Juneteenth: Examining the Miseducation of a Nation

President Biden signs Juneteenth National Independence Day Act into law on June 17th. [image: ABC News]

Juneteenth reminds us, not only of a day that should be remembered but the absence of truth in our nation's self-education.

By Kahlil Haywood

If you look up "Revisionist Historian'' in the dictionary, you'd see a photo of Uncle Sam - in color. There's so much that we learn late in life as Black people, perhaps more than any other race of people. We are constantly trying to piece together our history because white people unwillingly brought us to this continent, effectively deleting our lineage and traditions. As a further disservice, our educational curriculums fail to tell the whole story of this country.

There are multiple examples of these cover-ups. We can start with the notion that Columbus "discovered" America, although he found people here when he arrived. Not only was this history of the violence he unleashed overlooked, but we were taught to celebrate him. It wasn't until I got to college that I learned about the gruesome and under-discussed details of lynchings in the US. How they were enormous events with promotion, spectatorship and most disturbingly - cheering. That sure as hell wasn't a part of my high school standardized testing.

Let's not even get started on the decimation of Greenwood and the destruction of Black Wall Street. But high up on this list of unspoken history of July 4th. While it is recognized as the day that the US gained its "independence," we know not all citizens became free that day.

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Kahlil Haywood is a writer, editor, and content creator from Brooklyn, NY. Kahlil’s content chronicles the experiences of a millennial, Afro Latino man. His work discusses politics, dating, and contemporary culture. Find him on Twitter and Instagram.