Juneteenth Exclusive: Gov. Wes Moore on the work he’s doing to repair and restore Maryland
MARYLAND – In honor of Juneteenth, Maryland Governor Wes Moore spoke exclusively with WMDT
about the work he’s doing to restore and repair years of unjust policies in the state, his push for all Marylanders to be free, and why Juneteenth is important on the Shore
Work. Wages. Wealth.
Maryland Governor Wes Moore’s pathway he ran on, and with nearly 100,000 new jobs, one of the country’s lowest unemployment rates he’s on the right track. “When I came on board, we had an 8-1 racial wealth gap in the State of Maryland. And I’m clear that’s not because one group worked 8 times harder. There are systems and structures, and barriers that have been put in place.”
He says he’s an action-oriented person, and his goal is to repair and restore the state. “Over $1.3 billion that we’ve invested in our state’s HBCU’s which is a 60% increase than we saw from my predecessor, and we’ve now done procurement so over $800 million is going to Black owned businesses in the state of Maryland.”
Success comes with Pushback
The Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland expressed disappointment when he vetoed Senate Bill 587 on study reparations, posting in part: “The state’s 1st Black Governor chose to block this historic legislation that would have moved the state toward directly repairing the harm of enslavement…”
Moore says they just fundamentally disagree. “We’ve had 4 wonderful teams of scholarship that have taken place in the past 25 years in Maryland, just in Maryland alone on this or similar issues. This is a time for us to do the work.”
Importance vs Ignorance
When it comes to Juneteenth, not everyone is on board. For instance, Gary Lambertson doesn’t think Juneteenth is all that important. “It’s an off-the-wall holiday to me, I mean- Let’s make a holiday for that building over there. You know, they just come up with holidays for whatever.”
However, Governor Moore says Juneteenth represents freedom, and the future. He adds that it’s not just a moment of celebration, but also a time for urgency.
“If you do not have pathways to wealth, you don’t have freedom… Unfortunately, for far too many people in our society, specifically African Americans, there is not a path to freedom. Because if you are not passing off anything to your children besides debt, if you still owe more than you own, you’re not free, not in this system.”
He says the work is not yet complete.
