Juneteenth, redlining, and the status quo

The Daily Drip

Today is Juneteenth.

It's the clearest marker of the end of slavery in the United States.

Here's a description of the holiday and its history on PBS's website.

The truth is that there isn't a really clean ending.

Different states abolished slavery at different times.

So did different countries.

And the reality of slavery is that it still exists today in various capacities.

If you're like me, you know that it's hard to do all the things you want to do, be an amazing partner to someone, stay healthy, and read the news.

That's why we talk about productivity and increasing our output--so we can spend more time doing other things.

Understanding the history of slavery in America is one of those important lessons that requires some time.

Realizing the impact of redlining on post-slavery Americans takes some time.

Coming to terms with the idea that the way we've done things before can't be the way we do things in the future is difficult.

Most people say they think that it's important to challenge the status quo, but then when the status quo is challenged, they scoff and say "that's ridiculous."

But when we look back out how we treated each other, in retrospect, the quality of our choices seems much more clear.

I challenge you to make some time to read through the links in this post, today--assuming you don't already know these stories.

It will only take a few minutes.

If you'd like to talk about them, I'd love to hear your thoughts in our private Slack group.

Happy Juneteenth.

Let's continue to do the difficult work of improving this world, together.