A ribbon commemorating Juneteenth drapes a historic marker in one of Knoxville’s multiple cemeteries where enslaved people are buried.  Angela Dennis

East Tennesseans find ways to celebrate Juneteenth amid crackdowns on DEI

This story was originally published by Tennessee Lookout.

KNOXVILLE — As cities across Tennessee prepared for Juneteenth celebrations with banners unfurling, vendors setting up and leaders finalizing programs honoring Black liberation, a deeper question lingers: What does it mean to celebrate freedom in a state restricting how that freedom’s history is taught?

In Tennessee, state lawmakers have gutted DEI programs, banned books by Black authors and restricted how teachers can talk about race and history in the classroom. 

This year’s celebrations have also come with cutbacks. Across the country, Juneteenth events have been scaled back due to shrinking DEI funding, canceled federal grants and retreat from corporate support for racial justice initiatives. 

For many Black educators, organizers and students, the policies feel like a modern day echo of the delayed freedom Juneteenth was created to mark. It represents a continued struggle for true freedom and liberation.