Juneteenth: Teaching Emancipation Day, Abolition, and Reconstruction

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Zinn Ed Project
@ZinnEdProject
"Very often Juneteenth is presented as a story of 'news' of the Emancipation Proclamation 'traveling slowly' to the Deep South and Texas, but it was really a story of POWER traveling slowly, and of freedom being SEIZED." -- @wolverinewilson

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Juneteenth: Teaching Emancipation Day, Abolition, and Reconstruction | Zinn Education Project
Juneteenth — June 19th, also known as Emancipation Day — is one of the commemorations of people seizing their freedom from slavery in the United States. Yet, if the right wing has its way, it will be...
zinnedproject.org
2:50 PM · Jun 18, 2021

https://www.zinnedproject.org/news/juneteenth-2021/

Juneteenth — June 19th, also known as Emancipation Day — Juneteenth — is one of the commemorations of people seizing their freedom in the United States. This beautiful tradition of Black freedom needs to be taught in school.

Yet, if the right wing has its way, it will be illegal to teach students about Juneteenth. Six states now prohibit teaching about structural racism, and legislation is underway in at least 15 more states. Some statewide bills go as far as to ban teaching about the very structures and systems that led to enslavement and the ongoing iterations of how these structures continue to manifest in policing, redlining, voter suppression laws, and more.

But educators around the country pledge to teach the truth about structural racism — regardless of the law. On June 12th, hundreds of teachers in at least 50 locations around the country joined the national day of action to #TeachTruth. At historic sites, they pledged to teach the truth, to illustrate the history that teachers would be required to lie about or omit where the GOP anti-history bills become law.

It is time to redouble our commitment to teach about the long Black freedom struggle, including Juneteenth. Here are key points from scholars Christopher Wilson, Greg Carr, and Clint Smith on the history beyond the traditional textbook narrative.

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