{"id":3936,"date":"2021-06-18T12:13:00","date_gmt":"2021-06-18T16:13:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/weact.org\/updates\/juneteenth-2021-celebrate-with-a-vote\/"},"modified":"2026-02-16T20:10:22","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T01:10:22","slug":"juneteenth-2021-celebrate-with-a-vote","status":"publish","type":"update","link":"https:\/\/weact.org\/es\/updates\/juneteenth-2021-celebrate-with-a-vote\/","title":{"rendered":"Juneteenth 2021: Celebrate with a Vote"},"template":"","class_list":["post-3936","update","type-update","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","update_type-blog","person_tax-chris-dobens"],"acf":{"details":{"":null,"featured_image":1758,"update_type":[364],"focus_area":false,"authors":[230],"abstract":""},"page_layout":[{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_wysiwyg","acfe_flexible_toggle":"","component_wysiwyg":{"content":"As we celebrate <a href=\"https:\/\/www.weact.org\/event\/juneteenth-2020\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Juneteenth<\/a>, we could take some comfort in the fact that it has just been made <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/live\/2021\/06\/17\/us\/joe-biden#biden-juneteenth-holiday\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">a national holiday<\/a>. But we don\u2019t need a holiday \u2013 we need justice. And given the efforts to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/raymondpierce\/2021\/06\/16\/critical-race-theory-does-not-create-discrimination-it-fights-it\/?sh=76853a336845\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">suppress the study of Critical Race Theory<\/a> along with the <a href=\"https:\/\/time.com\/6046645\/police-killings-2021\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">continued murder of Black people by the police<\/a>, it feels like we\u2019re losing ground in the struggle for racial justice in America.\r\n\r\nOne of the most alarming developments has been the wave of voter suppression laws designed to make it increasingly difficult for people of color \u2013 and Black people in particular \u2013 to vote. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.brennancenter.org\/our-work\/research-reports\/voting-laws-roundup-may-2021\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">According to the Brennan Center for Justice<\/a>, 14 states have enacted 22 new laws this year under the pretense of making our elections \u201cmore secure.\u201d An additional 61 laws are currently making their way through 18 state legislatures, all of which \u2013 like those already adopted \u2013 are designed to suppress the Black vote. These new restrictions range from limiting the availability of and access to mail-in voting and ballot drop boxes to making it more difficult to vote in person \u2013 all with specific provisions aimed at undermining the methods and practices favored by Black voters.\r\n\r\nOf course, the only threat to our elections has been from those who refuse to accept the results, who happen to be the same people who encouraged and welcomed interference from the Russians in our recent elections. It seems as if, knowing that their views are no longer shared by the majority of Americans, they invited foreign interference in the election and then manufactured the false narrative of irregularities at the ballot box so they could not only challenge the legitimacy of the election but also use the unfounded fears they created to push through legislation that will suppress the vote of those who do not share their views.\r\n\r\nWhile these new laws masquerade as measures to protect the falsely accused legitimacy of our elections, there purpose should be clear. These are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.motherjones.com\/politics\/2021\/06\/jim-crow-killed-voting-rights-for-generations-now-the-gop-is-repeating-history\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the 21st century equivalents of the Jim Crow voting laws<\/a>. The 2020 election saw Black voters <a href=\"https:\/\/www.brookings.edu\/blog\/how-we-rise\/2020\/11\/24\/how-black-americans-saved-biden-and-american-democracy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">playing a key role in the outcome<\/a>, and gave rise to a new understanding of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/magazine\/2021\/01\/02\/black-americans-power-2020-453345\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the political power of the Black Americans<\/a>.\r\n\r\nThose challenged by this power have taken these actions in an attempt to protect the status quo, clinging to the racist system that has kept them in power ever since our nation was formed. Having stoked the false narrative they created about our elections, there is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.motherjones.com\/politics\/2021\/05\/dark-money-group-faces-ethics-probe-after-boasting-of-drafting-voter-suppression-laws\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">evidence of an orchestrated effort<\/a>, including model legislation being shared among political groups supported by \u201cdark money\u201d funders, to enact these local laws \u2013 state by state \u2013 to suppress the Black vote in future elections.\r\n\r\nWhat can we do about this? These racist laws are being challenged in court, on the grounds that they violate the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965, which was designed to put an end to the racist Jim Crow voter suppression measures. But that will likely take years to see through, which means these laws will be in place for the coming elections.\r\n\r\nWe cannot wait for the courts to strike down these laws. We need to mobilize our community and get out the vote. We need to personally ensure that our friends, family, and neighbors are registered to vote. And we need to make sure that \u2013 whatever it takes, despite whatever obstacles they put in our way \u2013 we get out and vote in each and every election. Because, as we\u2019re seeing with these restrictive voting laws, local elections matter just as much as the national ones.\r\n\r\nAnd that commitment to vote starts today, Juneteenth, 2021. Early voting is available here in New York City, where the primary elections are among the largest and most critical the city has had in decades. The Mayor\u2019s office and the majority of the City Council seats are up for grabs, and the outcome of this election will decide the direction of our city\u2019s future \u2013 from New York City Housing Authority reforms to the use of fossil fuels that cause climate change. It\u2019s all at stake. And you can make a difference. You can <a href=\"https:\/\/www.weact.org\/home-3-2\/getinvolved\/take-action\/vote\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">vote<\/a>.","include_drop_cap":false}}]},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Juneteenth 2021: Celebrate with a Vote - WE ACT for Environmental Justice<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/weact.org\/es\/updates\/juneteenth-2021-celebrate-with-a-vote\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"es_ES\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Juneteenth 2021: Celebrate with a Vote - WE ACT for Environmental Justice\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/weact.org\/es\/updates\/juneteenth-2021-celebrate-with-a-vote\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"WE ACT for Environmental Justice\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-17T01:10:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/weact.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Juneteenth-FI.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"328\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/weact.org\/updates\/juneteenth-2021-celebrate-with-a-vote\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/weact.org\/updates\/juneteenth-2021-celebrate-with-a-vote\/\",\"name\":\"Juneteenth 2021: Celebrate with a Vote - 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