Federal Way raises Juneteenth flag, celebrates anniversary of emancipation

Federal Way raised the Juneteenth flag on June 16, commemorating both the emancipation of enslaved people and the work that remains to achieve equality in the U.S.

“We’re reminded of how events like this reduce the size of our national divide,” Pastor Andre Sims told the crowd at City Hall. “This event is doing something intentional, to help us recognize that we can do better together than we can apart.”

His own mother, Sims said, didn’t learn about Juneteenth until she was 78; he only learned about it at 34.

“It has a lot to do with what we teach,” he said, “and the amount of curriculum that we refuse to make available. Since 1921 to 2021, over 1,600 different books have been banned in our public schools that would teach us this type of truth. … I hope that we recognize that ignorance is the culprit to that evil.”

Juneteenth marks the arrival of Union soldiers in Galveston, Texas, on June 19, 1865, to inform enslaved black Texans that slavery was over. They arrived two and a half years after President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation.

Also in 1865, Congress passed the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, abolishing slavery and involuntary servitude except when used as punishment for a crime.

Celebrations of Juneteenth began with parades, cookouts prayer gatherings and performances. Where Black people were barred from using public parks due to segregation, some communities pooled money together to buy land where they could celebrate instead, according to a historical article by Henry Louis Gates Jr. on PBS.

In 2021, President Joe Biden signed Juneteenth into law as a federal holiday.

The city and council recognized Juneteenth for the first time three years ago, making this event the fourth annual celebration for the city.

The city’s diversity commission past chair Trenise Rogers recounted the intensity of the summer of 2020, and the answers and connection the community sought during protests across the country.

“One of the asks was, would you please raise the flag,” Rogers said. “And in doing that, as a mother, I was seeking just a symbol of hope, really. … And I also seeking (a sign) that as a mother, I made the right choice to not only give birth to three children here, but also to raise five children here. And to show (them) that yes, you are safe in this community.”

Federal Way’s legislative delegates also spoke during the ceremony.

“While we did not have slavery in Washington state, we did have discrimination in Washington state,” said Rep. Jamila Taylor.

A stain on the state’s history is the practice of racially restrictive covenants, which barred certain kinds of people — including a prohibition on Black people, Taylor said — from moving into neighborhoods.

A project by the University of Washington found those covenants existed in the deeds of more than 30,000 homeowners in King County alone, specifying restrictions such as: “No person or persons of Asiatic, African or Negro blood, lineage, or extraction shall be permitted to occupy a portion of said property.”

Taylor sponsored HB 1474 in this year’s legislative session, aimed at addressing these covenants. It passed and was signed into law on May 8.

Quoting former Secretary of State Ludlow Kramer, Taylor said: “The blood of slavery seeps deep into the American soil and cannot be easily removed. But here in Washington state, where slave ships never docked, we have tended to believe ourselves safe from the curse of slavery’s heritage. Yet more than the echo of that distinct struggle has reached us here.”

“As an Afro-Latina woman in America, I recognize that today is a day to celebrate,” said Rep. Kristine Reeves. “But I also know that I stand here as my ancestors’ wildest dreams. As the descendant of slaves, I can tell you that our history has come a long, long way. But what this flag behind me represents is that it still took two years for Black folks in Texas to know that they were free. And I know that as much as we celebrate this flag today, we still have a long way to go. … We are not truly free until every single one of us is treated equally.”

“This is a celebration not only of African American liberation, but also of African American joy, African American excellence, and also achievement,” state Sen. Claire Wilson said. “And I want to shout out organizations like Phenomenal She, Game of Life and (the) Federal Way Black Collective.”