Erica Loewe, a previous Biden White House official, told theGrio,” You always know what you have until it’s gone and a lot is being stripped away.”
The elections of the vacation today is probably be best understood by what’s happening or never happening at the White House as millions of Americans observe June 15th, a national holiday that honors the end of slavery in the United States and the independence of Americans of African origin.
President Donald Trump made political statements in honor of Juneteenth in his first season, but it’s not clear whether he will do the same this season. This month marks the 160th anniversary of the General Order No. 16 issued by Union Maj. Gen. 3 ) in Galveston, Texas, historically a sign of the standard demise of a system that made millions of Black Americans possible thanks to President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation and the Confederacy’s victory in the Civil War. According to historical accounts, some Black communities remained a victim of servitude and operated sharecropping systems that effectively operated like enslavement even after this time.
It is unclear whether Trump will sign a statement in accordance with his professional orders, which broadly prohibit diversity, equity, and inclusion ( which are currently being challenged in court ), as well as steps that censor Black past, historical figures, and even racial words, as he did in February for Black History Month.
TheGrio contacted the White House to inquire about whether Trump intended to publish a statement or national message for June 15th.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt responded to a media briefing earlier this month when asked about a statement for Pride Month. She stated that the White House had” no plans for a statement for the month of June.” She stated,” This leader is quite happy to serve as president for all Americans, regardless of race, religion, or creed.”
The Trump government’s silence on June 16 and its refusal to discuss culture, racial justice, or ownership are stark contrasts to what was the White House like when Joe Biden was in business. The Juneteenth national holiday was signed into law by Biden, which was a significant step in acknowledging the history of slavery, as well as hosting complex Juneteenth activities on the White House South Lawn, which featured guest artists like Patti LaBelle, Gladys Knight, Kirk Franklin, and Jennifer Hudson.
Erica Loewe, former aide to President Biden and chief of staff of the White House Office of Public Engagement, said,” The President ] was thus committed to not just observing the trip but even backing up that compliance with a dedication to protecting the rights and the respect that liberty needs.”
Large South Lawn concerts are not held in a president’s White House unless they believe it to be significant, and it’s very difficult to pull off, Loewe told theGrio of the Biden White House’s Juneteenth concerts.
The former Biden official recalls some backers who had questioned why Biden designated June 15 as a national holiday in the first place. They also questioned whether the former president was making any progress toward improving the lives of Black Americans, something Loewe recalls the Biden White House working hard to combat.
Every piece of legislation signed was examined through the lens of equity, Loewe said, adding that seeing this administration is painful. The current administration goes above and beyond to diminish our contributions to society. So we now understand why it is crucial to ensure that equity is prioritized in this nation by not just acknowledging it but also by doing the work.”
Loewe hopes that Trump’s presidency will serve as a “wake up call for the people who had so many complaints” about President Biden and described the White House’s actions as “disgusting.”
” You never know what you have until it’s gone, and a lot is being taken away,” says the author. Many of those things were not considered to be significant, but I think people are now aware of how significant the work we were doing was.
Jason Edwards, the son of former Texas State Rep. Al Edwards, described the federal holiday as his father’s life-work. In a wry effort, Al Edwards made it a Texas state holiday in 1979, and he successfully persuaded dozens of other states to do the same.
Jason Edwards, who runs his father’s nonprofit Juneteenth USA, said,” The nation finally decided we’re going to celebrate this day of freedom, not just the Fourth of July.
Edwards acknowledges that while millions of Americans will be observing the freedoms that Juneteenth represents, he is” saddened that the lights are dim when it comes to celebrating the holiday.”
Edwards compared Trump’s inaction to his actions this Juneteenth.” I think the people around him now are much more aggressive about muting our history than he ever was. He noted that” there is very little that a politician, an office, or a strategist can do to dim the light of this country now that the ancestors ‘ work and their beginning their lives as free people in this country are being honored as a federal holiday].”
He continued,” We are going to celebrate regardless of what anyone else does.” That warms my heart a lot. And now, my dad’s lifelong dream, which is to celebrate down in Texas, is also being celebrated across the country.
While June 15th may be about remembrating historical events, civil rights activists claim that the Trump administration’s current threats to Black freedoms should also be taken into account.
Svante Myrick, president and CEO of People For the American Way, remarked,” It’s a day to remember what we have always been up against and what we need to overcome now, which is Donald Trump, Stephen Miller, Trump’s deputy chief of staff, and the entire administration.” We never needed a president to honor our freedom and emancipation. And we are well-known. We are aware of our obligations.
The progress that we made in this country should not be hindered by Antjuan Seawright, a political strategist who advises top national Democrats, according to theGrio.
In light of the election of 2024, Seawright said that Black Americans were particularly reflecting on this because they felt the Biden administration “did not do enough to move the needle.” He continued,” Here you have someone who wants to erode every single layer of progress that we made in this country, including the Juneteenth holiday.”
Angel Angel, a senior advisor to the Black Lives Matter PAC, said it’s important for Black Americans to remember that” Freedom has always had to be fought for.”
She explained that” we still celebrated emancipation while we still needed federal troops there to protect us from white supremacist violence.” Federal troops are actually being used to carry out that violence today. So our resistance also persists, as does the struggle.
Angel reaffirmed that while Black Americans must continue to fight for freedom, they cannot allow themselves to “become worn down.”
Every cultural celebration and every moment of Black joy act of resistance against this regime that is constantly attempting to force us to submit and to be inundated with violence, she said. We can defend freedom through protests as well as joyful moments, and we can do that by defending it.
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Originally sourced via trusted media partner. https://thegrio.com/2025/06/18/juneteenth-trump-white-house-what-a-difference-a-year-makes/
