Acknowledging Our History and Living Up to Our Values on Juneteenth

A Statement from CWA President Chris Shelton

In his Junteenth proclamation this year, President Biden asked Americans to “acknowledge and condemn the history of slavery in our Nation and recognize how the impact of America’s original sin remains.” He also asked us to “recommit to working together to eradicate systemic racism and inequity in our society wherever they find it.”

These should not be controversial requests, and yet in our country today they are. Over the past few years, white supremecist ideology has returned to center stage in many statehouses and governors’ mansions, and, for a time, even to the U.S. Capitol where insurrectionists determined to overthrow Congress proudly waved the confederate flag.

Leading Republican politicians are using their power to literally rewrite American history, preventing high school students from taking African American studies and banning books and discussion of structural racism from classrooms. This is fascism, plain and simple.

In 2020, the CWA Executive Board issued a statement on the need to dismantle racism. I commend the CWA activists who have worked with our staff to develop and implement anti-racist programs and training, and all of the members who have participated in these programs.

Eradicating systemic racism in our union, our workplaces, and our communities is not something that can be accomplished in a day. It will take decades of difficult, uncomfortable work. But it is work that we absolutely must continue to do in order to live up to CWA’s values by securing the “inherent rights and dignities” of every member.

###