A call to mark the holiday, from the Racial Equity Council

Fourth Presbyterian Church’s Racial Equity Council invites the whole congregation to embrace and join in the commemoration and celebration of Juneteenth. To widen and deepen the celebration of this day by all members of Fourth Church, the Racial Equity Council presents this brief history and reflection.

Juneteenth is a time for celebration. Many people celebrate with family reunions and backyard parties. Many cities hold street fairs with music and dancing. Museums have special exhibits. The Racial Equity Council invites everyone to mark this holiday in their own way, which could be by visiting the websites of museums to learn more about African American history or by shopping at Black-owned businesses. The DuSable Black History Museum, the National Museum of African American History and Culture, and the International African American Museum are three good places to start. They also encourage supporting minority-owned businesses; one way to do that is by perusing the vendors on Refine Collective: www.refinecltv.com

Juneteenth is also a time of reflection. To widen and deepen the celebration of this day by all members of Fourth Church, the Racial Equity Council presents this brief history and context:

Though the Emancipation Proclamation was issued January 1, 1863, it was not until more than two years later that the people of Texas, the most remote state of the former Confederacy, first learned of freedom for enslaved people, which they did when Union soldiers, following the end of the Civil War, traveled to Galveston where the pronouncement was publicly read on June 19, 1865. Celebrations of Juneteenth started in Texas, which declared Juneteenth a state holiday starting in 1980. By 2019, forty-seven states recognized Juneteenth, and it became a federal holiday in 2021.

In the immediate post-Civil War era, there was much hope that the formerly enslaved people would finally have peaceful and free lives. Families tried to reunite. The granting of land by the federal government promised to provide a means to live, and African American men were given the right to vote. During Reconstruction, 16 African Americans were elected to the U.S. Congress, 600 to state legislatures, and hundreds more to local offices. However, the backlash against these changes was swift, widespread, and ruthless. The land grants were taken back within a year. African Americans were depicted as little more than savages while Ku Klux Klansmen were depicted as saviors, as famously portrayed in the 1915 film The Birth of a Nation. Lynchings, Black Codes, and Jim Crow laws that only applied or were only enforced against Black people kept the formerly enslaved people subservient.

Fourth Presbyterian Church is committed to racial equity, the purposeful inclusion of all people, the striving for radical hospitality, and the modeling of anti-racism. As we strive to be an anti-racist church, our observance of Juneteenth comes with the sobering recognition that racism is still a powerful force in our country. Persistent and pervasive racist practices have created social injustices that have enduring repercussions in our society. Extensive racial property covenants in existence during the lifetimes of many of our members have left a legacy of profound segregation in our city that is visible to all today. Throughout our nation there is an increase of voter suppression laws, disproportionate incarceration and more severe sentencing of Black people, violent policing in Black and Brown neighborhoods, and unequal application of medical support and health care for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC). In the face of all these things, Fourth Church remains committed to anti-racism.

Anti-racism goes beyond diversity; it is a spiritual practice of self-reflection that examines how we individually live out the truth that God created humanity in God’s own image. This Juneteenth, let us redouble our efforts at building unity, mutual care and compassion, honoring our shared identity as children of God, and celebrating the gift of our exuberant diversity.

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