Post 159 Years

     Today is Juneteenth. It’s a holiday that celebrates the June 19,1865 freedom of the last enslaved Black Americans. This meant that all Americans were “free.” Here we are 159 years from this date. A day when all in America at the time was considered ‘free.’ So, as we honor a holiday that follows the horrific years our ancestors were kidnapped and held against their will, let’s reflect on the years since this time. I want to visit the good and the bad events that have happened along the way in trying to truly become “free.”

The First 100 Years

• In December 1865, the 13^th Amendment abolished slavery except as punishment for a crime.
• In December 1865, the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) was created. Its purpose was to bring terror during the Reconstruction era to prevent Black Americans from gaining the same rights as White Americans.
• Southern states created the Black Codes, to limit the freedom of Black Americans. They had to sign the labor contract yearly or risk being fined or arrested.
• In July 1868, the 14^th Amendment granted citizenship to all people born or naturalized in the U.S. such as the formally enslaved Black Americans.
• In February 1870, the 15^th Amendment protected the right to vote for all men no matter their race or color.
• In May 1896, The Supreme court determined separate but equal in the Plessy v. Ferguson case. People of color, Particularly Black Americans, had the right to access public facilities but they were to be separate from ones servicing White Americans.
• In February 1909 the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) was formed to fight for justice to end segregation in America. The goal was to create a society where particularly Black Americans could obtain the same education and opportunities as White Americans.
• In 1920, the Harlem Renaissance so many Black Americans who came from the South and created a world of creativity. Many musicians, writings, artists, and politicians flourished during this time by creating works that represented the struggles and accomplishments of Black Americans.
• On May 31, 1921, the Tulsa Oklahoma massacre took place killing thousands of Black Americans. In the Greenwood section of this city, many Blacks came together and created their own wealth in this area and were known as the “Black Wall Street,” the second largest Black neighborhood in America at that time.
• In 1941, over 3 million Black Americans signed up to fight in World War II. The discrimination was taken overseas and they were still separated from White citizens who served in the war. Some great America heroes served during this time even with segregation. These men included The Tuskegee Airmen and Dorie Miller.
• On April 15, 1947, Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in Professional baseball.
• In May 1954, The Supreme Court ruled in Brown v. Board of Education that segregation in public schools was illegal.
• On August 28, 1955, Emmett Till was killed by a mob of White men. They dragged him from his family’s home he was visiting after being accused of whistling at a White woman.
• In December 1955, Rosa Parks was arrested on her way from work. Being that she was tired, she refused to give up her seat to a White passenger on a bus. This jumpstarted the Birmingham Bus Boycott.
• In November 1960, Ruby Bridges was a 6-year-old girl who desegregated a school in New Orleans, Louisiana.
• In June 1967, the Supreme Court ruled banning interracial marriage was unconstitutional with the Loving v. Virginia case. The married couple were arrested for simple being married and they were fighting for this right.
• Following the ruling to integrate of Alabama public schools, groups of White supremacist retaliated with many attacks in 1963 including the bombing of the 16^th Street Baptist Church that killed 4 Little Girls.
• In July 1964, The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed to protect All Americans from discrimination especially when it came to race/color.
• On March 7, 1965, ‘Bloody Sunday’ took place in Selma, Alabama on the Edmund Pettus Bridge when Black Americans peacefully marched to protest for the right to register to vote.
• In August 1965, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was enacted to help Black Americans in the voting process by protecting them from any barriers related to race/color.

  The Next 59 Years

• In April 1968, the Fair Housing Act protected people from racial discrimination in the sale or rental of a home/apartment.
• In 1972, Shirley Chisholm runs for President, becoming the first Black person and female to do so.
• In 1986, the Anti-Drug Abuse Act put billions into the War on Drugs, where mandatory minimum sentences took place. With the crack epidemic happening in Black communities, the sentence for small amounts of crack were more than having larger amounts of cocaine. Black incarceration rates greatly increased during this time and the years that followed.
• In March 1991, Rodney King was beaten by police officers during a routine traffic stop. It was recorded on tape. The L.A. riots followed when the officers were not convicted of the crime.
• In November 2008, Barack Obama is elected President, becoming the first Black person.
• The Black Lives Matters Movement begins in 2013 following the 2012 killing of Trayvon Martin. Martin was a teenager who was unarmed and walking home from the store. He was confronted and killed by a neighborhood watch for wearing a hoodie and appearing suspicious. Many more people have been unjustly killed since then, they include Philando Castile, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery.
• In November 2021, Kamala Harris becomes the first Black person and woman Vice President.
• In the last few years, challenges to many laws passed in the 1960’s such as the Voting Rights Act.

     With this flashback, are we all truly free. This country continues to require a lot of work. Its needed to help in creating a society where race/color are no longer a means to discrimination. Again, Happy Juneteenth. May we all reflect on the progress made in the last 159 years.