On Juneteenth, we celebrate Black freedom, commemorating when the last enslaved people, having been illegally kept enslaved for over two years in Galveston, Texas, were freed. But since then, the climb from oppression to equality has been ongoing, leaving us to ask the obvious question: Are we really free?
Although Juneteenth is symbolic of the chains coming off, the U.S. government used numerous ways to legally put them back on by creating laws and policies that intentionally discriminate against Black Americans, making true freedom impossible. But experts say through specific targeted policy changes, that freedom is within reach.
'Our public systems were not created to produce equal outcomes or experiences for everyone,' says Taryn Brown, PhD, a clinical assistant professor who specializes in Black feminism at the University of Florida. The social sphere that communities rely on: public education, housing, health care, and others, is set up to favor white citizens, limiting Black Americans from thriving in the U.S.
Case in point: As of 2020, only 43.3% of Black Americans are homeowners compared to 72% of white Americans who own more land and assets because of their wealth pipeline from free slave labor. Strategically crafted racist policies like redlining and predatory lending block Black families from getting on equal footing.
'Changes to universal policies don't always help us because we are so disadvantaged,' says Athena Mutua, a professor of law at the University at Buffalo and an expert on civil rights. 'We need targeted policy changes that specifically address our disadvantages.'
'We know for a fact that schools are just as segregated as they were back in the 50s and 60s,' says Jamel Donnor, PhD, associate professor of education at the William & Mary School of Education, pointing out that in some respects, we have regressed. 'The same holds true for Black student achievement.'
Systemic racism is persistent in education and is written into the standards that govern Black children including, but not limited to, the below:
- Too often Black families are blamed for the inequitable realities that create a lack of engagement and lower achievement. 'This approach to present-day systemic racism shifts attention away from the policies and structures in action,' says Brown.
Slavery drove American industrialization, and to maintain the hierarchy of white supremacy after Juneteenth, government leaders created Black codes, restrictive laws designed to limit the freedom of Black people and ensure their availability as cheap labor. 'These laws gave Black folks narrow job choices and then started criminalizing them for activities like vagrancy,' says Mutua. Without the chance to build and keep wealth, there was generally not much to pass down to the next generation.
This contributes to Black Americans having the highest poverty rate at 19.5%—compared to non-Hispanic white Americans at 8.2% and Hispanic Americans at 17%—according to 2020 Census data. And a deeper look into monetary policies reveals that even when measures are taken to reduce the wage gap, it doesn't have much impact on the wealth gap.
Through zoning and redlining, government entities influenced what areas banks made investments—all being white suburbia. It indelibly segregated Black people and other minorities into overpopulated, low-income neighborhoods.
'What you find in America is a pattern of divestment in the central cities,' says Mutua.
And creating wealth through homeownership was and is more difficult for the Black family due to anti-Black policies that limit access to resources and financial support. Homes in Black neighborhoods are devalued, and discriminatory mortgage contracts prevent the chance to build equity.
Intentional efforts are necessary to undo the long-established inequitable systems. Efforts that 'trouble the implications of systemic racism and move us toward more liberating systems designed with conscious intention,' says Brown.
Waiting for significant restructuring of policies has been a long time coming, but it's not unachievable. Juneteenth, in essence, is a celebration of freedom that was delayed but not denied.
