Celebrating Juneteenth: Then & Now
June 19 is Juneteenth, the oldest nationally observed celebration of the end of slavery in the United States, and I’ve been thinking a lot about what the day means to me as a Black female professional working in corporate America.
I’ve realized that although many things have changed, there are powerful parallels between past and present — the lack of access to information and resources were problems then and are still problems now.
First, some history. Juneteenth commemorates the day (June 19, 1865) when enslaved Africans in Texas were told they were free, two and a half years after Abraham Lincoln had issued the Emancipation Proclamation and nearly six months after the 13th Amendment, which officially abolished slavery, had been passed by Congress. Slavery was illegal, but it didn’t suddenly disappear. Plantation owners decided when to announce emancipation, with some delaying until when it suited them (after the harvest, for example), or until a government agent arrived and forced them to announce the news.
Even after emancipation, the formerly enslaved faced an enormous uphill battle. There were no reparations. Although the federal government formed the Freedmen’s Bureau in 1866 to offer former slaves food, clothes and advice about negotiating work contracts, there was little infrastructure in place to help people build new lives. And when Black people began to vote and gain political representation, white Southerners responded with intimidation and violence, restricting Black access to resources that could have helped change their lives.
We’ve come a long way since Reconstruction, but the lack of access to information and other resources remains a significant problem for African Americans — especially in the workforce, where Black professionals face wage and promotion gaps. Black workers are overrepresented in low-wage, entry-level jobs and underrepresented in senior leadership roles. As CNBC reported last year, the higher up you go in company leadership positions, the fewer Black professionals you’ll find. At the senior management and vice president level, Black workers account for just 5% of the workforce. And there’s little doubt that many Black workers are underpaid. A recent Citi report found that the Black pay gap has cost the U.S. economy $2.7 trillion over the past 20 years.
Black women, who face both gender and racial barriers, are particularly hard hit. In a 2020 Essence survey (reported by Fortune), 45% of women said the place they most commonly experienced racism in their lives was in the workplace. And the National Women’s Law Center has estimated that a Black woman starting her career today stands to lose nearly a million dollars over the course of 40 years of work.
Faced with all of this, as well as work environments that can leave them feeling isolated, excluded or ignored, it isn’t surprising Black women might feel that the odds are stacked against them. That’s why it’s so important for us to ask for help and get the resources we need to change things.
Try starting with a career coach, like me. If you would like help negotiating a higher salary, a coach can talk you through different tactics and techniques and help you practice them. If you feel trapped in a toxic work environment, a coach can help you create a transition plan that will enable you to leave your problematic employer and find another company where you will flourish. And if you have ideas about what the next step in your career should be, but you’re not quite sure where to begin, a coach can be your sounding board and help guide you to a job that suits your talents and interests.
Juneteenth is a day of celebration. It’s also a day of reflection, a reminder of the importance of resources and information and the power of perseverance. If there’s one lesson we can learn from our ancestors, it’s to keep fighting and never give up.