Now is the time.
Growing up, I always admired my grandfather Willie Lee Alexander. He was one of the most principled and hard-working men I’ve ever known, having spent a significant part of his life as a sharecropper. He was very confident in who he was and what he valued — faith and family. I often enjoy hearing my mother and her siblings tell stories about him. One particular story has shaped my feelings about the profound impact that systemic racism and racial injustice have on individuals and our society.
As a young adult in the 1970s, my mother was driving my grandfather back to his hometown near South Hill, Va., to visit family. Prior to arriving, they stopped to get a bite to eat. My mom got out of the car to enter the restaurant and waited for my grandfather — but he did not exit the car. She went to the passenger side to check on him and found him stoically planted in the car with his seatbelt on. My mom invited him to join her, but he politely declined. She did not understand why, but proceeded to get food for them both and they continued their trip.
Later, she realized my grandfather was resistant to entering restaurants and other public places that were previously segregated. Despite the desegregation of public spaces as mandated by the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964, my grandfather’s nearly 60 years under Jim Crow traumatized him to such a degree that he could not comfortably enter a restaurant without fear of retribution.
My grandfather stood a towering 6’4”, strong and confident, yet he struggled under the weight of racial injustice long after policy changes made certain practices illegal.
Reflecting on that story helps me appreciate the historical significance of the Juneteenth holiday, celebrating the emancipation of enslaved people following the Civil War. It was a seminal link in the fight for individual liberty and freedom for people of color in America.
For more than 250 years prior to the Emancipation Proclamation, my ancestors bore the infinitely inhumane burden of slavery. My grandfather’s grandparents were slaves. During the 100 years following the Emancipation Proclamation, my ancestors lived under the stifling oppression of Jim Crow, which carried with it extremely dehumanizing social norms and potentially life-threatening consequences for non-compliance for people of color like my grandfather.
Though the physical shackles of slavery were removed following Juneteenth, there still remained a mental bondage that my ancestors struggled to overcome.
That is why, on this Juneteenth, all Americans should reflect on and rightly celebrate the abolition of America’s original sin, slavery. However, we must also look forward with steadfast conviction about what we want our future to be.
