Conservatives, Don't Be Afraid To Embrace Juneteenth | Opinion

Just hearing the word "Juneteenth" causes some people with conservative or traditional values to cringe with disapproval. Many immediately dismiss the newly established federal holiday as a manifestation of progressive neoliberal identitarianism, like draconian speech codes and the guilty-until-proven-guilty cancellations of its transgressors.

The co-opting of the racial justice cause by poststructuralist discourse has led some to altogether deny the persistence of systemic injustices. Think Ron DeSantis taking the infiltration of transgender ideology into Floridian schools as a chance to also condemn the teaching of legitimate civil rights history, or the commentary of Black reactionaries like Amala Ekpunobi and Candace Owens.

As a fellow critic of identitarian discourse, I'd urge conservatives to reconsider the ways that the celebration of Juneteenth aligns with the values of localism, cultural and spiritual rootedness, and the dignity of life and the family—and can serve as a chance to introduce them into the discourse on racial issues.

President Lincoln's issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, officially abolished the legal right to hold slaves in Confederate states. Though the news of abolition spread quickly by word of mouth among enslaved communities, its enforcement was contingent upon the gradual advance of Union forces. It wasn't until June 19, 1865, that liberation was brought to the furthest Confederate state: Texas. As soon as one year later, Black communities in Texas began celebrating "Jubilee Day," which soon after was called "Juneteenth."

The holiday was celebrated intermittently throughout the 20th century, spreading occasionally to other states, though remaining constant in Texas. But the 1960s saw a slow but steady revival of Juneteenth, with Texas becoming the first state to recognize it as an official holiday in 1980. An increasing number of politicians began lobbying Congress in the late 1990s to recognize the day as a federal holiday, with efforts by the National Juneteenth Observance Foundation and "grandmother of Juneteenth" Opal Lee (who walked from Texas to D.C. to advocate for the cause) pushing the holiday further toward national recognition in 2021.

Juneteenth is often juxtaposed against the Fourth of July, with some criticizing the former for being radical and divisive, and others criticizing the latter for upholding a false promise of freedom and equality.

I question the extent to which radicalism—whether in its poststructuralist or pure Marxist forms—can actually further the welfare and happiness of oppressed communities. But I share with proponents of Juneteenth their critique of America's idolatry of the liberal Enlightenment project—in which the institution and defense of slavery was inextricably enmeshed. Its naive trust in individualism and benevolence of the human will, its dishonest idealization of equality, and its problematic vision of the relationship between state power and the rights of citizens are in dire need of critique and in some cases, total dismantling.

As more and more "postliberals"—from Christian Democrats and distributists to integralists and Labor leftists—have been insisting, freedom is not brought about by the absence of economic restraints, nor by the liberty to "be" whomever (and consume whatever) we please. True freedom blossoms out of deeply planted roots, from ties to tradition and transcendent values. It is realized when we affirm both our right and our responsibility to take up our duty to God and neighbor, to build up our family and local community through meaningful labor and celebrating the cultural heritage passed down to us by our elders. Within this framework, identity is born not from abstractions, but from the concrete and particular.

Juneteenth is a day to celebrate the ways that local communities and interpersonal encounters play crucial roles in the sustenance of a nation—roles which the state cannot and ought not attempt to supplant. While the federal government's role in issuing the Emancipation Proclamation and the 13th Amendment was essential, the enactment of these laws relied on local Black communities and Union troops who had to travel to each particular locale to make known and actualize the news.

With those realities in mind, a number of Black activists are attempting to add greater nuance to the discourse on racial justice. Take the &Campaign, which attempts to merge Biblical moral truths with efforts to further social progress rooted in compassion for one's neighbor. Or Albert Thompson, a Virginia-based historian and former American Solidarity Party (ASP) National Committee Member.

Though Thompson expresses reservations about celebrating Juneteenth as a replacement for the Fourth of July, he told me that it's also a day to celebrate "the victory of the United States over slavery." A strong proponent of the principles of solidarity and subsidiarity, Thompson points out that "the Confederates were enemies of the right of all people to work for themselves and sustain themselves and their communities through their labor."

He cites the ASP's platform, which recognizes how "racial discrimination has stripped ethnic minorities of their wealth and limited their eligibility to work, ability to own property, educational access, and voting rights at the individual and community levels." He points to policies incentivizing investment, job-training, and hiring in black communities as a viable way forward.

Pope Leo XIII, a staunch critic of liberalism and forefather of distributist theory, was perhaps the first Catholic pontiff to issue a definitive, unambiguous condemnation of the slave trade. In an 1888 letter to the bishops of Brazil on the occasion of the national abolition of slavery, Pope Leo celebrated the newfound liberty of the formerly enslaved Brazilians, warning them not to "confound liberty with license," but to use it to become citizens committed to "the industry of an active life, for the benefit and advantage" of their families and communities.

Slavery, Jim Crow laws, and their collective legacy are immoral not just because they robbed people of the freedom to live their lives as they pleased. Their deeper evil was to strip Black Americans of the agency to establish meaningful lives driven by their responsibilities to God, their families, and their local communities. Above all, they imposed obstacles to what Booker T. Washington in a 1913 essay on labor unions insisted are the most significant ways Black people could assert their dignity: access to labor and property ownership, to which Black and other disadvantaged communities continue to face structural obstacles.

Conservative journalist John Waters echoes this point when exploring the parallels between the European colonization of African countries and the British colonization of his native Ireland. Colonialism, especially when it involves slavery, "persuades" the native person "of his own ­inadequacy," becoming convinced that his history, traditions, and culture are inferior and thus ought to be erased. He subsequently must adopt the practices and worldview of the colonizer, becoming "infantilized and enfeebled" and surrendering "not merely [his] political independence but also [his] existential independence."

For those with sympathies for the causes of labor, property ownership, faith, and strengthening families and local communities, June 19th should be a day to rejoice and engage more intentionally in social initiatives. It is a day to critique the rootlessness and atomizing effects of Enlightenment liberalism, and to propose a more substantial path forward—one that transcends the neoliberal paradigm presented to us by free market evangelists and identitarian, Big State ideologues—and both the apathetic and radicalist attitudes they foster.

Stephen G. Adubato (@stephengadubato) teaches philosophy in New Jersey, and hosts the Cracks in Postmodernity blog and podcast. He also was the co-curator of Nietzsche's "Urge for the Truth," an exhibit featured at the 2023 New York Encounter.

The views expressed in this article are the writer's own.