For 150 years, the Juneteeth holiday has been celebrated across the country to commemorate the day black slaves in Texas first learned of their emancipation by Abraham Lincoln.
The Utah legislature recently passed a bill to officially celebrate the holiday in the state. Utah is the 44th state to officially recognize it. Adrienne Andrews, chief diversity officer at Weber State University said she’s glad to see that Utah isn’t the last state to commemorate this occasion.
“Well for one, it validates that black history is Utah history. It’s American History," Andrews said. "And it recognizes that we have opportunities to celebrate different people at different times, but also that we need to really extend our opportunity to be educated about what freedom is and what it means. And that freedom did not come to everyone at the same time.”
Rep. Sanda Hollins, the only African American member of the Utah House sponsored the bill. She said although the bill rejoices in the end of slavery for some, she notes that not all people are free today.
“So when you look at it, we continue to have modern day slavery today with sex trafficking. And I want this to be a reminder that this is an act that we don’t condone," Hollins said.
Because of Utah’s history with people coming here to get away from oppressions due to religious tension, there is an opportunity to understand other oppressed people, according to Andrews.
“I think that people in Utah just experience things differently because of the oppressions that they were operating from," Andrews said. "Does that mean that everybody’s been friends and we haven’t had any racial issues or ethnic concerns? Not at all.”
When the first Mormon Pioneers entered the Great Salt Lake Valley in 1847, three of them were slaves. That number grew over the years.
“That’s not something that we really talk about," Andrews said. "I mean I grew up in Utah. I was born and raised here and I’m a black women and I went to Utah schools and we didn’t talk about the fact that there were black people, let alone black slaves in Utah. And so I think that’s important for us also to acknowledge and to understand.”
Hollins said there are many cultures celebrating the freedom of blacks in Utah.
“What I’m hoping is that this will bring wider attention and let everybody know that this is not just a holiday that is celebrated by African Americans," Hollins said. "I’ve had a lot of people from different cultures told me that they celebrate also this historic occasion.”
Andrews said she hopes people continue to see that acknowledging our history, even the darker parts, helps us enrich our collective future.
“I would just ask people to think about fundamental parts of history where they see themselves and they see their ancestors represented. And to ask what it would feel like if suddenly that was removed from history books—that wasn’t a part of our common conversation when we talk about the history of this nation. And how it would feel be effectively erased from the culture. And what it would mean to you to get that back. And to have people become aware of a shared history that suddenly counts. And that opens up opportunities for conversation that opens up new ways of understanding the past and new ways of interpreting what’s possible for our future,” Andrews said.
