Tag: DEI

Will Juneteenth be Next?

~ Bruce Ray ~ Leave a comment

(Updated on June 20, 2025)

We wouldn’t be celebrating Juneteenth—the day slaves were fully emancipated in the United States—without the death of George Floyd on May 25, 2020. Following his death at the hand (actually, under the knee) of Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, protests erupted across the country. Significantly, the marches and protests were multi-racial, multi-lingual, multi-generational and multi-national, and they shined a spotlight on the systemic racism that has targeted black and brown communities for centuries.

People marched not just against abusive policing and excessive use of force but for something much deeper—a commitment to affirm the humanity and value of black lives and for passage of new policies that would create equity for marginalized people.

The nation responded. Police policies were reviewed and changed, rogue police officers were held accountable, states and the federal government invested in programs that addressed the root causes of violence and poverty and initiatives that elevated under-represented groups. Even corporate America stepped up the make commitments to racial equity.

A year after George Floyd’s death, President Joe Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act into law on June 17, 2021.

Sadly, backlash against these initiatives and reforms came swiftly. Juneteenth is still a federal holiday—at least for now—but the gains made since 2020 have been reversed at both the state and federal levels. (Read the president’s Juneteenth Truth Social post below.)

In 2022, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis condemned “woke ideology” as he signed into law the “Stop WOKE Act”—also known as the “Stop Wrongs to Our Kids and Employees Act.” The law prohibits schools and workplaces from teaching about systemic racism and certain concepts related to race, gender, and social privilege, and it bans thousands of books about race and marginalized people.

On the federal level, the current administration has issued a flood of executive orders closing Diversity, Equity and Inclusion offices within all government departments, following the plan envisioned by Project 2025. Corporations also have abandoned their prior commitments to DEI and ended their sponsorship of certain festivals and events that do not align with the new administration’s values and agenda.

As Rev. Otis Moss III, pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ, pointed out in an opinion piece published by The Hill, this backlash is nothing new. “Every step toward reform is met with retrenchment, a doubling down on the very racist and unfair systems we seek to dismantle,” he writes. “After Reconstruction came Jim Crow. After the civil rights movement came mass incarceration. And, after Barack Obama and Black Lives Matter came Project 2025.”

On this Juneteenth holiday, we must remember the past victories and the progress gained for full inclusion and equality of all people, but we must also recognize the nature of the beast that continues to threaten that progress. Juneteenth could be on the chopping block next.

In the words of Rev. Moss, “The backlash has been loud, but we can be louder…” Retreat is not an option. “We must keep pushing the needle forward….” That first June 19, 1865, was Liberation Day! So, go forward in the power of the Spirit to announce good news to the poor, the oppressed, the discounted, the dismissed, the disenfranchised: God’s truth IS marching on! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!

UPDATE: The President’s Juneteenth Post. True to form, the president used Juneteenth to complain about the number of federal paid holidays on the calendar the cost to business. He wrote: “Too many non-working holidays in America. It is costing our Country $BILLIONS OF DOLLARS to keep all of these businesses closed. The workers don’t want it either! Soon we’ll end up having a holiday for every once working day of the year. It must change if we are going to, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” This is a slaveholder’s response.

God’s DEI Program

~ Bruce Ray ~ Leave a comment

Thirty-nine years ago today, my sister suffered a debilitating stroke. She was just 33 years old. The exact cause of the stroke was never determined. She had none of the medical issues that would increase her risk of stroke. In fact, she had just participated in an 5K race the week before. The stroke left her permanently impaired on her right side, and she lost the full use of her dominant right arm and hand–a condition that required her to learn how to do everything–including writing–with her left hand.

Her body may be impaired, and it may take her an hour for an activity that would take 30 minutes for a person with two hands, but she is not unable to have a meaningful and purpose-filled life. She is a peer mentor for stroke patients; she participates in multiple stroke studies; she assists student doctors and physical therapist in what is called “educational modeling.” She has walked two half-marathons. She has climbed the 103 flights of stairs to the top of the Sears Tower…twice. She has even jumped out of an airplane (skydiving). She ties her shoes with one hand! I still don’t know how she does that, and I’ve tried multiple times to master it without success. I joke that she has done more with half a brain than most people do with a whole brain. It’s actually not a joke. It is accurate. And beneath it all, her faith in God has sustained her through every challenge.

So often, people with disabilities are dismissed and devalued. The word “disability” implies “lack of ability.” People with disabilities are perceived to be “takers” and “dependents” and a “drain on society.” Occasionally, my sister needs help–but who doesn’t? Not one of us is truly fully independent; and not one of us could survive without the supports of social networks and societal programs.

My sister has taught me that abilities come in a variety of forms. And every “body”–every person–regardless of appearance is, in the words of the Psalmist, “fearfully and wonderfully made,” (Psalm 139:14), and all people bear the stamp of God’s image (Genesis 1:26). She has also reminded me that God has purposely chosen and used the undervalued, the underestimated and the overlooked throughout history. In the words of St. Paul in 1 Corinthians 1:27-29, “God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before [God].”

These verses articulate God’s own DEI program–a program that elevates those who have been cast aside and scapegoated because of their “disability,” their gender, their economic status, their race, their ethnicity, or their documentation. The powerful and the wealthy of the world would discount my sister and others like her. Thankfully, God sees things differently and delights in the diversity of God’s people, opens the doors of equal opportunity and includes them as full-fledged (never second-class) citizens of God’s kin-dom.

And if God chooses the foolish, weak, lowly and despised by the world’s measurements, who are we to reject them? And if we do reject them, how will we justify it before God?

(S)heroes of the Faith

~ Bruce Ray ~ Leave a comment

If you’ve never heard of Rev. Pauli Murray and their story of faith-rooted activism, you’re not alone.

However, their story is in danger of being completely erased by the National Park Service in compliance with this administration’s order to end all references to DEI.

Learn about Rev Murray in this article published by Sojourners. https://sojo.net/articles/news/trump-administration-erases-page-honoring-trailblazing-priest-lawyer-and-activist

“Living Woke” Week 2

~ Bruce Ray ~ Leave a comment

Before I start posting about this week’s theme of “Waking Up to Affliction and Disease”, I’ve decided to share what I can only describe as a heart-wrenching result of the current administration’s attack on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives and programs.

On this evening’s broadcast of “60 Minutes”, Scott Pelley told the story of 30 talented high school musicians who had been selected to play with the Marine Corps Band in a concert scheduled for May.. That was the plan until an Executive Order was signed that eliminated DEI initiatives in all government departments including the military. The concert was abruptly cancelled. All of the students were African-American, Latinx, Indian and Asian,

As a musician, I can only begin to imagine the pain and frustration and anger these student feel. They earned their place only to be told they had no place. But thankfully, Scott Pelley and “60 Minutes” created the opportunity for their concert to be heard. The entire concert was performed by the students along side former members of the Marine Corps Band who volunteered their time to support the teens. I admit that I cried through the entire thing–partly shedding tears of sadness; mostly shedding tears of anger that these incredibly talented and smart students could be so cavalierly brushed aside as if they had no value.

The president has called DEI initiatives “immoral.” What is really immoral is the way the president dismissed these teens.

I encourage you to listen to the entire concert. Tears are appropriate.

Learn more about Equity Arc