America Cannot Keep Erasing Black History and Pretending It Never Happened
- Ruby N Lewis
- Mar 6
- 5 min read
America Cannot Keep Erasing Black History and Pretending It Never Happened
From Juneteenth to textbooks, the fight to acknowledge African American history continues.
There are moments when exhaustion sets in. Not because the truth is unclear, but because the truth has been spoken for generations and still must be defended again and again.
For African Americans, the fight to simply exist in this country with dignity has never stopped. The struggle to have our history taught in schools, our holidays respected, and our humanity acknowledged has stretched across centuries. And yet, even today, the same dismissive attitudes persist.
Recently, officials in Post Falls voted to remove Juneteenth as a city-recognized holiday and replace it with Columbus Day. During the discussion surrounding that vote, a statement was made claiming that Juneteenth is something “nobody had heard of until five years ago” and that it was “pushed for political purposes.” Removing Juneteenth_otter_ai
For many African Americans, hearing statements like this is not just frustrating. It is deeply painful.
Juneteenth has been celebrated in Black communities since 1866, just one year after the final enforcement of emancipation reached enslaved people in Texas. The fact that many Americans are only now learning about it does not mean the holiday is new. It means Black history has been ignored, minimized, or excluded from mainstream education for generations.
And that is exactly the point.
Black Americans have spent decades fighting for our history to be recognized as American history, because it is. Our ancestors were brought to this land against their will. They built much of the wealth and infrastructure of this country under slavery and later under systems designed to keep them marginalized. Yet the stories of those contributions, struggles, and triumphs are often erased or pushed aside.
When people say, “If you don’t like America, leave,” they ignore a fundamental truth.
Black Americans did not immigrate here voluntarily in the beginning. Our ancestors were stripped from their homelands. Their languages, traditions, and identities were intentionally destroyed. For many families, the United States is the only homeland we have ever known, even if it has never fully accepted us.
Leaving is not a simple option. Structural barriers like employment discrimination, generational wealth gaps, and systemic inequities make mobility difficult for many people. The idea that Black Americans can simply “go somewhere else” ignores the reality of centuries of economic and social disadvantage created by policy.
Even when Black communities build something for themselves, history shows that those achievements are often targeted or destroyed.
Black Wall Street in Tulsa was burned to the ground. Black leaders were surveilled and attacked. Figures like Martin Luther King Jr. were assassinated after dedicating their lives to equality and justice. Stories like those explored in Judas and the Black Messiah remind us that efforts to organize and uplift Black communities have frequently been met with resistance, infiltration, and violence.
It creates a painful cycle.
Black Americans fight for recognition.Progress begins.Then backlash follows.
Today, the backlash often takes the form of restricting how Black history can be taught in schools, banning books by Black authors, or labeling honest conversations about race as “divisive.” Since 2021, numerous states have passed laws limiting discussions about race and systemic injustice in classrooms.
Since 2021, a significant, politically driven movement in the U.S. has restricted the teaching of Black history, with at least 18 states passing laws targeting “critical race theory” (CRT) to limit discussions on race. These restrictions have led to banned books by Black authors, altered curricula, and canceled celebrations, often aimed at preventing white students from feeling guilty. Efforts have targeted lessons deemed “divisive” and even challenged courses like AP African American Studies.
At the same time, people claim that African Americans are exaggerating or being overly sensitive.
The contradiction is glaring.
If our history was always fully acknowledged and respected, why would communities still be fighting for it to be included in textbooks?
Why would a holiday celebrating the end of slavery be dismissed as political?
Although Juneteenth is now recognized as a federal holiday, the reality across the United States tells a more complicated story. As of 2025, more than 20 states do not recognize Juneteenth as a paid state holiday. While over 30 states and the District of Columbia have recognized it in some form, states including Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Hawaii, Indiana, Mississippi, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Wisconsin, and Wyoming have not adopted it as a paid state holiday. In addition, several cities across the country have scaled back or canceled Juneteenth celebrations due to political pressure, logistical issues, or shifting policies surrounding diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.
At the federal level, actions have also raised concerns among civil rights advocates. In 2026, the administration of Donald Trump removed Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Juneteenth from the National Park Service’s list of fee-free entrance days. Visitors who traditionally could enter national parks without paying on those commemorative days were required to pay admission fees in 2026. In place of those days, June 14 — the president’s birthday and also Flag Day — was added as a free admission day. Critics across the political spectrum argued that removing fee-free access on days honoring civil rights history sent the wrong message, even though the official federal holiday status of both MLK Day and Juneteenth remained unchanged.
The vote in Post Falls, Idaho to remove Juneteenth as a city holiday and replace it with Columbus Day highlights how contested the recognition of African American history continues to be. While Juneteenth remains a federal holiday, decisions like this demonstrate that the acknowledgment of Black history is still debated in many parts of the country.
At PDDBM, we are tired of this cycle. Many in the African American community feel the same exhaustion.
But exhaustion does not mean surrender.
Black Americans will continue to celebrate our culture, our resilience, and our history. We will continue to teach our children where they come from and what their ancestors endured. We will continue to commemorate holidays like Juneteenth, not because the government tells us to, but because our history deserves to be remembered.
For those who genuinely want to understand more about this issue, additional information has been provided in the attached material referenced alongside this blog post.
Knowledge matters.
History matters.
And truth matters.
The United States cannot fully understand itself without acknowledging the full story of African Americans. Until that happens, the wound of erasure will remain.
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