The Perennial Promise of Juneteenth

The views expressed below are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Carr-Ryan Center for Human Rights or Harvard Kennedy School. These perspectives have been presented to encourage debate on important public policy challenges. 

As we celebrate Juneteenth 2026, on the eve of America’s Semiquincentennial anniversary of independence, a James Baldwin quote comes to mind, “I love America more than any other country in the world and, exactly for this reason, I insist on the right to criticize her perpetually.” As we celebrate 250 years of United States’ independence from colonial rule, we must also critically reflect on this Juneteenth about the 250,000 enslaved Africans kept in bondage until they were liberated by the U.S. army. We must reckon with the fact that President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 but those enslaved Africans in Galveston, Texas did not taste freedom until Juneteenth 1865. The promise of Juneteenth, often called America’s second Independence Day, highlights a sober reality undergirding the need for President Lincoln to issue an emancipation proclamation in a country whose founding document stated that “all men are created equal.” We must grapple with how the founders of our country who valiantly fought the tyranny of the British Empire in the American revolution, also reigned tyrannically over trafficked, kidnapped, and enslaved Africans in an empire of their own. The same political visionaries who declared the unprecedented idea of the creator universally bestowing unalienable rights to “Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness” onto all men, myopically failed to include Black men in the recipient lists of those rights. 

The alchemy demonstrated in Juneteenth unveils that it is the loving criticism of America, coupled with action, that allows liberation to take root even in the most hostile soil.

And yet, almost a century later, the events of Juneteenth ushered in liberation to the last bastion of enslavement persisting in America. As we commemorate Juneteenth this year, it holds both a challenge and a promise. Juneteenth reveals the challenging reality that liberation will never come from fiat alone, even from a proclamation by the sitting President of the United States. Juneteenth reveals that the forces which seek to dehumanize Black people and deny them full citizenship will always seek ways to evade mandates requiring full inclusion. Juneteenth demonstrates that the powers who are opposed to racial justice will take concerted measures to delay and deny the liberation they know Black people deserve. Yet, Juneteenth also reveals that through a beautiful alchemy of political leaders, abolitionists, and even foot soldiers, liberation can touch even the most isolated bastions of bondage.  Through their concerted efforts, the promise of emancipation reached every corner of the former confederacy. The alchemy demonstrated in Juneteenth unveils that it is the loving criticism of America, coupled with action, that allows liberation to take root even in the most hostile soil.  

This Juneteenth we grapple with powerful voices, from White House Press Conferences to school board meetings, seeking to silence this loving criticism through labeling it as unpatriotic and laden with hatred. However, any therapist will tell you that healthy relationships allow for loving constructive criticism. Conversely, abusive relationships demand silent acquiescence. Abusive relationships stifle self-improvement and growth. Healthy relationships welcome it. Healthy relationships, including one with our country, requires a safe dialectical exchange. In 1865 the dialectical exchange came from the abolitionist fighting for justice, the Black Methodist preacher using the pulpit as a platform for liberation and the self-emancipated person starting a new life. In 2026 the dialectical exchange comes from the Black transgender woman seeking healthcare, the Somali American immigrant trying to build a new life, and the Black voter in Louisiana or Alabama trying to exercise their political voice. Like our newly emancipated ancestors in 1865, our dialectical exchanges of loving criticism in 2026 demand that America live up to the Independence Day promises, both the first and the second, for all of her citizens. 

This Juneteenth we grapple with powerful voices, from White House Press Conferences to school board meetings, seeking to silence this loving criticism through labeling it as unpatriotic and laden with hatred. 

It is from this place of loving criticism that the promise of Juneteenth becomes actualized and leads to more freedom for all Black Americans. The promise of Juneteenth means that one day LGBTQ Black Americans in the deep South will unapologetically pursue life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness without the temptation to leave their homes. The promise of Juneteenth means that one day our ancestral cousins in Africa won’t face travel bans as they seek to pursue the American dream. The promise of Juneteenth means that one day our siblings in the Black diaspora, dropped off at different slave ports centuries ago, can immigrate to America and live without the fear of Immigration and Custom Enforcement raids. The promise of Juneteenth means that one day Black women will access reproductive healthcare in every state in our country. The promise of Juneteenth means that one day Black Americans, living in former confederate states, can elect the political leaders of their choice without their votes being diluted by white politicians racially gerrymandering their electoral maps. 

We are far from these promises, but the promise of Juneteenth is that freedom will come, even if it takes a little bit longer than it should.