June 16, 2023
US Embassy London
As prepared for delivery
” The meaning of this newest holiday is wrapped up in that history. It celebrates the joy of freedom and the final end of slavery in America, while acknowledging that justice, even when it is finally achieved, is far too often delayed. Even the idea of an official holiday for Juneteenth – celebrated by African Americans for generations in churches and parks, with parades and backyard barbecues – was a long time coming.”
Ambassador Jane Hartley Welcome everyone to the U.S. Embassy for our celebration of Juneteenth, America’s newest federal holiday and our first since Martin Luther King Day was established in 1983.
Juneteenth marks the moment when a Union general rode into Galveston, Texas, to inform the city that all of its enslaved people were free. That moment came two months after the Civil War ended, on June 19, 1865, more than two and a half years after President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation – the legal order that freed all slaves in Confederate States.
The meaning of this newest holiday is wrapped up in that history. It celebrates the joy of freedom and the final end of slavery in America, while acknowledging that justice, even when it is finally achieved, is far too often delayed. Even the idea of an official holiday for Juneteenth – celebrated by African Americans for generations in churches and parks, with parades and backyard barbecues – was a long time coming.
History reminds us that racial justice in America has followed a long arc of progress, but also that the arc is incomplete. It took two and half centuries and a civil war before slavery was finally stamped out on our continent. One hundred years more before the descendants of those newly freed men and women would enjoy the full rights of citizenship. Sixty years since, the legacy of racial injustice is still with us. In our criminal justice system and our health care system, in the boardroom and at the ballot box, on our streets and in our schools.
We must be willing to recognize our history and teach our history and also keep working to make progress. That is our task today. To bring the fight for justice and equality into the present. As President Biden said: “To honor the true meaning of Juneteenth, we must not rest until we deliver the promise of America to all Americans.”
And that’s what the Biden Administration has sought to do: by expanding economic opportunity for Black families and support for Historically Black Colleges and Universities, and taking steps to protect voting rights and advance police reform and passing legislation to improve gun safety. Here at the State Department, we’ve created a new Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer. We’ve appointed a Special Envoy for Racial Equity and Justice. And we’ve led the United Nations in establishing new goals to counter racism and racial discrimination around the world.
At Embassy London, our own Rebeca Lewis founded a chapter of Blacks in Diplomacy, which works to highlight and encourage African Americans in the foreign service.
The work of Juneteenth and racial justice belongs to all of us. You don’t have to be the President or Secretary of State or an Ambassador, we can all play our part.
As President Obama said: “Juneteenth has never been a celebration of victory, or an acceptance of the way things are. Instead, it’s a celebration of progress, and an affirmation that despite the most painful parts of our history, America can change.”
And it’s up to all of us – citizens who understand that it requires getting involved and speaking up; who know that America is a constant work in progress — to help change it.
Thank you all for coming.
