MBN USA
July 01, 2021
Viewpoint: GNEMSDC's Peter Hurst
President Biden recently signed legislation that made June
19, also known as Juneteenth, a national holiday. The origin of Juneteenth was
the celebration of the end of slavery in Texas on June 19, 1865. On that day Major
General Gordon Granger arrived with federal troops in Galveston, Texas, and
issued an order informing the last enslaved people in Texas that they were
free. Maj. Gen. Granger’s arrival came more than two months after the end of
the Civil War and two and a half years after President Abraham Lincoln had
issued the Emancipation Proclamation freeing slaves in the Southern states.
I grew up in Houston, Texas, and have always had mixed
feelings about Juneteenth. For me and most African Americans in Texas,
Juneteenth was a day of celebration with cookouts, family gatherings and
parades. However, it has always pained me that Blacks in Texas had endured 30
months of the brutality of slavery after President Lincoln signed the
Emancipation Proclamation – 30 months of brutally inhumane treatment and
conditions, and of economic and physical exploitation.
I was also troubled by the fact that June 19, 1865, did not
result in a transition from centuries of brutal bondage to an era of freedom,
prosperity and opportunity for Blacks in Texas who were former slaves. In Texas
and throughout the south, an era of “Reconstruction” that was way too short was
followed by an era of “Jim Crow” that was efficiently brutal to the minds,
souls, bodies, spirit, wealth, health and aspirations of former slaves. I am old
enough to have witnessed and experienced many of the soul-crushing practices of
“Jim Crow” including segregated schools, hospitals, water fountains and
restrooms.
Maj. Gen. Granger’s arrival in Galveston could not give back
the 30 months that Blacks in Texas lived as slaves: without compensation,
freedom or basic protections that all men and women deserve. Nor could it
soften the aggressive and brutal practice and institutions of the Jim Crow era
that, in some cases, lasted for another century. Sadly, the fact that
Juneteenth is now a federal holiday will not eradicate the inequities that are
still a part of the American fabric, including those involving wealth,
education, income, health and economic opportunity.
So, while I am grateful for the leadership demonstrated by
Sen. Edward Markey and others in the effort that ultimately led to the
recognition of Juneteenth, I cannot celebrate yet. I am grateful for the men
and women from all races and backgrounds who courageously and tirelessly fought
to dismantle many of the foundations of Jim Crow. Against the backdrop of
threats provided by the practice of lynching of Black men and women and the terror inflicted by the Ku Klux Klan, these individuals fought for voting
rights, better schools, interstate travel and so many things we may now take
for granted.
Let us use Juneteenth’s recognition as a federal holiday as
an opportunity to reflect not only on how much has been accomplished by
individuals with courage and resilience but on how much work remains. Jim Crow
is not dead; it has morphed into other forms. Voting rights are suddenly under
attack, and we clearly understand the negative impact of racially-based
inequities in wealth, health care, homeownership, education, participation in
the C-Suite and corporate boards, and entrepreneurship. I implore the
stakeholders of GNEMSDC — our MBEs and our corporate members — to maintain a laser
focus on how we can deliver the drivers of minority business development:
contracts, intellectual capital and access to financial capital.
Sincerely,
Peter Hurst
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