Even with the federal government’s recognition of Juneteenth as a holiday, participants at a Yakima celebration Saturday said the quest for equality is far from over.
And, some of them said, it will take everybody working together to do it.
“Each of us has work to do,” said Ester Huey, a community activist. “Together, we can do it.”
The Yakima County NAACP sponsored its annual Juneteenth block party Saturday at Martin Luther King Jr. Park, an event preceded by a Freedom Ride of almost 20 vehicles from Central Lutheran Church.
Juneteenth commemorates the announcement on June 19, 1865, in Galveston, Texas, that all slaves were free under the terms of the Emancipation Proclamation. The proclamation, which only freed slaves being held in southern states that tried to secede from the Union, went fully into effect when Texas, the last Confederate bastion, fell to Union forces two months after Robert E. Lee’s surrender at Appomattox Courthouse, Va.
Slavery was officially outlawed in the United States Dec. 6, 1865, with the ratification of the 13th Amendment.
This year’s event, which attracted more than 120 people, was tempered by the Yakima County Commission’s declining to read a resolution commemorating the holiday while passing one that compared restrictions on unvaccinated people to racial segregation. Commissioners later apologized for not reading the Juneteenth resolution.
The Yakima City Council issued its own proclamation commemorating the holiday, which Council Member Holly Cousens recited at the event.
Huey did not condemn the commissioners’ actions. Instead, she said it was a “teachable moment” caused by the failure of America’s educational system to properly teach American history and the role that Black people played in it.
“America was built upon the backs of African Americans, and that should be taught in our schools,” Huey said, urging people to stand up and demand that schools do a better job of teaching U.S. history.
Saturday’s event also followed President Joe Biden’s signing into law a bill making Juneteenth a federal holiday, something Huey, 84, said she had waited to see gain recognition.
“I feel blessed to have lived to see it,” she said.
Juneteenth will become a paid state holiday next year after legislation was signed into law by Gov. Jay Inslee earlier this year.
While Huey and others described it as a “Black Independence Day” that has been helped by federal recognition, there’s still a long way to go to achieve full racial equality.
“It’s happening slowly, but step by step we are making progress toward peace and racial justice in America,” said Steve Mitchell, chief executive of OIC of Washington. “It’s not going to happen overnight, but it is going to happen. As long as people keep pushing forward for peace, justice and racial equity, there is always hope.”
Representatives of Selah Alliance For Equality, Asian Pacific Islander Coalition, Yakima’s LGBT+ community and Temple Shalom also spoke.
John Jones, president of Temple Shalom’s congregation, said the Emancipation Proclamation represented the fulfillment of slaves’ prayers asking God to free them as he freed the children of Israel from Egyptian bondage.
He also credited activists of all races through the years with pushing the order issued in Galveston granting freed slaves “absolute” equality in personal and property rights, to fruition despite decades of segregationists’ refusals to implement them.
Huey said people should continue to push for equality, and called for people to lobby the city to build a public pool on the east side, as well as other city recreational services that will give children activities to help prevent them from following a path toward crime.
Yakima Mayor Patricia Byers said that state Sen. Curtis King and Rep. Jeremie Dufault assured the city that state funding is available to help build a pool, while a feasibility study shows it is a workable proposition.
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Community activists call for continued push for equality at Yakima Juneteenth celebration - Yakima Herald-Republic
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