people of different backgrounds who might be considering calling Mahomet their home. 

For those who are aware of events outside of East Central Illinois, moving the Honor Parade from late summer in 2020 to June 19 in 2021 seems insensitive. 

If Mahomet wants to become a more welcoming and diverse community, it must set a minimum priority of just thinking about other perspectives than the ones we have always known. Three years ago, we may not have known anything about June 19. 

But in 2021, we certainly do know that this date has significance. And now that we know better, we must do and be better. 

It’s setting a standard of growth. The police in our community are important. The people who have served in the military are important. But our brothers and sisters who are descendants of slaves, who are descendants of those who have lived in a system that judges people based on the color of their skin, are also important. We need to see them and think about them as we move forward in defining who we will be as a community.