One of our goals with Apocalypse blog is to intellectualise fashion — after all, everyone has to wear clothes, so what we choose to wear *has* to reveal something about ourselves/each other/society at large, no? I’m so glad you agree.
On the topic of education, let’s talk about Juneteenth. If you don’t know what Juneteenth is, I would first ask where you were during 2020’s racial reckoning. Then, I would be kind and give you a quick breakdown.
Juneteenth marks the emancipation of enslaved Black people in Texas following Union victory in the Civil War. While the Emancipation Proclamation was passed in 1863 (which was meant to free all slaves in the U.S.), there wasn’t much enforcement in the southern states until Union soldiers arrived in 1865.
Juneteenth is a great time to reflect on our social systems to see how Black communities are continually oppressed, even if this oppression is not blatantly coded as slavery. Juneteenth is an important day to mobilise the American populace towards enacting racial justice, and for white people to educate ourselves on how to be actively anti-racist and celebrate Black life.
So! In that vein: Let’s look at the role of antebellum slavery in building the modern fashion industry, and furthermore, the role that modern slavery plays in producing fast fashion.
However, a discussion of how Antebellum slavery built the modern textile (and fashion) industry would be remiss without touching on the forced and often unpaid labour used in the current fashion industry.
As always, it’s so important to recognise how Black people have been left out of or discriminated by the American system. How have we created an America that is inherently hostile to the ancestors of the people who built it? Consider the systems you are a part of this Juneteenth, and interrogate if they are designed with the success and comfortability of white people in mind.
If you’d like to read more, I’ve linked all of my sources for this piece here.
