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June 19, 2024
Dear Friends,
The federal holiday of Juneteenth commemorates the date of June 19, 1865, when enslaved Black people in Texas were notified that they were free by virtue of the Emancipation Proclamation issued two years earlier by President Abraham Lincoln.
On this day—and on every day—I invite us to celebrate the promise of freedom, while reflecting deeply on the overt and insidious ways in which inter-generational racism and persistent racial disparities permeate our political, legal, economic, social, and educational institutions. As members of the Santa Clara Law community, we are called to use our legal education to face the truth of our sinful history of slavery, to take concrete action to uproot racial subjugation in every form, to build legal structures founded on racial justice, and to work hard for racial healing and reconciliation.
Our Jesuit law school is founded on the belief that every human being is made in the image and likeness of God, and therefore must be treated with equal dignity and respect. On this Juneteenth, let us rededicate ourselves to incarnating God’s love by joining our hearts and hands together to achieve racial justice and reconciliation.
With warm regards and great gratitude,
Michael J. Kaufman (He/Him/His)
Dean and Professor of Law
Santa Clara University School of Law
mjkaufman@scu.edu
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