Peniel Joseph, founding director of the LBJ School's Center for the Study of Race and Democracy, said declaring Juneteenth a national holiday would give people the chance to explore the issues highlighted in the recent protests.
"Juneteenth ... really provides us a context to talk about racial slavery, American democracy, black citizenship, ending racism, ending white supremacy in a holistic way," he said. "In African-American communities that celebrate it, [Juneteenth] represents the birth of a new American freedom that is still obviously tragically incomplete. But it provides us a springboard to have that conversation and a policy impact around racial slavery and the world that black labor actually built in the United States."
Joseph spoke with KUT's Jennifer Stayton about what it would mean to make Juneteenth a national holiday and why the social movement happening now has staying power.