Juneteenth is the newest federal holiday dedicated to celebrating freedom in America.
We commemorate the day in 1865 when Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger declared that the final enslaved Blacks, still held in Texas, were free per President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation signed New Year’s Day, 1863.
Juneteenth does not supplant Independence Day for Blacks.
However, it acknowledges an injustice that was righted: the ending of the intentional and illegal captivity of 250,000 people on American soil. The blessings of freedom could no longer be denied to any man, woman, or child.
However, winning freedom was just the start of their fight for economic independence.
That struggle continues 161 years later. Promisingly, there are signs we're winning.
Newly freed Black men and women started their journey in the land of prosperity with nothing — no money, wealth, or land.
They possessed skills and knowledge gained from trades and farming during slavery, an unflappable work ethic, bonds of community, and faith in God and this country.
These tools have helped generations of Blacks build new lives and carve out prosperous communities even amidst intense opposition and discrimination, including segregation and race riots.
Despite these challenges, progress for Blacks is worth celebrating.
In 2021, 47% of Blacks lived in middle-class households, and 12% were upper-class or wealthy. While these proportions lag behind other racial groups, they reflect significant economic advancement.
We should no longer peddle the view that Blacks are all living largely in poverty nor shape policies that only address the worst off.
Black wealth in America is not just limited to billionaires such as Oprah Winfrey, Jay-Z, Tiger Woods, and Michael Jordan.
One out of five Blacks in America lives in a household earning more than $100,000.
The rising tide of a growing economy over the decades has lifted Black household incomes. The Black median household income rose from $38,360 in 1990 to $53,860 in 2022.
Even though racial income and wealth gaps persist between Blacks and whites, they are gradually closing.
The pandemic delivered a surprising economic boost to Black households.
Their net wealth rose 32% from the end of 2019 to Q3 of 2022, to more than $340,000.
Blacks enjoyed a boom in the value of their real estate holdings (up 72%) since the end of 2019, which was nearly double the gains that non-Blacks experienced.
Still, their net worth is 70% lower than that of non-Blacks.
Macroeconomic outlooks are important for constructing a broad view of the demographic.
However, individuals care about their unique situations and expect their leaders to address their concerns.
I’ve written in this column about President Biden’s bleeding of Black support.
That analysis was confirmed once again by new polling in the swing states of Michigan and Pennsylvania.
Black voters express discontent with his job performance and discomfort with his seemingly declining mental acuity.
Like Americans overall, a majority of Black voters polled in the two swing states think the country is headed in the wrong direction. Inflation and the economy top their list of issues heading into the fall's election.
Returning prices to their pre-Biden levels requires enacting policies that the Left finds loathsome. To lower prices and spark economic growth, policymakers should aim to reduce the regulations that increase the costs of doing business, which get passed on to customers.
Entrepreneurs and small business owners have been buried under reams of red tape imposed by the Biden administration.
Biden’s agenda has straddled taxpayers with $1.37 trillion in regulatory costs — 45 times the regulatory costs accumulated under President Trump and almost five times the regulatory costs added under President Obama.
Businesses have been saddled with 267 million hours of paperwork.
As one stark example, Georgia farmers say they are tired of the added paperwork and regulations bureaucracy over the past three years that hinders their growth and threatens their businesses.
They are joining the growing Black support for former President Donald J. Trump in the Peach State.
Raising taxes on American businesses and households (whether middle-class or wealthy) will also rob Blacks of needed income to battle persistently high inflation or capital to reinvest in their businesses.
Former President Trump promises to make the expiring 2017 tax cuts permanent and expand them for businesses. President Biden said recently that he wants the tax cuts to stay dead.
Instead of promising more welfare to spur government dependency, policymakers should cut taxes to encourage entrepreneurial risk-taking, or professional advancement as people earn higher incomes.
We must also cancel the assault on entrepreneurship coming from Washington.
The new Biden rule restricting self-employment by redefining who can be classified as an independent contractor will hurt millions of Black independent professionals and gig workers.
We cannot allow for more policies that undermine the entrepreneurial spirit that has inspired Blacks to climb the ladder and build lasting wealth.
Let individuals choose their own paths, and if heavy-handed government serves as a roadblock or trap, get it out of the way.
It’s time for our national leaders to champion policies that encourage personal agency and reward risk-taking.
The next more than critical leg of the fight for economic independence requires less government, not more.
Patrice Lee Onwuka is a political commentator and director of the Center for Economic Opportunity at the Independent Women’s Forum. She is also an adjunct senior fellow with the Philanthropy Roundtable and a Tony Blankley Fellow at The Steamboat Institute. Follow her on Twitter: @PatricePinkFile Read Patrice Lee Onwuka's Reports — More Here.
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