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juneteenth
Juneteenth is a holiday which commemorates the freeing of the last
slaves in Galveston, Texas on June 19, 1865 – two and a half years
after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation, and two months
after the surrender of General Lee.
In light of the continuing U.S. war against Afghanistan, and the
racist attacks, scapegoating, immigration law crack downs and illegal
imprisonment of Arabs and Arab-Americans, it's important and
appropriate that this holiday, which celebrates freedom and
emancipation, be linked with the ongoing struggle against war and
racism.
A less than subtle campaign to paint all people of Arab descent as
terrorists is currently underway. In the wake of September 11 Arab-
Americans have been kicked off airliners for no other reason than
their being Arab made other passengers nervous. Police brutality
against people of Arab descent has skyrocketed, Muslim charities have
been shut down and their assets frozen, and the use of racist jokes
and behavior towards Middle Easterners has risen to a level that
should put shame in the heart of any warm blooded person.
Following September 11 somewhere in the neighborhood of 2000 people
of the Muslim faith and/or Arab descent were arrested, many without
charges, and detained in this country. It's believed that perhaps as
many as 300 are still under federal custody – `believed' because the
government is refusing to state how many were detained in the first
place, and how many remain behind bars. The vast majority of these
detainees were arrested solely because of their religion and ethnic
background – not because they were realistically suspected of being
involved in any kind of terrorist activity – a fact that has been
testified to by immigration judges.
Many detainees were held for weeks without being allowed to see an
attorney, their families, or being told what they were charged with.
Under the new security measures passed by Congress many detainees
were put through hearings at which the supposed evidence against them
was not revealed to them or their legal defense, because it "was a
secret."
And unfortunately these civil liberties violations are just the tip
of the iceberg of the racist war at home that has been unleashed.
Racist attacks on immigrants and Arab-Americans continues, and even
the lukewarm calls for restraint from the White House that were
issued following the thousands of attacks, and even murders, on Arab-
Americans and Muslims after September 11, are no longer heard.
Freedom and emancipation are indeed things to be celebrated, but they
are also still very much things that need to be fought for. War and
racism are the anti-thesis of freedom and emancipation. Just as the
abolitionists fought against slavery, let us rise to the challenge to
stop the current war in Afghanistan and the accompanying racist war
at home, but also to abolish the very system that fosters and
perpetuates these injustices!
The statement above was issued by Duluth YSA for their June 19 march against war and racism.
