20 Jun 2022 Don’t Make Slavery Juneteenth’s Focus

Juneteenth marks the release of blacks from slavery, but Project 21 member Deroy Murdock suggests using the day to focus on what’s come from black Americans since June 19, 1865.

In a Daily Signal commentary, Deroy noted:

Some will focus on the severe pain and death that slavery inflicted on blacks between 1619 and 1865. It would be far more useful, however, to celebrate so much that black Americans have accomplished since the original Juneteenth liberated the last of some 4 million emancipated slaves.

The people Deroy chose to highlight for commemoration in his commentary included:

• Madam C.J. Walker, the first black woman to become a business tycoon.
• Groundbreaking black musicians such as W.C. Handy, Ella Fitzgerald and Duke Ellington.
• Sports stars like Jackie Robinson and Michael Jordan.
• Diplomats like Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice.

Deroy remarked:

If he were alive, Dr. Martin Luther King likely would argue that – while room to rise remains – his Dream has come true. Beyond these famous names, millions of black Americans use their freedom to improve themselves, their loved ones, their communities, and this nation.

“This and every Juneteenth,” he advised, “Americans of all hues should applaud black success since Emancipation rather than wallow with the critical race theorists in all the wrongs before June 19, 1865.”

Click here to read all of Deroy’s commentary – “A Perfect Day to Cheer Black Success” – at the Daily Signal website.  The Daily Signal is the digital media platform of The Heritage Foundation.