By Jemar Tisby | The Witness
Published in June of 2021
SUMMARY: With Juneteenth becoming a national holiday in 2021 author Jemar Tisby suggests that white people should lean towards commemorating the holiday instead of a full-on celebration as a celebration could erase the “suffering and brutality of slavery.” Tisby provides several suggestions for celebrating the holiday, including education and supporting Black churches and organizations.
KEY QUOTE: “Maybe ‘commemoration’ is a better word than ‘celebration’ for white people to use when it comes to Juneteenth. They should certainly commemorate it, pause to acknowledge the historical importance of the day, but a pure celebration seems presumptuous.”
DID YOU KNOW? We have a learning capsule about Juneteenth with resources to help you faithfully learn about the holiday.
Read more at The Witness
More curated resources on Juneteenth:
LEARNING CAPSULE: Juneteenth
What is Juneteenth? Why do we celebrate it? How should we celebrate it? After reading the following articles, listening to the podcast, and watching the show, you should understand what the holiday is and why we celebrate and/or commemorate it.
BOOK: On Juneteenth
In a previously curated article Jemar Tisby aptly recommends that white and Black Americans should commemorate Juneteenth differently. One of the ways non-Black Americans can commemorate the holiday is to learn about the history of Black people in America. On Juneteenth consists of a collection of six engrossing essays interlacing author Annette Gordon-Reed’s memories from…
ARTICLE: Juneteenth – What Lies Beneath?
U.S. history professor at Bethel University John H. Haas suggests that Juneteenth is a time for Americans to reflect on how “how hard America has found it to live up to its own ideals” while pondering why America is the only nation that required a war, the bloodiest war in its history, to repeal slavery.
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