JUNETEENTH
What Juneteenth Means to Me, a Cuban American
There’s a lot to be said about anti-Blackness in the Cuban American community, but we’re not all like that.
It almost goes without saying that anti-Blackness in the United States is more pervasive than some realize. We see it come from various non-white communities who’ve bought into white supremacist propaganda. Despite the wave of Latinophobia using racist rhetoric born of the most bigoted ideas in the US, anti-Blackness continues to be a problem. Undoubtedly, those in power who are extracting our wealth enjoy divisions among marginalized groups.
But here’s the thing. That bigotry is why I, a dude who came up in New Jersey, had no idea what Juneteenth was when moving to Texas more than thirty years ago. At the time, I was in my late teens, and I looked at it as something Black people in Texas did and kind of left it at that. But it wasn’t until years later that I asked about the holiday and a friend explained it.
I was speechless.
To learn that the Emancipation Proclamation didn’t get to Texas until two years after slavery was abolished is astounding. That it was done intentionally, even more so. Suddenly, Juneteenth had a meaning that was deeply ingrained in this country’s…
