By Mel Umbarger
Director of Communications, NC Budget & Tax Center
As our nation approaches its 250th anniversary, Juneteenth offers an opportunity not only to celebrate freedom, but also to reflect on how people have shaped our country throughout its history.
Mel Umbarger (Photo contributed)
Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865, when enslaved people in Texas finally learned they were free – more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation. It is a celebration of liberation, resilience, and the ongoing work of building a democracy where everyone can thrive.
For 250 years, our country has been shaped by people coming together to create the nation they want. From movements for emancipation and civil rights to organizing for better schools, safer workplaces, and stronger communities, ordinary people have expanded opportunity and pushed our country closer to its ideals.
We are the American story.
North Carolinians across race, place, and income have always helped shape our state and nation from the bottom up. We have rebuilt after disasters, fought poverty, organized for better jobs, strengthened public schools, and worked to ensure that future generations have more opportunity than the generations before them.
Yet throughout our history, public policy has not always reflected those values.
At times, tax policies helped build stronger communities and expand access to public services. At other times, tax systems reinforced racial inequities, concentrated wealth and power, and limited opportunity for many North Carolinians.
Black Americans have long understood that taxes are not just a source of revenue, but a tool for building strong communities and expanding freedom. In The Price of Democracy, Vanessa S. Williamson documents how newly enfranchised Black voters during Reconstruction supported taxes to fund public schools, roads, and other public goods because they understood that democracy required shared investment. Black communities repeatedly organized for equitable public services and fair taxation, recognizing that thriving communities depend on resources that we contribute to together.
At the same time, Williamson shows how tax policy and public finance were often used to deny Black communities the opportunity to build wealth and power. Unequal public investments, discriminatory policies, and systems designed to protect wealth for some while excluding others helped create and sustain the racial wealth gap that persists today.
This history reminds us that taxes are not simply about what we pay. They are also about what we build together – and who has historically been included in, or excluded from, the benefits of those investments.
Understanding this history matters because the choices lawmakers make today will shape opportunities for generations to come.
Today, the wealthiest households and profitable corporations are richer than ever before. Yet too many North Carolinians still struggle to access the building blocks of a good life: affordable child care, quality health care, strong public schools, reliable transportation, clean drinking water, and safe, thriving communities.
At the same time, some state lawmakers continue to pursue tax policies that overwhelmingly benefit wealthy households and profitable corporations, disproportionately affecting Black North Carolinians and reducing the revenue available to invest in public goods that benefit all of us.
These are not just budget decisions. They are choices about what we value and who we believe should have access to opportunity.
A tax code should reflect our shared values. It should recognize that everyone benefits from public investments and that everyone should contribute their fair share to support them.
Juneteenth reminds us that freedom requires more than rights on paper. It requires meaningful access to opportunity, participation in democracy, and communities with the resources to thrive.
As we honor Juneteenth, we also honor the generations of people who expanded freedom and democracy through collective action. Their work reminds us that progress is never inevitable. It is the result of people coming together to build something better.
The story of America is still being written.
And just as generations before us shaped the nation they wanted to live in, we have the power and responsibility to shape the future we want for North Carolina.
Because we are the American story.
Mel Umbarger is the director of communications for the NC Budget & Tax Center, a nonpartisan nonprofit dedicated to improving people’s well-being through policy and partnership.
