On June 19th, 1865, Union forces landed at Galveston, Texas with the news that the Civil War had ended and that all of those who had been enslaved were now free. This news, of course, came two and a half years after President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation. In 2011, Maine became the 38th state to recognize Juneteenth as a state holiday, under legislation sponsored by former state Representative Denise Harlow of Portland. On June 17, 2021, federal recognition of the day was signed into law by President Joseph Biden through the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act.
Thus, Juneteenth is not simply our nation’s oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of slavery’s ending in the United States. It also illustrates the need for our abiding and continuing commitment to end the injustice, disparity, and inequity persisting within systemically unjust structures. For Proclamations and Executive Orders do not end such injustice—only the actions of dedicated individuals, working together, can do so.
In recognition of Juneteenth’s message of freedom from oppression, and most especially in our recognition of the courage and dedication undertaken by the countless individuals working to end racial injustice and its manifestations—in ways both explicit and implicit—in our social structures and institutions, I encourage us all to reflect upon the roles that we may play and the support that we must provide. As both an individual of privilege and a witness to injustices and inequities that loved ones and friends and colleagues have endured and continued to endure, I recognize my ongoing need to engage these issues with honesty and humility. The fact is that we continue to live and work within a society that provides overwhelming evidence of systematic differences in regards to support and opportunity for so many individuals within this nation. For those who do not live out such inequities on a daily basis, it can be all too easy for such systemic injustice to remain invisible.
The University of Maine at Presque Isle, like the State of Maine itself, aspires to be an agent of progress and change in advancing equity and justice. We have much to be proud of to this effect, but it would be disingenuous to claim that we don’t have a tremendous amount of work before us or that what we have accomplished is nearly enough. As a community, we must listen to the voices of those who remain, to this day, unheard or ignored, and, with humility and compassion, commit ourselves to ending systemic racism and inequities of all forms in this institution, our state, and our nation. Our curriculum and programming, our services and functions, in the classroom and on the athletic field, on the campus and in the community, must all reflect such dedication. That work will only succeed through lasting cultural transformation. The University of Maine at Presque Isle must continue both to practice and model such work not just for ourselves, but for our communities.
As I noted above, Proclamations and Executive Orders cannot themselves end injustice—without action, they remain but words and empty gestures. But we can spend this holiday, each year into the future, not simply as a time of celebration, but as a benchmark by which we annually recognize, report, and review our collective efforts—and rededicate ourselves to the work that lies before us.