A ribbon commemorating Juneteenth drapes a historic marker in one of Knoxville’s several cemeteries where enslaved people are buried. (Photo: Angela Dennis)
As cities across Tennessee prepare 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…