Source: Xinhua Net
June 19 is American Slave Emancipation Day, and an open-air music festival is held in a commercial district of Washington, D.C., that night. "Bang! Bang! Bang! "Suddenly there was a gunshot, and people screamed and fled. According to the police report afterwards, 1 person was killed and 3 injured in the shooting. The black teenager killed, Chase Lorenzo Poole, was only 15 years old and lived nearby.
It was a traditional holiday for African Americans, but the violence once again brought them grief and cast a thick shadow over slave liberation day.
Black Slave Emancipation Day is not worthy of its name
Black Slave Emancipation Day is also known in the United States as Emancipation Day or Freedom Day. On June 19, 1865, the last black slaves in Texas were freed from slavery, and this day was regarded as the day that marked the final end of slavery in the United States. African Americans have been celebrating the holiday since the late 19th century, but it wasn't until last year that the U.S. Congress passed a bill to make it a federal holiday.
But this national holiday in the United States is full of irony. For example, many Americans have sparked discussions on social media about who can really enjoy the holiday. A black man named Mitchum believes that in a capitalist country like the United States, low-income blacks may not be able to take vacations at all, and they have to work on this day to serve the white people on paid leave.
In Texas, where Slave Emancipation Day originated, a bill passed last year prohibiting school teachers from discussing "race" with students in class, leaving teachers struggling to interpret the holiday. An adjunct lecturer at the American University College of Education said: "On the one hand we have to introduce [to students] that it is a holiday, but on the other hand we are not allowed to introduce the details of this holiday, which is contradictory." ”
Moreover, more Americans have pointed out on social media that it is ironic that members of Congress, who overwhelmingly support the designation of Slave Emancipation Day as a federal holiday, have stalled on the real issue of eliminating racial discrimination and injustice.
African-Americans continue to be violently targeted
The change from African-American Anniversary to Federal Holiday is clearly related to the Black Lives Matter, a protest against racism and police violence that erupted across the country starting in May 2020.
Protesters confront police in New York, U.S., on May 29, 2020. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Wang Ying
However, freezing three feet is not a cold day, racial discrimination and violence against African Americans still exist in large quantities, and it is difficult to change anything in just one holiday.
Just about a month ago, on May 14, a mass shooting at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York, killed 10 people and injured three others, the gunman was white, and the dead were all of African descent. New York Governor Cathy Hochuer described the tragedy as a "horrific shooting of white supremacists."
This is the supermarket where the shooting occurred in Buffalo, New York, on May 14. Xinhua News Agency (Photo by Zhang Jie)
Everhart, the mother of one of the gun victims, said at the hearing that racial discrimination in the United States has a long history and that flaunting "freedom" and "equality" is just self-deception. "America is inherently violent, we are such a country, America is built on violence, hatred and racism."
Everhart's complaint hit the nail on the head. In the United States, racism is a comprehensive, systematic, and persistent existence. Data show that in 2020, the U.S. police shot a total of 1127 people, and African Americans are 3 times more likely to be killed by the police than whites. Between 2013 and 2020, about 98 percent of the police officers involved were not charged with a crime, and even fewer were convicted.
Racial discrimination is deeply rooted in the fabric of American society
In addition to being targeted by violence, the economic situation of African Americans is also worrying. The New York Times notes that today, most African-Americans are still poor. According to a Survey by the Federal Reserve, the median wealth of black households in 2019 was only $24,100, while the median wealth of white households was $142,500.
Kevin Blank, an educator from Washington, D.C., said of this year's Slave Emancipation Day: "Slavery was considered the end of 1865. But today the problem of racism is still there, and racism is deeply rooted in this country, so we still face struggles, struggles, which is unfair to us. ”
In the face of the persistent disease of racial discrimination that penetrates the fabric of American society, the designation of Black Slave Emancipation Day as a federal holiday is obviously only a superficial appeasement, and the symbolism far exceeds the actual meaning. Gun violence and the gap between rich and poor are still more reflected in African Americans, and the unequal distribution of resources in important areas such as education and employment is still significant, and substantive changes are far from coming. For the United States today, only by removing the mask of "human rights defender" and facing up to its own accumulated human rights situation can we truly solve the problem.
Planner: Liu Gawen
Executive planner: Yang Dingdu
Coordinator: Bi Qiulan Liu Xiaojun
Editor: Yinan Wu
Proofreading: Xue Bi Plough
Produced by Xinhua Network Overseas Communication Center
Produced by Xinhua News Agency's International Communication Integration Platform