2023 Juneteenth Government Proclamation/Resolutions

Special thanks to our authors, Dr. Charlotte Gallup-Moore and Belma Johnson. Below is the long form of the 2023 County of SB Draft Proclamation to be passed on June 16, 2023.

Designating June 19, 2023, as “Juneteenth Independence Day” in recognition of June 19, 1865, when enslaved Africans learned of their freedom in the Southern States.

WHEREAS, news of the end of chattel slavery did not reach the frontier areas of the United States, in particular the State of Texas, until months after the conclusion of the Civil War, more than two and a half years after President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on “rebellious states,” on January 1, 1863; and

WHEREAS, Union troops, led by General Gordon Granger, entered Galveston, Texas on June 19, 1865, issuing General Order Number Three, which ordered enslaved African people in Texas to be free and stated that “this involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former enslavers and enslaves;” and

WHEREAS, chattel slavery still continued in Union border states of Kentucky and Delaware, which was abolished by the ratification of the 13th Amendment to the US constitution in December of 1865; and now, in 2023, due to the horrors of chattel slavery, African-American / Black people have yet to achieve true equality and equity in American society;

WHEREAS, racism and white supremacy have tainted the foundation of America, beginning with chattel slavery in 1619, and the denial of the humanity of those enslaved by the authors of the Declaration of Independence who declared, “all men are created equal,” while holding men and women of African descent in slavery; and

WHEREAS, historically entrenched racial inequities in healthcare remain, and there continues to be an excess of Black deaths perennially in the United States (Benjamins et al., 2021 & Cunningham et al., 2017). Thus, Juneteenth Santa Barbara requests a Call To Action from all levels of government to create opportunities for more Black, Indigenous, and Latino healthcare providers and healthcare staff representation in Goleta; and 

WHEREAS, African American / Black people continue to lack equitable and relevant evidence-based healthcare interventions and resources that would address the many health disparities contributing to having triple the maternal death rate of their white counterparts, regardless of their socio-economic level (MacDorman et al., 2021); and

WHEREAS, California high schools graduate Black students at lower rates than all other racial/ethnic groups and have failed to address the significantly lower percentages of Black students who are offered and complete the college preparatory curriculum—a 17-percentage point gap in A-G completion between Black and White students exists. Thus, Juneteenth Santa Barbara requests a Call To Action from all levels of government to create more opportunities for Black, Indigenous, and Latinx educators and staff in Goleta’s K-12 school system; and

WHEREAS, Black California homeownership continues to have the lowest rate with a continuous decline since the Great Recession, continues to be disproportionately affected by predatory lending practices, as well as exclusionary housing policies and practices (“Overcoming compound racial inequity: Policies and costs for closing the Black-white wealth gap," 2022); thus, Juneteenth Santa Barbara requests a Call To Action from all levels of government to create more opportunities for Black, Indigenous, and Latino peoples to gain equitable access to home ownership; and

WHEREAS, Workplace discrimination and racism continue to play a direct role in driving the persistent inequities that make Californians most likely to experience the devastation of unemployment, particularly among Black workers. In contrast, a core analysis from 1989 to 2015 highlighted that white applicants receive 36% more callbacks than equally qualified African Americans and 24% more callbacks than Latinos (Quillian et al., 2017); thus, Juneteenth Santa Barbara requests a Call To Action from all levels of government to create more opportunities for Black, Indigenous, and Latino entrepreneurs to create businesses that will support and sustain their communities; and

WHEREAS, African-American / Black people are 2.5 times more likely than white Americans to be killed by the police, 2.4 times more likely to be killed by the COVID-19 pandemic, five times more likely to be incarcerated; and

WHEREAS, systemic racism negatively impacts the physical, mental, and emotional well-being of the over 10,000 Black residents and also negatively affects all residents of Santa Barbara County; and

WHEREAS, we must address the harsh reality of racism and anti-blackness in Santa Barbara County, intentionally work toward solutions, and be the beacon of hope shining light on how to mitigate  the epidemic loss of Black lives in the United States, and condemn all actions carried out in the spirit of racism and all activities that sustain systemic racism; and

WHEREAS, Juneteenth allows us to celebrate the freeing of enslaved people, reflect on the condition of the lives of their descendants in our present day, and commit ourselves to be anti-racist as we work to end systemic racism in our communities; and

NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED AND RESOLVED that this County of Santa Barbara declares and celebrates June 19, 2023, as Juneteenth and encourages all residents to use this time to learn about the legacy of Black peoples, their contributions, and stand in an alliance to end racism, bigotry, and hate.

Source & References: 

MacDorman, M. F., Thoma, M., Declcerq, E., & Howell, E. A. (2021). Racial and ethnic disparities in maternal mortality in the United States using enhanced vital records, 2016‒2017. American Journal of Public Health, 111(9), 1673-1681. https://doi.org/10.2105/ajph.2021.306375

State of Higher Education for Black Californias: https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED596506.pdf 

Overcoming compound racial inequity: Policies and costs for closing the Black-white wealth gap. (2022). https://doi.org/10.7249/rra1259-2 

Benjamins, M. R., Silva, A., Saiyed, N. S., & De Maio, F. G. (2021). Comparison of all-cause mortality rates and inequities between black and white populations across the 30 most populous US cities. JAMA Network Open, 4(1), e2032086. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.32086 

Cunningham, T. J., Croft, J. B., Liu, Y., Lu, H., Eke, P. I., & Giles, W. H. (2017). Vital signs: Racial disparities in age-specific mortality among blacks or African Americans — United States, 1999–2015. MMWR. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 66(17), 444-456. https://doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm6617e1 

Quillian, L., Pager, D., Hexel, O., & Midtbøen, A. H. (2017). Meta-analysis of field experiments shows no change in racial discrimination in hiring over time. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 114(41), 10870-10875. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1706255114