Juneteenth: America's second Independence Day
Skullduggery
Michael Isikoff, Daniel Klaidman, Victoria Bassetti
4.0 • 2K Ratings
🗓️ 19 June 2021
⏱️ 34 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Juneteenth commemorates the emancipation of the enslaved peoples in America in the wake of the end of the Civil War. Over 160 years after it was first celebrated, President Biden signed legislation this week making it a federal holiday. On this occasion, the Brennan Center's Ted Johnson joins hosts Michael Isikoff and Victoria Bassetti to discuss the holiday's legacy, and his new book When the Stars Begin to Fall: Overcoming Racism and Renewing the Promise of America.
GUEST:
- Ted Johnson (@DrTedJ), Author; director, Fellows Program, Brennan Center for Justice
HOSTS:
- Michael Isikoff (@Isikoff), Chief Investigative Correspondent, Yahoo News
- Victoria Bassetti (@VBass), fellow, Brennan Center for Justice (contributing co-host)
RESOURCES:
- "McConnell shoots down Manchin's voting compromise" by Jordain Carney (June 17; The Hill)
- When the Stars Begin to Fall: Overcoming Racism and Renewing the Promise of America by Theodore J. Johnson (2021; Penguin Random House)
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| 0:00.0 | For well over two centuries, Americans have celebrated July 4th. |
| 0:06.0 | It was the day the Continental Congress adopted the document drafted by Thomas Jefferson, |
| 0:12.0 | proclaiming the American colonies independence from Great Britain with those immortal words, |
| 0:17.0 | all men are created equal. |
| 0:19.0 | But for millions of African Americans, those words rang hollow and didn't begin the long, painful process of becoming reality |
| 0:27.0 | until June 19th, 1865, when the last slaves in the Confederacy were finally freed. |
| 0:34.0 | This week, President Biden signed into law a measure declaring June 10th, as we now know it, a national holiday. |
| 0:42.0 | How much should we celebrate this as an important step in our reckoning with a painful past? |
| 0:47.0 | How much work still needs to be done? |
| 0:49.0 | We'll ask those questions and talk about much else about the country's racial divide |
| 0:54.0 | with Ted Johnson, a senior fellow at the Brennan Center, an author of the new book, |
| 0:59.0 | when the stars begin to fall overcoming racism and renewing the promise of America on this episode of Skold Uggery. |
| 1:08.0 | I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States. |
| 1:16.0 | I will to the best of my building. |
| 1:18.0 | Reserve, protect and defend. |
| 1:20.0 | Constitution of the United States. So help me God. |
| 1:24.0 | So help me God. |
| 1:25.0 | So help me God. |
| 1:26.0 | So help me God. |
| 1:27.0 | So help me God. |
| 1:28.0 | So help me God. |
| 1:30.0 | I'm Michael Isgoff, Chief Investigator of Correspondent for Yahoo News. |
... |
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